When production wrapped for the night, the NCIS: New Orleans cast and crew threw star Scott Bakula a birthday bash fit for a king, complete with a sheet cake decorated with the image of his character, Special Agent Dwayne Pride. The following day, Bakula was back in Pride’s shoes, dispensing New Orleans-style justice and telling us all about it.
NCIS: New Orleans continues its sixth season on CBS with Tuesday’s new episode “Matthew 5:9” (10pm ET/PT) in which Special Agent Christopher Lasalle’s (Lucas Black) desperate hunt for the truth about his brother Cade (Clayne Crawford) comes to a critical point when evidence suggests a drug-trafficking ring may be involved.
Pride travels to Alabama to join Lasalle in searching for clues and assisting local law enforcement to track Cade’s last known whereabouts. Of course, Pride is going to do this investigation his own way.
The stakes are high as the team continues to pursue justice. Don't miss an emotional #NCISNOLA tomorrow night at 10/9c. pic.twitter.com/LZsTzZjHqr
— NCIS: New Orleans (@NCISNewOrleans) November 4, 2019
“This guy wears his heart on his sleeve, anyway, so when you start messing around with his family or extended members of his family, he has trouble doing both things — taking care of his people and also doing his business,” Bakula says of Pride’s not-by-the-book mentality. “It’s a battle. It’s something he fights all the time.”
The case of Lasalle and his brother is deeply personal for Pride. “He has those kinds of parental emotions, and he and Lasalle have been together the longest,” Bakula says. “He’s nurtured him and been his mentor. He knows Lasalle’s story and knows the challenges he’s faced with his brother. Hopefully, the rest of Pride’s team can handle what’s going on in New Orleans so he can really devote himself to being there to help Lasalle in any way he can. It’s a powerful arc, and it’s explosive in many ways.”
It’s been a rough year for Pride, as well. He’s been suffering from nightmares, insomnia and hallucinations stemming from his traumatic experience being kidnapped and drugged last season. Bakula hints that these visions will put Pride on the path to some important realizations in coming episodes.
“He gets some information about some events that happened when he was a very young person that kind of help organize his mind a little bit in terms of looking back on his life and understanding why he is who he is,” Bakula says. “I think that’s going to be satisfying for the audience and, I think, for his character.”