One of the big questions fans have going into season 23 of NCIS is if the romance between medical examiner Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) and Agent Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) will eventually lead to a reunion. Romances on NCIS have always been tricky, so is it possible they could break the curse?
Showrunner Steven D. Binder had been asked about the couple in a discussion with TVLine; however, he did not confirm they would reunite. At the same time, he also did not say it wouldn’t happen. He was quoted as saying, “there is more” there in terms of story for Jimmy and Jessica. That didn’t necessarily mean they would pick things back up again.
"Another beat [in that story] doesn’t mean they’re back together again, because, while heartwarming and cute, that was not particularly dramatic. I think that’s why it ran its course. But yeah, there’s more there, for sure," Binder explained.
Jimmy had called it quits after Jessica got a job opportunity that took her away from the team. He was tired of losing people, and he was ready to let go instead of fighting for their relationship. While Jessica didn’t seem to want to end things, she also wanted to see where her career would take her.
Despite coming back to the team, this did not mean they would get back together. They had to learn how to work together as a former couple. This brought an interesting dynamic between the two of them. In fact, this new aspect to their relationship could help if they did decide to get back together.
Does this mean they should, though? Issues were brewing, at least for Jimmy. He likely still needs to deal with his feelings of loss, especially in terms of having not only lost his wife, Breena, but also his colleague and mentor, Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard.
However, the show decides to portray their relationship, whether as exes turned colleagues or getting back together, fans are looking forward to seeing where the show takes them in the next season.
They did admit in season 22, episode 4 that while the love was there, they recognized they needed to work on who they were as individuals before the idea of a relationship could come back into the fold.
Since then, we have not seen much growth, whether individually or together, so season 23 could show what it’s like for them to either come together or be further apart if they decide it’s better to remain friends.
It is likely this will be a question that won’t be dealt with right away, especially since season 22 ended with the murder of Agent Alden Parker’s (Gary Cole) father. Plus, Palmer also found a discrepancy in Parker’s mother’s death report that made him suspicious. He went to Knight to tell her about this, so we could see something brewing behind the scenes if they work together about this particular area.
Even though we do need to wait til the fall of 2025 to see them back in action, you can watch their relationship unfold in past episodes on Paramount+.