NCIS fans have noticed that there seems to be a growing attraction between Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Jessica Knight (Katrina Law). The long-time partners have had a few unique connections, such as Torres briefly dating Knight’s sister Robin while Knight broke up with her boyfriend Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen).
However, the pair have been getting cozier on some recent cases. That included an episode when the two were stuck out in the woods and cuddled up to conserve body heat even as they bickered back and forth.
Speaking to TV Line at the CBS Fest, the cast opened up on the recent push for the pair to be together. Wilmer Valderrama hinted this may be the start of something after all.
"I think they're just leaving the door cracked. Look, I think we throw a drop of blood in the water, and we see it bubble up. We might follow the breadcrumbs into a storyline. But I think we try to kind of play with all those themes. Because when you work with people for this long, there are these things that happen, you know, and it's very normal."
Valderrama added that this would be so messy with “[Nick], Jimmy and Knight. It might be good TV. Who knows? But we're also not 'Grey's Anatomy,' so maybe we won't go there. We'll see how it goes."
Law teased how “I do see a fight breaking out” between Torres and Palmer while saying, "I think the writers have done a beautiful job of setting it up so that anything is possible. I think each character has their thoughts of what may happen, but that's kind of the beauty of it.”
Diona Reasonover, who plays lab tech Kasie, jokingly has a name for the complex love triangle: “Nick at Knight in Shining Palmer." That’s a fun joke, yet is this really happening?
NCIS is no stranger to team members getting romantically involved (see Tony and Ziva). Yet some fans may prefer Knight to get back with Palmer rather than with Torres. If anything, the pair may be too much alike to be a good couple. They’re both headstrong, hot-tempered, and jumping into situations, so the dynamics may not make for a long-term romance.
Showrunner Steven D. Binder didn’t say if a romance may happen and the writers are just playing on the natural chemistry of the actors, yet didn’t rule out the chances of it.
"We always insist on everything being truthful to the moment. The things people say are real. The feelings they have are real…Sometimes life is messy, and sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants. I'm not saying that we're writing toward anything, but you could see Jess and Nick having a little crush on each other and knowing it's horrible and icky and gross and they don't want to do it, because of Jimmy and her sister... But maybe they do. And then what happens? Now again, I'm not saying that's the thing we're writing towards, but we're not writing away from it."
Binder insists the writers aren’t playing with the fan emotions by teasing this; they’re just touching on the actual feelings the characters had in that moment. It’s intriguing, as for every fan that would love to see Torres and Knight together, another prefers them as just partners. We’ll see if this happens or not, but it’s a major turn for NCIS fans going forward.
NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on CBS.
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