[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for NCIS Season 21 Episode 5 “The Plan.”]
Talk about criminal! The romantic relationship between medical examiner Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) and Agent Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) hit a major snag in tonight’s NCIS episode. Earnest Jimmy finally met Knight’s dad, Special Agent in Charge of the Far East Field Office Feng Zhao (Russell Wong), and was devastated to realize the man nicknamed “the Gibbs of the Far East” had never heard of him.
Even worse, the uncomfortable moment for the couple, who’ve been dating for about a year, happened in front of the whole team. “That scene where Jimmy comes in with coffee and meets my dad for the first time might be my favorite scene of the season. It was so beautifully awkward, and everybody just knocked it out of the park,” Law told us in our weekly after show NCIS: Case Closed. (To see the entire interview where she breaks down the episode, check out the video above.)
Knight makes a profuse apology to Jimmy and vows that she loves him and wants to stay in DC — even after Feng Zhao suggests she take on his powerful job after he retires. But Law reflects that the damage to may be irreparable.
“I think for Jimmy, he’s never quite the same after this episode when it comes to Knight. His trust level for her has gone down. It’s going to be a bumpy little road for them,” Law says. “Because of Jimmy’s experiences with losing Gibbs [Mark Harmon], losing his wife, Bishop [Emily Wickersham] leaving, Ducky [David McCallum] having passed away, he’s starting to get into a very defensive position about people leaving him without him having a say or even knowledge that it’s about to happen. His defenses are getting riled up in ways that are not something that Knight has necessarily noticed yet.”
Sounds like Knight may be the next one to get a surprise in the relationship. But there are bigger shocks to come for the entire team. “A lot happens in the season finale that tests all of our characters and puts everybody in a life-or-death situation,” Law says. “It’ll be interesting to see people’s mentality when they come out, and how that one experience has changed them.”
Watch the video above to hear more from Law on shooting those kick-ass fight scenes with Wong, using her Mandarin fluency, and more. Come back each week for a new episode of NCIS: Case Closed to hear from the people who make the show.
NCIS, Mondays, 9/8c, CBS