Did NCIS slam the door on Jessica Knight and Jimmy Palmer's romance? The stars weigh in!

NCIS just had the big talk between Jimmy Palmer and Jessica Knight and the actors weigh in on what’s next!

Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for NCIS season 22 Episode 5

Since NCIS season 22 began, things have been tricky between Jessica (Katrina Law) and Jimmy (Brian Dietzen). The couple had been going strong for a while as the tough agent and the medical examiner had a great romance going.

That changed when Jessica accepted a promotion to head up her own team in San Diego. She and Jimmy talked about a long-distance relationship only for Jimmy to think it was better they break up. 

The season 22 premiere had Jessica deciding she wasn’t right for the San Diego job and returning to NCIS. However, she and Jimmy have been avoiding the talk for a while and dodgy around each other at the office.

The talk finally came in the latest episode as the two were heading back to NCIS headquarters in a camper. They were delayed because the rest of the team was clashing with the FBI on whether or not to give up codes to set up a nuclear strike against Belarus. 

As the rest of the team raced to stop World War III, Jimmy and Jessica finally had time to talk about things. The good news was they acknowledged they were still in love with each other. The bad news was that they also decided that wasn’t enough. Jimmy knew Jessica needed someone willing to follow her around the world, and that wasn’t him, while Jessica felt Jimmy needed someone who could offer him stability.

Speaking to TV Insider, both Law and Dietzen spoke about the scene, and Dietzen said it may not truly be the end. 

"While a decision is made between the two of them, I don’t think that there’s anything that’s said within there that slams the door shut on anything or establishes anything firmly in cement—because Steve, as Katrina was saying, is just a damn good writer and he’s also very smart about storytelling, and let’s leave some doors open on what may happen, but also what may not and see how it grows from there and how these two can continue to have a lot of great scenes together and see where their relationship grows from here because they’re going to be seeing each other every day at work. And what does that evolve into?"

So it seems the relationship is paused for now, but is it truly done?

Could we see Jimmy and Jessica back together on NCIS?

Law added that she also feels the talk is less of a final breakup than the pair taking a long break and might open the door in the future. 

"I think there’s still—I don’t think there was a door slamming. I think it was just gently closed for the moment. But I think the cool part is that we have several episodes where you do see Jimmy and Knight together in the same room, and there are some moments where all of a sudden you can see Knight’s interest is sparked where she’s like, “Oh, that was kind of nice. That was a little hotness there.” And so there’s definitely still chemistry and love and I think an underlying desire to want to get back together between the two of them. So I think you’re going to see that no matter where our characters go in the future."

The fact that the pair has had a long-term relationship will affect their work going forward. They seem to be okay with this new take as Jessica even teased Jimmy about becoming part of Torres’ dating app. Dietzen said Palmer joined the app over his heartbreak and a need to fill a void left by his late wife. It doesn’t mean Jimmy will be dating again and likely he and Jessica will have moments slipping into their banter before getting back into the case. Law added that Knight may be dating in the future as well and she and Dietzen hoped to “amp it up a bit.”

For future plots, we can expect a return visit from Knight’s troublesome sister (“the agent of chaos,” as Law puts it) and the return of a familiar costume of Jimmy's in the Christmas episode. For now, the show looks like it's closing the door on Jimmy and Jessica as a couple, but then doors eventually reopen.

NCIS season 22 airs Mondays at 9/8c on CBS. Stay tuned to Americans Undercover for coverage. Follow us on X for more content!