[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the NCIS Season 22 premiere “Empty Nest.”]
Jessica Knight “is an adrenaline junkie,” Katrina Law points out. Her job as Chief REACT training officer? Well, that didn’t really satisfy that part of her. But she did get a taste of it in the NCIS Season 22 premiere, in which she became the one holding hostages—two suspects in her case, which involved a missing undercover agent: Torres (Wilmer Valderrama)!
And, after it was all wrapped up, Knight was offered a promotion, with her tactical actions noticed by the Office of Strategic Support. But she turned it down. She was tempted, however, as “any person who is ambitious” would be, Law tells TV Insider. (Watch the full interview above.)
“Even if you know that it might not be the job that you want, even if you know that it might not lead to immediate happiness, for ambition, you have to climb that ladder and you know that some rungs of the ladder might not be as comfortable or as wonderful as the next rung,” she continues. “But I think ultimately, this is the point that Knight is at in her life where before she would’ve immediately taken that job and she would’ve just sacrificed her happiness, her wellbeing to do what she was supposed to do. And for the first time she’s going, you know what? I think I’m going to pause and I think I’m actually just going to do what makes me happy and what instinctively feels right.”
Instead, Knight is returning to where she belongs: back in D.C. with her team, Parker (Gary Cole), McGee (Sean Murray), and Torres. It’s easy for her to settle back in, Law says. One relationship that definitely hasn’t suffered? Hers with Kasie (Diona Reasonover). “They’ve been talking pretty much every day since she left, so they’ve been texting like BFFs,” she says.
Related‘NCIS’ Season 22: Details on Knight’s Departure, Future With Palmer, New Cases, Storylines (Exclusive)
But Knight has a lot of ground to cover with her ex-boyfriend, Dr. Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen). “Even though they broke up, there is true love between the two of them and a genuine affection and respect,” says Law, noting the issues that came up as a result of her move to California. “There’s a lot of loss on both sides and a lot of trauma that comes with it. So it’ll be interesting to see if they recognize that, if they talk about it, if their love overcomes that. But ultimately I think there are going to be some really fun and awkward, awkward, awkward moments.”
The fourth episode will be a major one for the exes. At that point, Knight will have been back with the team for weeks, if not months, “but yet they haven’t spoken about anything and now all of a sudden they are in a situation where they are sitting next to each other with no way out and the conversation needs to be had,” Law previews. “And I don’t know how it’s going to be edited or how it’s going to come across the audience, but I think that there is a very definitive moment where Knight opens up the door to say, do you want to stay this way or would you like something to possibly change? And Jimmy has a reaction that kind of breaks her heart a little bit.”
So while Knight may want to get back together with him, she continues, “I think she realizes that there are these fundamental issues that she cannot work through with him, that he has to do his own work on these issues to become whole again and she just needs to take a step back.”
Watch the full video interview above with Law about Knight’s choice at the end of the premiere, her and Palmer’s relationship, what’s coming up, and more.
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