In true NCIS: Los Angeles fashion, a wedding day wouldn’t be complete without a little chaos. For longtime fans, the long-awaited marriage of Special Agents Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah) and Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) was more than just a romantic milestone — it was an action-packed celebration filled with humor, heart, and a few unexpected punches.
Filmed at the gorgeous Bel-Air Bay Club overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the episode — which aired March 17, 2019 — delivered the perfect mix of elegance and mayhem. “You can’t have a Kensi and Deeks wedding that goes completely smoothly from beginning to end,” Ruah laughed during a break in filming, showing off her torn gown. “Kensi rips it herself so she can kick someone! I actually asked for that. I said, ‘We have to have Kensi fighting in the wedding dress.’”
Olsen’s tux may have survived better than Kensi’s dress, but the actor was quick to joke: “My hair looks like a Muppet.”
Executive producer R. Scott Gemmill, who wrote the special episode, wanted the couple’s journey to the altar to feel like a wild ride. “In our world, there’s always mayhem lurking just around the corner,” he explained. “Deeks once said Kensi smells like sunshine and gunpowder — and that’s the perfect description of this wedding.” Fittingly, the signature cocktail of the night was named Sunshine and Gunpowder, made with orange juice, silver tequila, and black pepper.
Of course, trouble showed up just in time to crash the ceremony. An old adversary — arms dealer Anatoli Kirkin (Ravil Isyanov) — brought along some thugs who disrupted the big day. Naturally, the NCIS: LA team stepped in to handle the situation before the newlyweds even knew what hit them. While Kensi tore her dress mid-fight, Callen (Chris O’Donnell) and Sam (LL Cool J), dressed like secret agents straight out of James Bond, dispatched the bad guys in style. “It was fun to get my 007 on,” LL Cool J said with a grin.
And somehow, through all the chaos, not a single petal was harmed from the breathtaking floral display that covered the venue’s three-tiered fountain. “The flowers here cost more than my actual wedding,” Olsen joked.
Even off-camera, the energy was lighthearted. Barrett Foa (Eric Beale) and Renée Felice Smith (Nell Jones) shared laughs between takes — Smith even swapped her high heels for combat boots between scenes. “At least I’m ready if another fight breaks out,” she quipped.
Behind the glamour, getting this episode made wasn’t easy. Torrential rains delayed production for days, but just in time, the skies cleared for the seaside ceremony. “We wanted to reward our viewers for sticking with us all these years,” Gemmill said. “There are some huge surprises waiting for fans.”
One of those surprises? The long-awaited reveal of the mystery box Kensi gave Deeks back in Season 4 — the one she said held something he’d “always wanted.” To make the moment authentic, Gemmill secretly added an extra item inside the box, so Olsen’s reaction on camera was completely genuine. “We left it in the cut,” the producer admitted. “And he improvised the perfect response.”
Off-screen, Ruah and Olsen’s chemistry is just as effortless as it is on camera — but their connection runs even deeper. Ruah is married to Olsen’s older brother, David, and the two families are extremely close. “I introduced them because they’re both amazing people,” Olsen said proudly. “Now they have two beautiful kids, and we see each other all the time.”
Their playful banter started the very first day they met. “At our first table read, I said, ‘Hey, I hear Deeks is supposed to be muscle-y and tan — what are you going to do about that?’” Ruah recalled with a grin. Without missing a beat, Olsen shot back, “‘I heard Kensi was supposed to be intelligent and pretty — what are you going to do about that?’”
They both burst out laughing, and the rest, as they say, is Densi history.
From a decade-long slow burn to a wedding full of explosions (both literal and emotional), Kensi and Deeks’ big day was everything fans could’ve hoped for — equal parts romance, chaos, and laughter. Just the way NCIS: Los Angeles always does it.
