NCIS fans are still reeling from Jessica Knight and Jimmy Palmer’s split — but their romance isn’t the only one to focus on in season 22.
Katrina Law, who plays Knight, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month that Wilmer Valderrama’s Nick Torres is going to stir up trouble with his love life. “His romance is gonna cause some drama,” she teased. “It’s gonna be awesome.”
Torres revealed during episode 3, which aired on October 28, that he was pushing for the office to get a new workout room partly because he’s “trying to get my mind right.”
Torres confided in Knight at the time that he wants to “get back out there, back in the game.” He clarified he meant the “love game” after getting his heart broken by Ellie Bishop (Emily Wickersham) three years prior when she abruptly left the team and terminated her budding relationship with Torres. (Wickersham exited the series in 2021 after eight seasons.)
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“It’s been too long since I’ve had a special person in my life,” he confessed, explaining that if he is to find someone new, “I have to put my best self out there.”
Brian Dietzen, who portrays Palmer, hinted that Torres’ dating life is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to new flames for the NCIS team.
“There’s some romance that’s happening — I can’t give away too much — but not just with Torres,” Dietzen, 46, exclusively told Us in a joint interview with Law, 39. “There’s gonna be some other people on the team as well that might find some [romance].”
He pointed out that fans have already seen that with Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll), who revealed during season 22, episode 2, that he wanted something more serious with his long-distance partner, Lena Paulsen (Marem Hassler). “He has something that he is exploring,” Dietzen said of Vance.
“That’s what I love so much about our show is that, you know, there are other TV shows or other procedurals that [are] the rip from the headlines sort of stuff and really focus on the case of the week, which our show does well,” Dietzen said. “But also, our shows are ripped from the characters. And we get to see how these cases affect the people that are solving them.”
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He added: “The heavy focus and character development [we have], it’s what keeps me coming back to work. I think it’s what keeps people watching this thing.”
When it comes to their characters’ relationship, Law and Dietzen told Us that Knight and Palmer haven’t “slammed” the door on romance, but it’s “gently closed at the moment.”
During the November 4 episode, Knight and Palmer finally talked after breaking up at the end of season 21. While Knight hinted that she was open to getting back together, Palmer reminded her that they aren’t currently what the other person needs.
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“There’s definitely still looks between Jimmy and Knight. The attraction is still alive, and you know, these two are still kind of checking each other out,” Law teased of the pair. “It’s not gone.”
Dietzen noted that viewers will have to wait and see if their split is “set in stone” or if they’ll “trend back there again.”
NCIS airs on CBS Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
