“NCIS” fans are concerned about one thing: what the heck’s going to happen to Jessica Knight (Katrina Law)? Now that she’s become the chief REACT training officer at Camp Pendleton, a position Vance (Rocky Carroll) offered her during the Season 21 finale, her future seems impermanent. She’s going to have to move all the way to San Diego to take the job, meaning she’ll be a coast away from her DC-bound colleagues and specifically Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen), her on-again-off-again boyfriend.
If fans are worried that they’ll be subjected to a disappointing ending for Knight, co-showrunner Steve D. Binder has one promise for you: “We do aim to please, and we think the audience will be satisfied with where they see this go,” he told TVLine in June. “Sometimes that satisfaction is bittersweet and sometimes it’s just pure joy. You’ll have to wait to find out which one it’s going to be.”
Notably, Binder didn’t say anything to reassure fans that Jessica will be home immediately. “We’ve had people look like they were going away and then it’s found out they weren’t going away, and then people who just disappear like Gibbs,” he said. Is it possible Jessica could float in and out of the story, the way some characters have done? Binder does not rule it out, adding, “We want people to be wondering, ‘What’s next year going to look like?’ as opposed to, ‘Is she leaving or not?'” But what will happen to Jessica and Jimmy? Binder has left that forecast cloudy.
Jimmy and Jessica’s relationship could go either way
What about Jessica Knight and Jimmy Palmer’s relationship? In the Season 21 finale, the pair seem to reconcile after a fight. Then Jessica takes that position, and suddenly everything’s thrown into chaos again. Steve D. Binder told TVLine that the future remains unwritten: “I think that with their relationship, you have to imagine there’s a lot more to it that we’re not seeing on the screen.”
Binder also noted the character’s ages and that they’re both seeking out a mature relationship. After all, Jimmy has a daughter he’s raising solo; it’s clear that he’s looking to get married again. But Binder says that what Knight wants hasn’t been explored yet. And if the couple can’t decide on a mutual direction, Binder suggests they should part. “If they’re not going to move forward that way, then maybe they should end it,” he said. “And I think that’s kind of what she’s leaning into.”
Soon enough, all of those pieces will fall into place, and fans will find out in the fall if Jimmy and Jessica have decided on friendship or love when Season 22 of “NCIS” debuts.