Since 2003, NCIS and its several spin-offs have become one of the most-watched military police TV series of all time. Revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the NCIS aka Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the franchise has consistently occupied a good rank amongst viewers and lovers of the crime and law genre.
Now renewed for a 22nd season, the original series has introduced some major changes, the most significant of them being Katrina Law’s Jessica Knight’s departure from the team. Producer Steven D. Binder recently teased that Knight would reunite with the team but it won’t be as nice of a reunion as fans might be expecting.
Jessica Knight Has Moved On But Will Reunite with the NCIS Family in Season 22
NCIS might be a military/police television series but at its core, it is a show that shows the importance of friends, family, and being part of a team. While the original cast of the show has since rotated to include a new roaster of special agents, the familial bonds and themes of friendship remain just the same.
However, in season 21, we saw Katrina Law’s Jessica Knight accepting a new position as a chief REACT training officer after experiencing two harsh situations. Now needing to depart from the series for a few seasons, NCIS season 22 will feature her away from the team. However, producer Steven D. Binder revealed in a new interview with TV Insider that the team will reunite, but not as fans would expect.
Papa Bird Parker has an empty nest in the squad room. He wants his team back but very quickly gets embroiled in something that Knight gets into trouble with. This case will bring our team back together on one level, not necessarily “yay, we’re all back here in NCIS,” but paths will cross.
While we will see them reuniting for a while, Binder teased the team will be further shaken as a result of Knight’s departure, with everyone dealing with the news differently.
Jessica Knight’s Departure Has Shaken Up the NCIS Family
Katrina Law’s NCIS Special Agent Jessica Knight appeared as a guest in season 18 but quickly became one of the fan-favorite characters of the show starting season 19. However, just when things were going interesting, Knight broke up with her boyfriend Jimmy Palmer after a distressing fight and experienced a near-death event while rescuing the team leader Alden Parker.
These chain of events led to her departure from Parker’s team, with the upcoming season 22 supposed to start off a few months after her exit. Although the team will once again reunite, Knight’s exit has led to each member of the team grappling with the event differently.
While Palmer and Knight would come across each other, Palmer has moved on in the dating scene. Producer Steven D. Binder, with regards to other characters, remarked to TV Insider,
Poor Torres. Every time he gets a family member, they leave. So he’s like, .I’m going solo Torres again.’ He goes undercover with some bad people and it doesn’t work out well… McGee applies for a deputy director position in Colorado to move up in the world… Kasie’s smarting a little bit from Knight being gone…
With several interesting cases coming up ahead, as Binder teased, and the team reuniting once again, NCIS season 22 is poised to be an entertaining watch. While Jessica Knight’s departure might have hurt fans, the storyline remains resonating and close to reality.
NCIS Season 22 will premiere on October 14, 2024 on CBS.
