‘NCIS’ Gives Fans The Couple They’ve Been Dying to See

NCIS fans have wanted two fan-favorite characters to become a couple for a while at this point. Finally, in the Season 19 finale, it happened and was delivered in perfect fashion. During the final episode of the season, Jimmy Palmer and Jessica Knight — played by Brian Dietzen and Katrina Law, respectively — had their very first on-screen kiss. The big moment had been building over the season, as the pair were seen being very flirty throughout the seasons

Ahead of the finale, Dietzen spoke about the romantic tension between his and Law’s characters. “When you have a wonderful time on something that is a ‘date-not-a-date,’ and then you both choose not to talk about it to one another that inevitably will bring up some sort of, ‘Hey, why are we not talking about this, we had a really good time?’” Dietzen told Parade.com in an exclusive interview. “I think the next natural progression of that is should we talk about ‘Is there something there?’ I was happy that they wrote this episode to address that and say maybe there is something there.”

Speaking about the nature of Jimmy and Jessica being co-workers and friends, Dietzen said, “So, they’ve had a closeness and I can understand anyone’s perspective who says, ‘I don’t want to jeopardize that closeness for something that may not pan out.’ But I really like Jimmy’s demeanor and overall perspective of saying, ‘You’ll never catch a wave if you don’t get on that surfboard.’ There’s something to be said for that.” He added, “Yeah, we can live lives of peace and safety and never leave our house but maybe we won’t get the rewards and the great life that we want if we don’t take a chance here and there.”

Finally, Dietzen was asked about the rest of the team seeing the blossoming romance between Jimmy and Jessica, to which he replied, “I think they’re finally starting to see the light here. They’re realizing that they’ve been underestimating him for far too long. But I think the thing that really helps their perception, or maybe not helps but changes their perception, is the fact that Jimmy has become a person that each one of them in their own way goes to talk to and then opens up to.”

Dietzen continued, “We’ve seen that with Torres this year, we’ve certainly seen it with Knight and with Kasie. And, as well as that, Jimmy’s a good person. He’s a good sounding board, he’s a good guy to talk to about life. When you get to have a deeper connection with someone like that it’s hard not to root for them and to see him as something other than just an autopsy gremlin.” Fans can catch up on past seasons of NCIS anytime on Paramount+. Those interested in trying out a free trial of Paramount+ can do so by clicking here.