Katrina Law loves the “Knight and shining Palmer relationship” on NCIS — but fans of the pair are in for a bumpy ride this season.
“I think there is genuine love there,” Law, 39, exclusively told Us Weekly of her character Jessica Knight’s connection with Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen), noting that the thought of a “long-distance relationship” brought up “a lot of deep seeded issues” for the couple during the season 21 finale in May.
The actress explained, “Both of them are very much people pleasers. They do a lot of things for other people that don’t necessarily service themselves.”
According to Law, the turning point came when Knight witnessed “Jimmy kind of melt down in front of her” after thinking about “losing another person in his life” in the finale and realized, “I can’t fix this for him.”
During season 21, Palmer yelled at Knight when she shared that she’d been offered the Chief REACT Training Officer role at California’s Camp Pendleton. The finale revealed that Knight accepted the job, leaving her fate with Palmer up in the air.
When the series returned for season 22, viewers learned that it had been six months since Knight left for California — and she and Palmer were officially broken up.
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“She came to a realization that maybe the two of them need to be apart for a little bit to resolve their own personal issues that maybe they were each other’s rebound, and they’re not supposed to be together,” Law told Us of Knight’s decision.
During the final moments of the season premiere, which aired on October 14, Knight agreed to move back to Washington, D.C. and work with her old team because it felt more like “home.” However, Law teased that her return to D.C. — where Palmer also works — won’t be easy.
“When she comes back, it’s gonna be really funny, interesting and awkward [in] true NCIS style,” Law revealed, explaining that Knight and Palmer “don’t speak about it for, like, three or four episodes and they just completely avoid the issue.”
When Knight and Palmer eventually cross paths, Law told Us it won’t be pretty.
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“They end up getting into a position where they are alone together [and] they cannot get out of that situation,” she said. “And they’re kind of forced to have this chat and talk that they’ve been avoiding both of them equally.”
Law pointed out that she’s “not sure how it’s going to be edited” just yet. “I played it as Knight was putting herself out there going, ‘Do you want things to stay this way? Do you want things to change?’” she told Us of the upcoming scene.
Law played coy about how Palmer reacts to Knight’s revelation, teasing that it’ll force them to move forward one way or the other. The actress hinted that the outcome “doesn’t mean the love is gone,” but it will cause a shift.
“It’s definitely a new stage of the relationship which will, for me as an actor, be really fun to play with and explore and frustrate the audience to know end,” Law joked.
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She confirmed that “anything is possible” this season now that Knight has learned to “let loose a little bit more” and chosen to make herself happy.
“The season is all about personal growth and change for every single one of our characters,” Law added. “Everybody has this amazing arc that they’re gonna be going through in regard to their emotional life and their home life outside of the office.”
NCIS airs on CBS Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
