‘NCIS’: Brian Dietzen Previews Danger in Real Time in Episode He Co-Wrote

Kate Hahn February 28, 2022, 10:00 am

Brian Dietzen as Medical Examiner Jimmy Palmer, Elle Graper as Victoria Palmer in NCIS — Sonja Flemming/CBS

Which NCIS team members “look like they could be at death’s door”? “People will question, ‘Are these two gonna make it out of this alive?’” Brian Dietzen is talking about his character, medical examiner Jimmy Palmer, and forensic scientist Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover), exposed to a fast-acting biotoxin unknowingly brought to the lab in evidence from Quantico Marine Corps Base after the death of an intruder there.

In isolation, Jimmy and Kasie exhibit “extreme adrenaline and talk to each other in ways they never have. They’re not in their right minds,” says Dietzen, who cowrote the episode with veteran scribe Scott Williams. As the clock ticks, “You see these two physically deteriorate over the course of this hour. It’s close to real time.”

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Meanwhile, Special Agent Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) cares for Jimmy’s young daughter, Victoria (Elle Graper), who was visiting her dad. “The guy who goes out and kicks ass in the field decides his most important job is to be her North Star,” Dietzen notes.

Dr. Carol Wilson (Meredith Eaton), a CDC immunologist last seen on NCIS in Season 11, assists on the science side, while Special Agent Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) “takes matters into her own hands” to pursue a suspect who may have the toxin and an antidote. Says Dietzen: “They need to find this bad guy before Kasie and Jimmy stop breathing.”

NCIS, Mondays, 9/8c, CBS