In the show's pilot, which aired last week, Jake becomes the unwitting recipient of a dose of nanites -- molecule-sized robots -- which have given him enhanced strength and senses, along with the ability to interface with technology.
Newly recruited as an agent, Jake quickly runs afoul of a foreign terrorist, which results in Sarah being kidnapped. In the end, Jake's attempts to keep her in the dark cause Sarah to think the whole fuss was about her attempts to track down mysterious budget allocations.
"I like that my character is bright, if a little bit naive at times," Black says. "She gets a little carried away in her conspiracy theories, but she's smart and means well. I enjoy playing that. Playing a smart woman is not always a role that's easy to come by.
"Sarah's really interesting. She's worked hard and gotten this job working for a senator. I like that she doesn't take all the socializing that seriously. She knows it's all a means to an end and has to be done. Deep down, she thinks she's a nerd in some weird way, which bonds her with Jake a lot more on the show."
Now, as she did in college, Sarah turns to Jake for help fixing her computer, but Black thinks there might be more going on there.
"In college, there's always that person that maybe you acknowledge there's a small crush, but also know that they couldn't keep up with you on some level," she says. "You're so driven and ambitious about what you're doing that dating is just recreational, a very 'If I have time' kind of thing.
"Whereas Jake is a great friend. Because he was so helpful at Georgetown, fixing her computer and helping out any time she needed it, she was really aware that a dating situation would probably have ruined the friendship, because she's not really that focused on her social life.
"He's a really good guy, not the kind of guy you take out for martinis to talk shop about politics with."
In the pilot, actor Andrew Martin plays Peter Wendell, Sarah's current beau, who is very dismissive of Jake.
"That's where the acting part comes in, because if you met the real guy, you would have been surprised," Black says. "They begged him to cut his mullet. In fact, they insisted he did. He was none too happy.
"It was funny. He ended up being a great square guy. Whoever had the vision in the casting room to see him go from this sort of hockey-playing, Camaro-driving guy to that -- amazing. I'm voting for the breakup."
Asked how she hopes the relationship progresses, Black says, "I've changed my mind so many times about this. I definitely would love for Jake and Sarah to become more interesting, really get to know each other. I don't know if she's going to be let in on all the things that are going on with his life.
"I'd certainly love to become an ally of his, but there's also a lot of great sexual tension there. He's such a good guy -- I don't think they can rush into being together or anything. They'll probably keep that hanging for as long as they possibly can. I'm trying to stay impartial."
At the same time, Jake is dealing with Diane Hughes (Keegan Connor Tracy), the NSA scientist who was working with the nanites at the time of Jake's accident. While the pilot keeps her behind glasses and a lab coat, there are some hints that something more might develop, and that's fine with Black.
"I love it," she says. "I'm oblivious to him, and he's oblivious to her. To play with that triangle ... there's a lot of stuff that can be done there. The confidence that he's going to gain from what's happening to him, ultimately always makes people sexier.
"It's like going into an audition when you have a job already. There's this aura. Whether women want to be romantic with him or not, they do notice the confidence with someone that's always been the class clown, or like Jake, the techie.
"Maybe it's a good place to start with Diane, buttons done all the way up, then you can do the hot-for-teacher thing, the slow unraveling. One day, she'll shake her hair out and take her buttons down."
In real life, Black has little trouble understanding what women see in Gorham. "He's so cute. It's an acting challenge to be like, 'What are you doing here, Jake? I'm on a date with an idiot who's making me taste pasta and sauce, and it sucks!'
"He's really cute. The whole cast, they couldn't be better."
For right now, though, Black is just happy to have a regular job. "The 'Six Feet Under' stuff, it's funny when people see you on TV and don't realize that it takes a day to shoot your part in an entire episode. You work maybe once a month, and they pay you SAG scale.
"So I'd be scrambling for change in my purse for coffee, and somebody would tap me on the shoulder and say, 'Are you that girl?' I'd want to ask them to borrow a dollar and wouldn't."
