NCIS Season 22, Episode 14 ‘Close to Home’ is one of the best episodes of the season and proof—not that we really needed it—that this show is still invested in Jimmy Palmer and Jessica Knight as a couple. They’re just talking the long way to get back to where they were before. Or perhaps, the point is not to get them back to where they were before, but the find a better place for the two of them.
Everyone works well in a supporting capacity—from Uncle Nick to McGee’s commentary about parenthood, to Parker and his snacks and Kasie and her excitement about the killer—but this episode is mostly about Jimmy and Victoria. About their family. And well, also about how Jessica Knight is, without a doubt, still part of that family. Even if, right now, that family doesn’t look like any of them probably want it to.
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THE JESSICA AND JIMMY OF IT ALL
NCIS Season 22, Episode 14 ‘Close to Home’ finally addresses the Jessica and Jimmy of it all that the show has been pretty much ignoring since they had that conversation in ‘Sticks & Stones’ which feels like ages ago. Because yes, though that episode basically ended with them saying that they both still love each other, they just aren’t there yet, the truth is we haven’t really gotten anything that could indicate the show is still intending to invest in the ship. Not until now. And what we got here is enough to hold us over for a while.
This episode proves that those feelings are still there—and not just for Jimmy, who has always been much easier to read, but for Jessica too. Her look of pure anguish when they found Jimmy making out with the suspect will live in my mind, rent-free. Because the truth is that yes, they both still love each other. And not so deep down, they both still want each other. They just don’t know how to make the relationship work, and they’re afraid, especially considering how the breakup went, of trying again, or even really deconstructing what happened the first time they were together.
But this hour proves not just how well Jessica fits into Jimmy’s life—the life she wasn’t sure she fit into—but how much it adds to her. These are both things she and Jimmy were worried about when they decided not to try again. Neither of them wanted to hurt Victoria, and I get it. But Jessica thinking about Victoria over herself is a great sign that she’s not actually gonna abandon Victoria if things don’t work out. She hasn’t yet.
For Jimmy, on the other hand, this is a very good reminder that yes, it’s him and Victoria against the word in so many ways, but he isn’t alone. Not really.
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WHAT FAMILY DOES
When Jessica tells Jimmy that this is “what family does,” she’s being sincere. Because despite the breakup, Jimmy is family to her. But she’s also using that as a shield against what she really wants to say, what she really feels. And in a way, that’s understandable. Jessica is having to face not just a bunch of feelings she’s repressed for a while, but also a bunch of desires she didn’t even know she had. Because it’s not just Jimmy she wants, in this episode, it feels like Jessica wants the family.
What does that mean for her? Would she be willing to abandon her “dreams” for this man, this family? Or do dreams just change as you get older? Because you don’t have to follow the plan you had for your life when you were a child all the way up to adulthood, not if you realize that’s not what you really want anymore. And if Jessica really thinks about what she wants, right now, I doubt it would be a fancy job somewhere else.
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Things I think I think:
- Victoria, why are you lying to your dad?
- Torres?!
- Are these new pictures in the opening credits and did I just miss them the past few weeks?
- Why do you think she didn’t call you, Jess? Why?
- Weekly matcha date?!
- “I’ve hit my yearly quota of awkward conversations with Jimmy.” Something tells me you haven’t.
- Nick apologizing for not double-checking Jimmy knew was good.
- “Because this is where the liars go?”
- McGee with the snacks.
- “But don’t enjoy them,” Oh, Jimmy.
- Jessica’s whole “Palmers” thing.
- Parker with the snacks.
- Jessica’s LOOK to Jimmy as she walks out of the interrogation room.
- “He’s a federal agent and you’re just the ME” hurt me, Jimmy.
- “I’m sure you kill with that story at CrimeCon”
- Jessica is indeed bad at pep talks.
- And Jimmy is, indeed, a great father.
- Random people also ship Jimmy and Jess.
- But also, why did Jessica pick the RV moment in the woods as the moment she knew she couldn’t live without Jimmy? And how did we get no follow-up on that?
- Jessica sticking up for Jimmy was also great. It’s growth, for both of them.
- Are you jealous, Jess?
- “Anyone need a hug here?” Nick, you are funny.
- “We’re not cyberstalking, we’re researching.” Yeaaaaaaaah, right.
- I can see Jimmy as a helicopter dad, especially since he broke up with Jessica.
- But it was good that Jess and Victoria got a chance to talk.
- Jessica’s face at Jimmy making out with that woman. Come on, Jess, you want this. Why did you let him go?
- The convo between Victoria and Jimmy was gold.
- What do you mean what family does?!
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS Season 22, Episode 14 ‘Close to Home’? Please share with us in the comments below! And if you have any thoughts about the show, leave a review/rating of your own in our NCIS hub!
NCIS airs Mondays at 9/8c on CBS.
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They are definitely getting back together eventually.