The crime-solving may hook us, but NCIS fans know the truth — we’re just as invested in the team’s love lives. And few dynamics have been as quietly compelling as the will-they-won’t-they between Jimmy Palmer and Jessica Knight.
After sparking a romance back in Season 18, the pair hit a major crossroads when Jessica accepted a job in California. Last season, they decided to stay friends for now — Jessica craving freedom, Jimmy craving stability. But as Katrina Law and Brian Dietzen reveal, the story isn’t over.
“The door isn’t shut,” says Brian Dietzen
Speaking at the NCIS 500th episode celebration, Dietzen told TVLine that Jimmy and Jessica agreed to keep things “semi-open.”
“They decided: Now’s not the right time,” he says. “If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen in the future.”
And that “future” may arrive sooner than expected.
In this week’s episode — which Dietzen co-wrote — an experimental AI chatbot forces Jimmy to confront some big questions about his life… and possibly his love life. It won’t answer everything, Dietzen teases, but it will reveal “where one of those people’s heads is at.”
Katrina Law: “Anything is possible”
Law describes Jessica as a strong, independent woman who’s open to where life leads — whether that’s back to Jimmy or toward something more complicated with Torres.
“There’s a genuine love there,” she says of the Knight–Torres connection, though she fully admits it’s messy. “But isn’t that what TV loves?”
Still, she’s rooting for the original pairing.
“I do love the idea of Knight and Jimmy getting back together.”
Team Jimmy & Jess — or Team Knight & Torres?
With emotional storylines brewing and love triangles bubbling, Season 23 is setting the stage for some heartfelt, possibly messy, romantic choices.
Who are you rooting for?
