Katrina Law addressed her future as NCIS character, Agent Knight, after the show's Season 22 premiere.
After several months off, the cast of NCIS returned to TV screens for its 22nd season.
NCIS Season 22 debuted on Monday, October 14, continuing to follow the exploits of Washington, DC's Naval Criminal Investigative Service team as they aim to take down various criminal threats both at home and abroad.
Katrina Law's NCIS Future Adressed
Fans are worried Katrina Law's Agent Jessica Knight may be readying to exit NCIS after its Season 22 premiere.
The latest batch of NCIS episodes kicked off with Law's character coming face-to-face with the action as a member of the REACT team she took a role in at the end of Season 21. Episode 1 saw her taken as a holding hostage during an undercover sting, insitgating her return to the NCIS team proper.
Her bravery in tacking the situation head-on, earned her the offer of a promotion by the end of the Season 22 premiere. This new job would have seen her continuing to climb the ladder away from the NCIS squad for a position at the Office of Strategic Support.
This caused audiences to get nervous about the character's future on the series, wondering if, after five seasons, she would be sunsetted after accepting a new position elsewhere in federal law enforcement.
That, however, does not look to be the case, as Law's Agent Knight turned the opportunity down, coming back to the NCIS team and thus staying a part of the hit CBS series.
Law justified this decision in an interview with TV Insider, saying that, at one point, she NCIS character would "immediately taken [the new] job and she would’ve just sacrificed her happiness," but not any more:
"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."
In a separate conversation with Cinema Blend, Law revealed that her character could not stay away from the NCIS squad she came to know and love.
The NCIS actor posited that getting the opportunity for a new job was something she was "genuinely excited about," but once a character like Gary Cole's Special Agent Parker came walking in, she knew she had to go back:
"I think one of the reasons why Knight wanted to go back was that when she was at Camp Pendleton, she was genuinely happy. She had a great time, she left her new job, she left California. It was everything that she expected it to be. But I think there was something gnawing at her that she couldn't quite put her finger on, and I think maybe she thought, 'Oh, it's because I just moved, it's a new job, it’s growing pains, blah, blah, blah.' But as soon as Parker walked in, I think it all came into focus for her, of her going, 'I actually miss and love my team and I love what we do.'"
She compared her character coming back to not calling a family member or friend for months, only to eventually pick up the phone and having it feel like "you never left off:"
"So when she goes back, it's kind of like that family or member or that friend who, if you haven't spoken to them in six months, but then you pick up the phone and you call them and it's like you never left off."
When asked if Law may ever have regrets about turning down the job as seen in the Season 22 premiere, the NCIS actress admitted that she might, but right now it is about "the strength that Knight finds from making her own career decisions" (via The Wrap):
"Now she’s decided to step into the sunlight. I think there’s freedom and the strength that Knight finds from making her own career decisions and personal decisions that are 100% her own. That also means that all of her mistakes, all of her regrets, all of her pitfalls, anything that she does wrong, are now also 100% on her shoulders."
Law believes that Agent Knight's near-death hostage situation in Season 22 really helped shape who she will be going forward in the series.
The TV star told Parade that this series of events "fundamentally changed her," and that will be something that will be seen in the rest of the new season:
"I think it fundamentally changed her. It changed the relationship with her and Parker. The two of them have a bond now that I don't think she expected to have with him and that plays out really beautifully this entire season. But, I think, again going back to the ’You know what? Can't make my dad happy, can't make Jimmy happy. I almost died, I'm just going to live.’"
One of the major plot points coming in the next few episodes, will see Law's Agent Knight and her ex-on-screen-love-interest, Brian Dietzen's Dr. Jimmy Palmer, crossing paths for the first time since they split and having to deal with that.
Law has made it clear the two characters have might be putting on some brave faces about working together again, but they will eventually have to reconcile with the fact that they will have to involve themselves with each other again (at least professionally) whether they like it or not (via TV Line):
"The two of them are so set on just making things work and acting like they’re OK and that nothing has happened, but all of a sudden in Episode 4 they are caught in a situation where they are by themselves, alone, and they cannot leave, and all of a sudden they’re going, 'Well, guess we kind of have to have a talk now!'"
All of this comes as Law's future within the series was teased by NCIS showrunner Steven D. Binder, who told fans in May that she was likely not going anywhere, which clearly looks to be the case.
NCIS Season 22 continues with new episodes every Monday at 8 p.m. ET before streaming on Paramount+ The next day.
