Is Jess Knight Leaving NCIS? Katrina Law Says…
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Following the Season 21 finale of NCIS, fans are worried that one special agents time on the show has come to an end. Is Jess Knight leaving NCIS? Keep reading to find out.
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NCIS is CBS’ decades-long police procedural that focuses on the personal and professional lives of special agents in the Naval Criminal Investigation Service’s Major Case Response Team, which investigates criminal activity involving the United States Navy, Marine Corps and their families. The series premiered in 2003 and it is the third-longest-running U.S. primetime drama currently on air. Its success has led to several different spin-offs, including the 14-season hit NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: Hawai’i and NCIS: Sydney, among others.
Special Agent Jessica Knight was first introduced to viewers during Season 18. Played by Katrina Law, Knight is the daughter of Feng Zhao, Special Agent in Charge of the Far East Field Office. She is also the girlfriend of NCIS Chief Medical Examiner Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen), with the pair starting a relationship in Season 20. Fans have grown to love Knight and Palmer together, and it’s hard to imagine the show without her. However, the Season 21 finale and recent interviews from the cast have sparked speculation that Knight might not be back for Season 22. Is Jess Knight leaving NCIS? Here’s everything we know.
Is Jess Knight leaving NCIS?
Is Jess Knight leaving NCIS? In the NCIS Season 21 finale, “Reef Madness,” NCIS Director Leon Vance (played by Rocky Carroll) offers Knight the job of Chief React Training Officer at Camp Pendleton (The previous person in the role took Knight’s father’s job after she turned it down). Though tempted, Knight is undecided on if she’s ready to leave the NCIS, so Vance gives her until the end of the day to think about it.
Vance checks in on Knight’s decision at the end of the episode while the team is in the hospital, where Supervisory Special Agent Alden Parker is recovering from a mission. After Vance asks her for her decision, Knight looks around the room to her team — Parker, Nick Torres, Timothy McGee, Kasie Hines and her boyfriend Dr. Jimmy Palmer, who knows what Knight’s decision would mean for their relationship. Ultimately, Knight accepts the offer, leaving her future with the NCIS (and on the series) in question. “Hell yeah, sir,” she says to Vance. “Let’s do it.”
So, is Jess Knight leaving NCIS? While Knight’s exit hasn’t been confirmed, co-showrunner Steven D. Binder hinted to TVLine after the finale that there’s still a chance that Knight will remain on the series. He also told the outlet that viewers will be happy with the cliffhanger’s result, which leads us to believe that Knight will remain on the show, so her fan-favorite relationship with Palmer can continue.
“Well, we set something up there…,” Binder said. “And I will point you to our track record where you just never know. We’ve had people look like they were going away and then it turned out they weren’t, and then we had people who just disappeared, like Gibbs.” He continued, “So I will say this: We do aim to please, and we think the audience will be satisfied with where they see this go.”
When asked about whether she will return for Season 22, Law told TVLine, “Hmmm…. Better tune in for that season opener!” She also told the site that she knew Knight would take Vance’s offer even before she finished the script for the finale.
“I kind of knew it was coming. The biggest part of the ‘Hell yeah’ decision for me, when I sat down with Jose Hernandez the director and also Scott Williams the writer, was, ‘At what point does Knight decide that she is going to take this job ?'” she said. “And I think it goes all the way up to the very end, when she sits next to Parker right before she leaves his hospital room. That’s the moment she makes the decision, when she sees this man with him she just went to hell and back. That had a real impact on her.”
Prior to the episode, Carroll, who plays Vance, teased how his character’s offer to Knight would change the the course of her career. “It’s a legacy offer, her dad’s position [Special Agent-in-Charge of the NCIS Far East Field Office] that she was interested in at some point,” he told TV Insider. “I also think Vance knows that Agent Knight is at a crossroads personally and professionally, and a change of venue, a change of scenery might do her good.”
Carroll continued: “He knows that sometimes change of location allows you to clear your head,” explains Carroll. “There’s a lot of things going on personally— her relationship with Jimmy [Brian Dietzen], her relationship with her dad … I think he’s thinking a fresh start might just be the thing for her.”
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Earlier in the season, Palmer and Knight faced a hurdle in their relationship when Knight’s dad came to visit. During the visit, Palmer learned that Knight never told her father about their relationship because it wasn’t part of “The Plan,” which entails Knight rising through the ranks and becoming the Director of NCIS. Zhao (played by Russell Wong) also told Knight that he was retiring and had put her name on the shortlist for his job. Although this worried Palmer because he didn’t want to get in the way of her career, Knight assured him that she is “happy right now” with him and Victoria, Palmer’s daughter, in her life.
Now that the job is officially hers for the taking, though, fans are wondering if the “right now” will come to an end. In an interview with Us Weekly, Law said that she is rooting for Knight and Palmer, but is aware that they might not be end game. “It does become a question of did they jump in too fast, too furious? Is this the right time? Are they using each other as a crutch or is this a legitimate love story?” Law said of the duo’s relationship. “And if it is a legitimate love story, is this going to be a bump or a complete stopping point?”
Of the couple potentially breaking up, she added: “Brian Dietzen is a wonderful acting partner, and we have so much fun working together. So the thought of not being able to have as many scenes with him is heartbreaking.” The actress continued, “I want what’s best for the characters each individually in the long run. And we don’t know what that is yet.”
In a Reddit thread, fans discussed the potential of Knight leaving the Major Case Response Team. “Ugh I really like Jess! I don’t want to see her go,” one fan wrote. Another added: “I don’t think this is the end of her on the show, but I don’t think she and Jimmy will come back from that easily.” A third fan chimed in: “UGGH I was really hoping at least one character on this show could have a healthy and happy relationship.”
Ahead of the episode Law teased that “some big fundamental changes are about to happen,” to Knight in an interview with Deadline. Dietzen added that viewers “should worry about a lot of characters.” Seemingly hinting at a Knight/Palmer breakup, he said: “There are a lot of things that are going to be happening, not just the danger that our characters are put through, but also dynamics that are going to be shifting. Potentially even between Jimmy and Jess, this couple that has been fantastic for the last two years. I have to say, it’s my favorite finale script that we’ve had in years. It’s so good.”
NCIS airs on CBS on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET and streams on Paramount+.
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For more on NCIS, check out this gallery on the cast’s real-life partners.
