Jessica Knight shocked fans during the season 21 NCIS finale when she said “hell, yeah” to a career change — but what does her decision mean for the future of the show?
Warning: Spoilers below for NCIS season 21, episode 10.
During the season 21 finale, which aired in May, Special Agent Knight (Katrina Law) decided to take the job as Chief React Training Officer at Camp Pendleton. Despite mulling it over all episode, she chose her career over her NCIS team and boyfriend Dr. Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen).
“Well, you know, we’ve set something up there,” co-showrunner Steve D. Binder teased during an interview with TVLine published on Saturday, June 1. “And I will point you toward our track record where, ‘You never know.’”
Binder played coy about Knight’s future on the series, looking to past character exits as possible examples. “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 [Mark Harmon],” he said.
The showrunner explained that with Law’s character the writers are “trying to follow” the “Tony DiNozzo departure” structure.
Binder noted that DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) left the show, but only after he asked himself, “What would it take to get a certain character away?” and the answer was having his child.
When it comes to Knight’s motivation to leave, it’s not as clear-cut. For her, “It’s a combination of a thing that she had applied for and wanted to do — she’s talked about the plan with her father — and then having this relationship with Jimmy where suddenly things are in flux in a way that it makes it easier for her to say goodbye,” Binder shared.
Despite being somewhat cryptic about season 22, Binder revealed that the creative team aims “to please” with their stories.
“We think the audience will be satisfied with where they see this go,” Binder said of Knight’s next steps. “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.”
Throughout season 21, Knight and Palmer butted heads over their relationship. After Knight’s father reminded her that she had big career goals, Palmer questioned where he fit into the equation.
The tension in their romance came to a head during the season finale when Palmer blew up at Knight. He later apologized after Knight nearly died on a naval ship — but she still decided to work across the country.
“I think you might see some hurdles for them this season,” Law, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly in April, hinting at the drama to come. “It’s interesting because as much as Jess is still reeling and reacting from her React team [dying] … it still leaves an impact.”
Law noted that Knight has taken a “while to move on” from her season 18 trauma in which her former coworkers died in an explosion. Now that she has a chance to work on the React team again, it could mean the end of her and Palmer’s love story — but Law is still holding out hope for them.
“Brian Dietzen is a wonderful acting partner, and we have so much fun working together,” Law shared, confessing, “So the thought of not being able to have as many scenes with him is heartbreaking.”
The actress told Us that she and Dietzen, 46, are “constantly fighting for this relationship in one aspect or another.”
Law said that she just wants “what’s best for the characters each individually in the long run. And we don’t know what that is yet.” She teased, “And I think that’s going to be the fun of exploring through the next thousand episodes of NCIS.”
Dietzen, meanwhile, exclusively told Us in May that he applauds the writers for creating a love story that is about “two people who actually talk about what they’re feeling” instead of just watching them “make eyes at each other from across the room for eight years until one gets on a plane and they kiss.”
He gushed over working alongside Law, saying, “It’s been wonderful to discover what this very adult relationship means as we communicate with each other. And there is no one better to do it with than then Katrina.”
