NCIS: Los Angeles: Kensi Opens a Box of Memories

If you're still mourning Dom's kidnapping on NCIS: Los Angeles, brace yourself: Another agent faces danger.

What's next for NCIS: Los Angeles following Dom's departure?

Tuesday's episode (9/8c on CBS) opens with Kensi (Daniela Ruah) getting shot during a robbery while she's at the bank. As a hostage situation unfolds, viewers get a glimpse into Kensi's past, thanks to a box of trinkets."There's a box of stuff that comes from her past that she needs to put away somewhere," Ruah tells TVGuide.com. "That's why she goes to the bank in the first place. Despite the fact that the box is full of random stuff, it says a lot about her. We realize that she has this emotional attachment to all these little things, as insignificant as they may seem."The episode explores Kensi's relationship with her dead father. The audience will get answers to only some questions surrounding her father's death, but Ruah says the discoveries will change the audience's perception of Kensi.

Mega Buzz: Get scoop on NCIS: Los Angeles' Kensi

"She doesn't come across as being the most emotional person in the world until something quite drastic happens," Ruah says. "I think she develops more as a human being rather than just as an agent or part of the team."Kensi gets support from team psychologist Nate, played by Peter Cambor, who says his character and Kensi "have a connection" that he hasn't been able to forge with other agents."And Nate has a great empathy and understanding about this element of her past that begins to come out," Cambor says. "It's really heavy stuff, and where Sam and Callen are very stoic and hard to talk to, Kensi is willing to open up as that thread begins to unravel."Ruah says Kensi will be vulnerable after this episode, but she doesn't expect her character to lose all her edge. "There is a little bit of vulnerability demonstrated, but it's in her own way. I think it's something that slightly held and controlled," Ruah says. "I don't really foresee Kensi breaking down into hardcore tears. There may be tears, but she's not a fountain."It's more of a nostalgia in the way she speaks — she's remembering her past and she's going back to it and trying to figure out what happened. The case about her father was never really closed, so it's something we leave open. Hopefully, it will come back around."