[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the NCIS Season 21 finale “Reef Madness.”]
“This is one of my favorite episodes of my entire career span on NCIS. It’s so beautifully done and hits so many emotional levels for many different characters,” says Katrina Law, speaking with us about the twenty-first season finale for NCIS: Case Closed, our weekly aftershow.
It was particularly tough for her character, Special Agent Jessica Knight, who got an angry breakup speech from her boyfriend, Chief Medical Examiner Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) after he heard she was considering taking a new job in California. Watch the video above for the two actors’ breakdown of the episode.
“It was a wonderfully human reaction that happens, that’s not planned,” Dietzen says. “Jimmy lost one of his best friends and his mentor this year. Losing his wife, even though it’s been a few years [still affects him]. Him saying, ‘I want something on my own terms’ — I can understand why that happened even if it’s not said eloquently or there’s a harsh edge that’s unusual to see from Jimmy Palmer.”
Robert Voets / CBS
That side of Jimmy sent Knight reeling. But things got much worse when a murderer locked her and boss Alden Parker (Gary Cole) below deck in a ship set to be blown up. The scenes were shot on a 30-year-old set once used for JAG (the show that launched NCIS) on a sound stage in Southern California.
Parker suffered a life-threatening injury and Law says Cole’s performance was so good she was genuinely concerned for his real-life health. “I remember looking at him and being like, ‘Oh, you don’t look well. This isn’t acting. Are you okay?’”
The character was so badly hurt that he began hallucinating a mysterious childhood memory: playing on a ship with a little girl named Lily. When Knight asked the hospitalized Parker about it later, he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) go into it. “It’ll be interesting to see if Parker continues to deny his knowledge of who Lily is or if he goes forward and suddenly has a confessional moment,” Law says.
The team’s fearless leader only lived because Knight realized that to save him, she’d have to swim for help. For the underwater sequences, a small tank was built, and Law crowded in with a wetsuit-clad camera operator. “I’m a pretty strong swimmer. I used to surf. I scuba dive. I’m pretty comfortable and happy in the water,” Law says. “That being said, I always have a mask on, or my eyes are closed.” For this scene, she had to deal with myriad technical issues, including the possibility her contact lenses might float away. (Watch the video for details.)
With everyone safely back on land at the episode’s end, Knight agreed to take the California job. Law told us she’s been informed she’s staying on the show: “The writers said that they were going to bring me back, but they lie sometimes, so we’ll see what happens.” So, what could the producers come up with to keep Knight in DC?
“Maybe she goes and takes this job and realizes that she truly loves her NCIS team, or maybe she just wants to be back in a relationship with Jimmy full time. Maybe something happens with the NCIS team that calls her back. I think there’s a whole plethora of reasons that could make her either come back or stay,” Law says.
Click on the video to hear from Law and Dietzen about fascinating behind the scenes details; their favorite Palmer and Knight scenes of all time; and how much Law really knows about The Poseidon Adventure.
NCIS, Season 22, Fall 2024, CBS