A relationship for one NCIS character could make up for the massive loss of NCIS: Hawai’i. The island-based spinoff was canceled last month just before the season 3 finale, leaving fans with a cliffhanger for Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey), Kate Whistler (Tori Anderson), Jesse Boone (Noah Mills), Sam Hanna (LL Cool J), Kai Holman (Alex Tarrant), Ernie Malik (Jason Antoon), and Lucy Tara (Yasmine Al-Bustami). With NCIS: Hawai’i canceled before season 4, the flagship NCIS show is left to ease the franchise’s transition.
There will be opportunities on NCIS to make up for the losses of NCIS: Hawai’i. A relationship for one of the NCIS cast members could bring a much-needed storyline to the flagship series. The flagship features characters like Alden Parker (Gary Cole), Alex Torres (Wilmer Valderrama), Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover), and Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen). One of the cast members has hinted that their character could experience love in NCIS season 22, and right now, it’s what the franchise needs.
A Kasie Hines Romance In NCIS Season 22 Could Make Up For The Franchise’s Lost LGBTQ+ Representation
In a recent interview with TVLine, Kasie Hines actor Diona Reasonover teased that there could be love for her character in the upcoming season of NCIS. Reasonover said that she wants her character to “get into some online dating” and “see what her profile would look like.” This could result in a romantic storyline where Kasie begins to see someone she met online.
Kasie’s love life hasn’t received the spotlight for a while. In NCIS season 21, episode 3, “Lifeline,” Hines confides in former NCIS agent Eric Webb (Chris McKenna) about it. She describes her relationship pitfalls as “stupid personal stuff,” revealing to Webb that she has been in three failed relationships in the last five years, noting that she is the “common denominator” in all of them. Kasie says that she is the reason her relationships didn’t work, and it’s her fault she’s all alone. She goes on to say that instead of working on it, she buries herself in her work.
Reasonover is open about her sexual orientation, and her character mirrors that aspect of who she is. Kasie would be the perfect character to have a centered LGBTQ+ relationship in the NCIS franchise moving forward. Although Hines had a relationship in season 19 with Piper (Tess Aubert) of the NCIS Cyber Division, the romance was short-lived. Reasonover revealed that her dream cast for Kasie’s partner in the upcoming season would be actor and singer Keke Palmer, or someone from a current band. A fresh relationship for Kasie could ease her qualms about her current relationship status.
The NCIS Franchise’s History With LGBTQ+ Representation Needs Improvement
The NCIS franchise doesn’t necessarily have a rich history of LGBTQ+ representation, but there have been some queer characters and storylines over the years. Most notably, NCIS: Hawai’i featured a relationship between characters Kate Whistler and Lucy Tara, which kicked off in the first episode of the series and also saw some of their friends from the LGBTQ+ community introduced. The relationship wasn’t just an afterthought or a storyline for the franchise, it was a mainstay. The cancelation of NCIS: Hawai’i means the end of Kate and Lucy’s on-screen relationship, unless it is revived in the main series.
The franchise also featured a relationship between NCIS: New Orleans characters NCIS Special Agent Tammy Gregorio (Vanessa Ferlito) and U.S. Attorney Hannah Lee (Meghan Ory), but the relationship was brief. Hannah Lee appeared in just one episode, in season 3, episode 9, “Overdrive.” The flagship show also featured actor Mario Bello as Jack Sloane. Bello has just married a woman, but in NCIS, her character mostly has chemistry with Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon). The pair have a will-they-won’t-they relationship, and they seal their goodbye with a kiss when Sloane parts ways with the team.
NCIS also featured Special Agent Ned Dorneget, who revealed that he was gay, but was killed in an explosion in season 12. Ned represents one of several, short-lived gay characters the franchise has used over the years. Unfortunately, their presences in their shows are typically limited because they mostly exist in tragedy or death. NCIS season 1, episode 22, “A Weak Link,” sees U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant Rick Johnson fall to his death after tampering with his own rappel equipment. Lt. Johnson takes his own life because his religion didn’t accept his sexual orientation. It’s an instance of television juxtaposing the LBGTQ+ experience with tragedy unnecessarily.
Kasie could very well be the answer to LGBTQ+ representation for the franchise moving forward. While sometimes misunderstood, the choice to feature characters with different sexual orientations on shows like NCIS simply provides a more complete picture of the world, and allows people within the LGBTQ+ community access to characters on TV that they can relate to.