Like the stealth criminals often hunted on the show, NCIS: LA is a bit of a silent threat in the ratings game. Now in its second season, the show is frequently on the list of top-rated shows each week, and yet, it has silently given birth to one of TV’s new, completely addictive (but not romantically attached) pairs, Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) and Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah).

Since Olsen’s upgrade to series regular in season 2, the partners’ undeniable chemistry has attracted the attention of fans — and yours truly. So EW got the pair on the phone to chat about tonight’s episode that will give fans new peek into this pair’s growing (hopefully romantic) bond. What we learned? The actors’ hilarious chemistry is not just for the screen.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I’m so glad we were able to get you both at the same time.
ERIC CHRISTIAN OLSEN: It’s a terrible idea, by the way. Terrible idea. [Laughs]
DANIELA RUAH: Just before you came on the phone, all I was getting from Eric was this: [Clucks like a chicken]
ECO: I thought it would be super funny if during this interview, Dani answered all the questions, and I just made chicken noises the whole time.

That would make for an interesting transcript. “His cluck sounded very tortured.”
ECO: Yes. The tortured chicken.

Well, I’m really excited to talk to you about Deeks and Kensi. You’ve said before that there was chemistry between you both as actors from the beginning. Did you expect the ‘shipper aspect of this to be as strong as it has been?
ECO: What is that? What is “shipper”? What does it mean?

It’s when fans want two people to have a relationship. So they abbreviate it as “shipper.”
ECO: What is that abbreviation for?

“Relationship.”
DR: Answer the damn question. [Laughs]
ECO: I don’t know! Because I keep reading it, and I have no idea what it means. “What, I’m on a ship? You want us to go on a cruise?” I don’t know what that means.

It’s: relationship = “shipper.”
ECO: I see. Relationshipper.
DR: I don’t think we expected the fans to want this so much. I mean, when I said we had chemistry right from the beginning, we got along as people, and we realized very early on that it would be so easy to play around with each other and to make something fun out of the relationship of these characters. I certainly didn’t predict what people would want from it or see in it.

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