After debuting in the final two episodes of NCIS Season 18, Katrina Law officially joined the cast as Jessica Knight in Season 19. It wasn’t long before her character developed a romantic relationship with Brian Dietzen’s Jimmy Palmer. By the end of that season, they were together, but in the Season 21 finale, Jessica took a job as a REACT instructor at Camp Pendleton, which led to the couple’s breakup. As NCIS Season 22 kicks off on the 2024 TV schedule, showrunner Steven Binder describes Jessica and Jimmy as having settled into a “new normal,” though the two will inevitably come face to face again.
In a conversation with TV Insider, Binder shared insights on the upcoming season, addressing everything from Alden Parker’s hallucination in “Reef Madness” to how the main team is fractured at the season’s start. On the topic of Jessica and Jimmy, he revealed:
“It’s months later. Knight’s on the West Coast in her new job. They’ve settled into the new normal of not being together. Jimmy is dating, and we’ll learn a bit about that—he’s been busy as a single man, and that will come up at the most inopportune time. In the premiere, Knight faces a serious issue involving her skills as a hostage negotiator. There are certain rules you just don’t break, and she does. As a result, she and Jimmy will finally have part two of the conversation they didn’t have in the finale. There’s a part three coming in Episode 4, when ‘World War III’ kicks off.”
Binder explained that “World War III” refers to NCIS handling a seemingly small case that has the potential to explode into a much larger issue. This episode, playing out almost in real-time, carries high stakes for both the team and Jessica and Jimmy, as they continue to work through their relationship, deciding “who they are, what they’re going to be, and what they’re not.”
When asked if he consulted Brian Dietzen and Katrina Law about their characters’ relationship direction, Binder shared, “Actors are protective of their characters, and all of ours are. I asked them both what they thought, and they had very different takes on how their characters would respond. I thought, ‘This is gold.’ If you don’t like it, I’ll blame them! [Laughs]”
As someone who’s not usually into shipping, Binder admitted he enjoyed pairing Jimmy and Jessica, as it was a refreshing change from the “will-they-won’t-they” dynamics seen with Tony and Ziva or Torres and Bishop. Since Katrina Law remains part of the NCIS main cast, Jessica is expected to return to Washington, D.C. eventually, and fans are hopeful she and Jimmy can work things out. If not, it seems likely they’ll stay on good terms—at least, for now.
Catch up on Jimmy and Jessica’s journey by streaming NCIS on Paramount+. Season 22 premieres Monday, October 14 at 8 pm ET, followed by NCIS: Origins, a prequel about Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
