NCIS: Katrina Law Teases a Heartbreaking, Wonderful Talk Between Knight and Jimmy Is Coming

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for NCIS, Season 22 Episode 1, "Empty Nest." Read at your own risk!]

Katrina Law's Jessica Knight is back with the NCIS Major Case Response Team. At the end of the NCIS Season 22 premiere, "Empty Nest," Knight has to make a choice between taking another promotion or returning to her team. In an unsurprising move for fans, she chooses to come back to the office, which means we are going to be seeing Law regularly this season.

The doubts about whether Law would indeed be part of the cast going forward can all be traced back to Knight's decision in the NCIS Season 21 finale to accept the NCIS REACT Chief Training Officer job at Camp Pendleton. The fact that she was even considering the job proved to be too much of an issue for her boyfriend, Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen), the Chief Medical Examiner for the NCIS Major Case Response Team. So, Palmer decided to break up with Knight before she could break up with him.

Considering Palmer was one of the main reasons Knight was even considering staying in DC, that made her decision to leave much easier. The Season 22 premiere picks up six months after the fact, with Knight now settled into her job at Camp Pendleton and seemingly doing well. That is, until another member of the team, Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama), goes missing while on an undercover operation, and Knight's former boss Alden Parker (Gary Cole) comes knocking on her door asking for help. Because if there's one thing Jessica Knight can't do is leave her team hanging.

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Even if that involves a little light treason and kidnapping to get what she needs. And that's exactly what Knight does, locking herself in a room with the presumed head of the Cartel that has Nick hostage, and making sure to request the lawyer she suspects is involved. All is well that ends well, even if it was touch-and-go for a while, as the ruse ends with Torres free and Knight being recommended for a promotion. It's at that moment, however, that Knight decides all she wants is to get her old job back. Parker is very quick to say yes.

While on a break from filming, Law jumped on a Zoom call with TV Guide to discuss Knight's return to her NCIS team, Jessica Knight's relationship with Jimmy Palmer, and what we can expect to see from her character in Season 22.

Season 21 of NCIS ended with Knight taking the job of NCIS REACT Chief Training Officer at Camp Pendleton. Did you feel like, as a woman, she had to take the job? That she couldn't give up all that she'd been dreaming of because of her relationship with Palmer?

Katrina Law: I think for Knight, that comes with ambition, whether you're a man or a woman, right? A job is offered to you that's a step up the ladder and you take it because it's just going to lead you to the next thing. And I think that comes along with ambition and with wanting to further your career and whatever it is that you do. And Knight is a very ambitious person. So, it just made sense that she would take this job. I don't necessarily think that she had the active thought of, "I can't stay here for a man." But I definitely think she thought, "I can't sacrifice my career and myself for anyone," unless it's her own wants and needs.

The way she and her father had curated her detailed climb up the ladder, it climbed pretty high. So, for Knight to agree to that, to adhere to that for so many years, that's something within herself. That wasn't all her father. And when she talked about her job to Jimmy, obviously she was very happy about it. And she was trying to figure out, like, do I want this job? And I think she was probably leaning toward yes. And I think she was leaning towards, "Well, how do we make this work," right? But I think she was also going into it knowing that this isn't a forever job. She's not going to be going to Camp Pendleton and stay as the REACT Training Officer forever. She was definitely viewing it as, well, this is just another step on the ladder. And eventually, it will bring me back to D.C. and that we, as a relationship, are strong enough to make it through that rung to the next rung.

But when Jimmy kind of had his meltdown and broke it off with her, I think it brought to focus some of the issues that the two of them had been having that they hadn't ever really talked about before and maybe not even quite realized. And they were issues of abandonment, issues of loss that both of them had experienced. And both of them also have a very people-pleasing, a little bit of that toxic trait in them, that can self-sabotage them both. And I think she just realized, I can't keep trying to fix things for you. And I can't keep living in fear of losing like I did my REACT team.

And so, for her, I think it was a no-brainer. She just had to take this job because when she looked at Jimmy, I think she just realized these are things that you need to work out on your own. And I need to do this for me, because I can already tell that this will be an instant regret if I don't take this job. So yes, and no to your question.

But now she's coming back to the NCIS Major Case Response Team, and we see at the end of the premiere that Jimmy is very excited to have her back. Where does Knight currently stand on that? Is she thinking they're going to pick things back up where they left off? Or does she need some time? Because the issues are still there.

Law: So, this is how much the issues aren't resolved. In true Jimmy and Knight fashion, they don't talk about it for several episodes. They actually completely ignore everything. And it's awkward and it's a little strange, but they're just kind of like, yeah, we'll just talk about this later and we're just going to function like nothing has happened. So, he doesn't say, "Hey, I'm really excited you're back." I don't say, "Good to see you again." We just kind of go back to work and pretend like nothing happened. 

But then there is Episode 4 where the two of us get caught in a situation where we are together and we can't get out of the situation. And we're finally forced to have that talk. And it's an amazing scene and episode. It's heartbreaking, it's wonderful, it's charming. It's the two of them. So, yeah, they do finally have that talk and it's really beautiful.

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There's a moment near the end of the premiere where Knight tells Parker, "This wasn't for me," about the REACT job. And some of that is obviously about missing Palmer, but not all of it is. How did you conceptualize that for Knight? What is she missing?

Law: Yes, as much as she loved being at Camp Pendleton, as much as she loved her job, there was definitely an aspect that was missing for her. And I don't know whether she was aware of it at the time, but there was something kind of gnawing at her going, "I'm not quite settled here." And maybe she just kind of shucked it off as it's a new city, it's a new state, new job, new friends, new everything. But as soon as Parker comes back into play, she sees his face, things start to click for her pretty quickly that she's missing the adrenaline rush. She's missing the camaraderie and the love and family that she's built up over the past four years.

And even though technically going back to NCIS is a demotion for her, I think she just has come to the realization for the first time in her life that climbing up the ladder is not the most important thing for her. And that, yes, she might not stay at NCIS forever. Kind of like the REACT job, maybe this is just a little bit of a blip, but this is where she wants to be right now. And this is where she needs to be. She needs to be with her family. She needs to be where the love is. And she needs to be where she feels fulfilled and the most useful.

I think that's where it takes her back. And I don't think she necessarily goes back with the intention of getting back together with Jimmy. I think she goes back with the intention of, I just want to be back to what I was before because that felt really good and that felt right.

You teased a little bit about Palmer and Knight and what we're going to see from the two of them going forward. But is there something you can tell us about Jessica Knight's individual journey of growth? What can we expect to see from her this season?

Law: I think this is the beginning. Episode 1 is the beginning stages of a big personal growth spurt for Knight. She's been in the shadow of her father for years and very happily doing so. But now that she stepped out into the sunlight on her own, making decisions and making career choices with nobody else's feelings attached, it's very freeing and it's liberating for her. But that also means that whatever mistakes she makes are also 100% on her own shoulders, including regrets.

And I think this season you're going to see Knight discover who she is without the influence of her father and without the influence of Jimmy. And I think she is a wild card and she's always been that adrenaline junkie. She's always loved the chase, but she kind of started to try to sculpt and mold herself to fit more into the corporate structure that she and her dad thought she should be in. And then mold herself into a good girlfriend who takes care of her man and her man's kid. And all of a sudden, she's going, you know what? I couldn't make my dad happy. I couldn't make Jimmy happy. So, I'm just going to do my own thing. So, I think you're going to see Knight kind of wild out a little bit this season on her own. And I think it's going to be a fun journey to see, to discover Knight.

NCIS airs Mondays at 9/8c on CBS, with episodes streaming next day on Paramount+.