‘NCIS’ Star Diona Reasonover Teases Fans Will See ‘Kasie’s Heart’ in This Week’s ‘Messy’ Episode (Exclusive)

Get ready to meet another side of Kasie Hines on this week’s episode of NCIS!The CBS crime procedural’s latest case will hit close to home for the forensic scientist, which actress Diona Reasonover teased in an interview with PopCulture.com will take the usually level-headed team member on an emotional journey. The official description for “Institutionalized” released by CBS reads: “After a petty officer’s son is found murdered at his ‘welcome home from prison’ party, evidence suggests Kasie’s lifelong best friend, Dante Brown (Devale Ellis), is the suspect.”

Reasonover teased the case will bring complications when it comes to Kasie juggling her personal and professional relationships, possibly bringing tension between herself, Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and the rest of the team.

“[Ellis] plays Kasie’s best friend, who’s kind of been in and out of trouble,” the actress told PopCulture.com in a phone interview Thursday, Oct. 31. “They’re still good friends, but they took different paths in life and you’ll get to see him come to Kasie with a crisis, and Kasie really needs to step in, and it gets a little messy with her NCIS role and her role as a friend.

“You’re really watching somebody try to balance their old life and their new life. I think it’s a really good episode,” she added. “I’m very excited. I am the only person on the lot that has not seen it. Everybody keeps coming up to me and being like, ‘I just watched the new editor’s cut. It’s so good.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh I can’t wait.’”

NCIS fans have grown to love Kasie’s at-times humorous dedication to her work. With her tendency to keep her eyes on solving cases and leaving her personal life outside of NCIS headquarters, Tuesday’s new hour will give insight into the beloved character’s humanity.

“I think you’ll get to see Kasie’s heart,” Reasonover said. “You got to see it a little bit before in the Christmas episode last year, where she talks about moving her dad, but it’s one thing to watch somebody talk and relive something painful from the past. It’s a completely other thing to have to watch someone’s whole life sort of crash right into them at work.”

“You will get to see a little bit of that softening and you get to see her frustrated and trying, and I think trying is really the thing that you’ll get to watch her do,” she hinted of the emotional hour. “And you get to watch her stick her neck out, which she hasn’t really done so far.”

Reasonover also tipped her hat at guest star Ellis, a former wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, on his work in the episode.

“He was so fabulous. I hope they bring his character back. I miss him already,” she said.

Are you ready to get to know more of Kasie? NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.