‘NCIS’ Season 21 New Finale Details May Be Bad News for Palmer & Knight’s Relationship

Rocky Carroll told TV Insider while talking to us for our NCIS: Case Closed aftershow for the 1,000th episode that the Season 21 finale will leave things up in the air for one of the characters (not Vance), and now that CBS has released the official description of the episode, we have more information.

In “Reef Madness,” airing on May 6, according to CBS, “Parker [Gary Cole] and Knight [Katrina Law] discover three bodies on an old Navy ship that’s about to be sunk and turned into an artificial reef, when they’re suddenly locked inside by a mysterious figure. Also, Vance offers Knight a unique opportunity.”

Now, Carroll’s teases about the end of NCIS Season 21 make much more sense. “I’m always amazed at how every time you think that we can’t top ourselves as far as the team getting in danger and getting in trouble, we seem to come up with something else,” he said. “There is a global threat and there is another character on the show that—things don’t go as planned and we’re not exactly sure how things are going to end for one of our characters. Once again, the team has to circle the wagons and rally.”

He said that for a cliffhanger, it’s “a little bit of both” a character’s fate and something else to set up Season 22. “Jimmy [Brian Dietzen] and Knight have this romance and then we introduced Agent Knight’s father, who has a very specific plan for the life of his daughter,” he added. “And I think Jimmy and Knight are going to have to come to terms and make some very hard decisions about their future.”

Knight’s father, Feng Zhao (Russell Wong), was introduced in the fifth episode of the season, and he wants his daughter to take over for him when he retires. His visit also led to Knight telling Palmer about her plan to eventually become NCIS Director (and the steps she’d have to take to get there). The episode did end with Palmer officially meeting Knight’s father as her boyfriend (after he previously had no idea who he was, which was awkward), but the couple did leave things in a questionable place. And now with this tease of the “unique opportunity” that Vance is going to offer Knight, we can’t help but wonder if that might separate her and Palmer—first just geographically, then possibly romantically—heading into Season 22.

What are your early predictions for the Season 21 finale? Let us know in the comments section, below.

NCIS, Season 21 Finale, Monday, May 6, 9/8c, CBS