‘NCIS: New Orleans’: Why Rita Is Making the Full-Time Move in Season 7

“Predictable is boring, and boring is one thing you are not.” So said strong, compassionate Department of Justice lawyer Rita Devereaux to her long-distance boyfriend, NCIS New Orleans boss Dwayne Pride, last year. Truer words.

The pair, played by husband and wife of 11 years Scott Bakula and Chelsea Field, have shared some risky crime-fighting adventures during her visits — she even saved his life in a shoot-out! In Season 7, NOLA native Rita ditches Washington, D.C., and moves back, which can only be good for her driven man. 

“Rita has reassessed her life. She’s done pushing papers in a boring office job,” says Field, who debuted in Season 3 and returns in the second episode this fall.

Not only does Rita want more meaningful work, perhaps involving a grassroots initiative, but she also wants to know where things stand romantically. “Her relationship with Pride is easygoing, but she feels they need to define it a bit more.”

At home, Field runs lines and discusses scenes with her costar spouse. “Pride has a lot of characteristics that are essential to Scott: his integrity, his commitment to work, his maybe overreaching responsibility sometimes. Scott is an amazing human being,” the actress says. “Sometimes I don’t even have to act!”

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NCIS: New Orleans, Season 7, Fall, CBS