‘NCIS’ Stars Hint at Rekindling Romance Between Their Characters

The door isn’t shut for a romance between NCIS characters Jessica Knight and Jimmy Palmer.

It’s been five seasons since Special Agent Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) first made waves in the CBS procedural, and it didn’t take long for her to form a burgeoning romance with medical examiner Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen). That relationship reached a stopping point, however, when Jessica accepted a job across the country last season, and the two agreed they would be better as friends through the move.

Now, however, Dietzen tells TVLine that he doesn’t think a rekindled romance between Jimmy and Jessica is out of the question. “I think that they decided to kind of close that to a semi-open door,” he told the outlet. “They decided, ‘Hey, now is not the right time. So let’s figure out what other things we have going on in our lives. And you know, if something’s meant to be, it’s meant to be, and it’ll happen sometime in the future, but for right now, let’s not push for it.’”

A possible reunion is only made more complicated by a potential romance between Jessica and Special Agent Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) that was first teased earlier this season.

Fans might get answers during Tuesday’s episode, however, with Dietzen, who co-wrote the episode, teasing that the team’s use of an experimental AI chatbot will bring Jimmy’s feelings to the forefront.

The chatbot “starts asking him things that might bring up some of these questions about what he’s doing with his life,” Dietzen told TVLine. “It’s a fun episode, and it’s gonna ask a lot of questions, and hopefully people who are wondering: Will Torres and Knight be a thing? Will Jimmy and Knight be a thing? Which way is this thing gonna go?”

He continued, “I wouldn’t say it answers any of those big questions, but it definitely does maybe pose a few more. It might at least show where one of those people is, out of the three, where their head’s at.”

As for “single woman” Jessica, Law told TVLine that “anything is possible with anyone,” explaining that while she and Jimmy “could make a comeback,” there’s also “an allure” to Torres as well.

“I think there’s a genuine love there” between Jessica and Torres, Law added, but “it’s complicated by the fact that I dated his best friend and he dated my sister, and it would be really complicated.”

“But isn’t that kind of what people on television love to do? Just make things really complicated and messy,” she added. “So I wouldn’t necessarily close the door on that, and it might be fun to explore that.” 

Law is still holding out hope for Jimmy and Jessica, however. “That being said, I do love the idea of Knight and Jimmy getting back together,” she confessed.

NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.