As “NCIS” has developed, so has Jimmy Palmer. As Jimmy’s backstory has grown, Brian Dietzen has stuck with every single creative twist and turn along the way. He has carefully helped Jimmy Palmer as time has gone on, and for him, the key is to keep Jimmy recognizable while making him a realistically growing person. “With procedural television like this, that character has a new story to tell each week, and he has to remain similar enough that people can recognize him as the character they’ve grown to love.” But, Dietzen points out, Palmer is a human being, so the things that happen in the show and the events that color his life end up having an impact on Jimmy, including the death of his wife after she contracted COVID-19. “As an actor, what makes it interesting is to find those changes that are gradual and really playing the long game with it so that it doesn’t seem like just overnight, oh, gosh, Jimmy’s changed so dramatically from season 10 to 11, or from season 20 to 21, that those things make sense and still seem organic.” He admits that the challenge keeps him growing as an actor — and does the same for his fellow performers.
While “A Thousand Yards” might not be the ultimate Jimmy Palmer episode of “NCIS,” it definitely shows that Jimmy continues to develop as a character, and hopefully, he’ll get to do so for many more episodes to come.