For Love or Country

While McKenna has been on GH for less than a year, he has plenty of soap experience under his belt courtesy of his prior roles as One Life to Live‘s Joey Buchanan and Young and Restless‘s Mark Harding — so he knew it was only a matter of time before Jack’s big secret wasn’t such a secret anymore. But the direction the show chose to go in the wake of Carly finding out about Joss’s undercover career took him by surprise. “I think we were all expecting a big blow-up,” he admits. “I was, and I think Laura was, too. We were all kind of surprised [by the direction the show took], and this is, frankly, more interesting! I did not see it coming, I really didn’t, and I think it’s really fascinating now! And on the other hand, I think Jack is getting off light, because she’s done something wrong, too!”

As McKenna sees it, “Carly was completely in the right” when she learned Jack had betrayed her trust. “But now,” by partnering with Valentin, “she’s committing treason! I mean, he lied, but she’s committing acts against the nation! So I think that now, Jack at least has an argument from this angle, which is, ‘I did something bad, but not treason!’ Carly is certainly swimming in deep waters now, which I think is really fascinating and cool. I don’t know where it’s going, but think it’s really interesting, and it’s a lot deeper and more complex than I was expecting.”

It’s a critical component of Carly’s plan to keep Jack in the dark about how she’s maneuvering against him — which may be harder than it looks, even for an experienced schemer like Carly, given the expert observational skills he’s honed over the many years he’s spent at the WSB. Can she successfully play him? Offers McKenna, “He plays things close to the vest, and I think the audience may be surprised by what he is picking up on, even if he doesn’t let on. I believe in the coming episodes, you’ll see in the quiet moments when he’s alone that he suspects that something’s not quite right, even if he’s not showing it to her.

“I think both of them are keeping secrets, having hidden feelings,” he continues. “He might know that she knows and is keeping it [from her], or he might think she suspects him and is hoping [he’s wrong]…. After they spent the night together [in the Monday, November 24 episode], she walks to the bathroom and you can see him look after her, concerned there’s something that’s not quite right. So the super-spy is still in there! He is aware [of a shift in their relationship], even if he’s hoping it’s all going to blow over or that he’s wrong.”

The new dynamic between Brennan and Carly is one McKenna says both he and his leading lady have enjoyed sinking their teeth into. “She’s doing a good job, and we’re having a lot of fun playing the fact that Carly says she can give a fake relationship and she can fool Jack and she’ll do anything for her daughter and she hates him — yet that’s easier said than done when she’s there in the room with him, they’re together and she feels his touch and they have this chemistry between them… It’s not that easy to just turn that off!”

Mad About You

Jack soon may have to contend with the wrath of two strong blondes — not just Carly, but also her daughter. That’s because after making it perfectly clear to Josslyn that she was not to continue her romantic relationship with fellow agent Vaughn, he discovered that they’d been doing just that and promptly had Vaughn carted away. To where and for how long remains a mystery, but it’s a safe bet that Joss won’t be happy about it.

To hear McKenna tell it, it’s all in a day’s work for the bureau chief. “You can’t be surprised at how Brennan reacted,” he says. “I mean, he gave them plenty of warnings. He even gave them an extra 24 hours in Australia! I mean, he’s pretty magnanimous, in my opinion. But then they went and [kept seeing each other] anyway, and I guess he’s not messing around this time because [Vaughn] is dragged away!

“As far as how that’s going to affect his relationship with Josslyn,” the actor continues, “I think he’s had to lay down the law numerous times and it just hasn’t stuck. I think this time, she’s maybe going to get the message that you don’t mess with Brennan! Even if he doesn’t always follow his own rules himself — ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ — he is the boss, and she’s gonna remember that right quick when her boyfriend’s gone [laughs]!”