NCIS 21×05 “The Plan” is an episode about Jessica Knight, but it’s also an episode about Knight in Shining Palmer and the relationship they have now and the one they could have in the future. It’s also an episode about the things you think you want, the life you plan for, and the life you end up with.
Jessica’s side brings out a different side of Agent Knight, one that has to do with the expectations of others and one that feels very familiar to children of immigrants. And yet, this hour isn’t just about those expectations, it’s about Jessica’s decisions and how those decisions involve the relationship she’s now in.
So let us talk about that plan Jessica has taken a detour from, where this episode leaves Knight in Shinning Palmer and that little bit of angst as we discuss NCIS 21×05 “The Plan”:
THE BEST-LAID PLANS
In NCIS 21×05 “The Plan” we see Jessica’s life come into direct contradiction not just with what her father wants — and expects — from her, but what Jessica herself had planned for her life. And yet, the thing is, plans change. Life isn’t something you can control, not really. And it isn’t something you should try to control. Because Jessica Knight right now has managed something she couldn’t have expected, she’s happy. And isn’t that more important than the plan?
Her father might not think so at first. It’s so hard when you’ve lived a life that is so tied to your accomplishments, to see happiness as the ultimate goal. But by the end, he’s maybe starting to come around. He’s not there yet, but he’s trying. Because he sees that Jessica is happy. And Jimmy is part of that. But she’s happy because she’s making her own decisions. And he, as her father, should respect that.
Plans are all fine and good. We should make them. But we shouldn’t become slaves to them. Sometimes things go the way we plan them. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes people come into our lives that we didn’t plan for. And if those people make us happy, well …happpines should be the end goal for life, shouldn’t it?
THE LOVE YOU NEED
There’s a lot of good sentiments in NCIS 21×05 “The Plan,” and there’s a little bit of angst — enough that it might be easier to hold onto that, to come out of this hour feeling a tad anxious about where Knight in Shining Palmer goes next. For me, however, this episode exemplifies what makes Jessica and Jimmy work as a couple, even if it also showcases how much we need a Season 22 and beyond for them to grow together.
At first glance, they might not be the most obvious couple, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need. Someone who pushes you out of your comfort zone. Someone who makes you see the world differently. And someone who is there for you when you just need a hand to hold, a shoulder to rest your head on.
They are friends first and found family before anything. That’s the strongest foundation there is for a love that can carry you through the hardest times and a love that can support you through anything. Procedurals are the land of great couples. There’s Mulder and Scully. There’s Bones and Booth. There’s Castle and Beckett. The NCIS franchise has given us Tiva and Densi. And now, well …not we have Palmer and Knight. Who would have thought?
RIGHT NOW
There’s a little bit of angst in NCIS 21×05 “The Plan,” and it comes from Jessica stumbling upon her words as she tries to explain to Jimmy what he means to her. “Right now” to her doesn’t mean she isn’t committed, it means she doesn’t see life the way Jimmy does, not yet.
“You may not be part of my dad’s plan, but you are part of mine,” she tells him later, as close to a declaration of commitment as Jessica Knight gets. But the “right now” lingers in Jimmy’s mind, one can tell. He’d fall on the sword for her if she asked. He’s ready to fall on the sword without her asking, as soon as she brings up her dad’s position, which she never intended on taking.
This is partly insecurity and partly a bad combo of who they are as people and how their personalities potentiate each other’s fears. Jimmy doesn’t know how to ask for more. Jessica doesn’t always know how to say what she feels. In the end, they both need to take a little step out of their comfort zone for the relationship to work. That’s what you do when you love someone.
Things I think I think:
- Come on, McGee. All these years later and you think you can just walk into the office talking about something so sus and not dish? This is what family is all about!
- Torres and Knight being so quick to look at his screen is what this team is all about, I’m telling you.
- Half-sister. Yiikes.
- Jessica’s dad is coming oh yay (not? I’m unclear here).
- Okay, so Jessica’s dad doesn’t know about Jimmy. But why?
- Look Dad, this is a really compromising situation, okay? Start explaining.
- Family is also going from “Please leave” to “Love you,” okay? Okay.
- The Jimmy scene with Jessica’s dad might have been the most awkward scene I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole.
- Kudos to Brian Dietzen, he acted the hell out of that.
- MUCH MORE.
- Dad saw right through you.
- And still made him suffer.
- I mean, I respect that, not gonna lie.
- “You looked him up already?”/”Why else would I let you drive?”
- We’re dealing with “I’ll take cyanide instead of speaking level perps”? Whaaaat?
- Everyone not so subtly looking at Jess like “are you gonna go talk to him or?”
- But don’t you love how Jimmy just sees right through her?
- “Right now.”
- OUCH.
- “You may not be part of my dad’s plan, but you are a part of mine.”
- Always so eloquent, Nick.
- WHEN HE SAID I’M JUST TRYING NOT TO STAND IN YOUR WAY.
- I’m gonna go stand in traffic, Jimmy.
- Look, I don’t even mind the tiny angst.
- “He wants what’s best for me.”
- Just don’t get sacrificial on me, Jimmy.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS 21×05 “The Plan”? Share with us in the comments below!
