Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) talks about his daughter Victoria on almost every episode of NCIS. But we haven’t actually seen Victoria (Elle Graper) since the “Helpers” episode of Season 19, when she almost lost her father to a deadly biotoxin. In fact, it was Dietzen himself who co-wrote that episode. It was his first NCIS script.
In that episode, it was Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) who tried to distract Victoria, who had come to the office to spend the day with her dad, when he ended up locked up with Kasie (Diona Reasonover) in her lab while they awaited the life-and-death arrival of an antidote.
“She was so wonderful and we were so lucky to have her out on our set and she made such an impression on us,” Dietzen told TVInsider. “We knew that we had to have her back. And it’s really nice to see this character who’s naturally progressing into her early teenage years and the things that all fathers go through with a teenage daughter, the struggles, but also the connection and the beauty of it. I really appreciated that our writers weren’t trying to fall back on like, ‘Oh, here’s the frustrated dad with the teenager.’ A lot of it was really based in how close they are and how much they love each other in spite of having some of those family dynamics.”
Elle Graper, Brian Dietzen. Photo credit: Robert Voets
So, it’s not too surprising that Victoria would turn to Torres for help on tonight’s “Close to Home” episode when she discovers a large sum of money near the Naval library, especially because she doesn’t want her father to know where she is. After all, she’s now a teenager.
“I’m going to say Jimmy’s super proud that he’s such a good dad, that she feels comfortable reaching out to other family members,” Dietzen also tells TVInsider. “Because let’s be honest, Nick is Uncle Nick. He’s the guy that’s always there for Victoria no matter what. So, I think it’s pretty great, man. That’s the one thing I just love about this show is that if this team ever feels like it’s a family, it’s because it is. And I love that about it.”
Brian Dietzen, Elle Graper in the Season 19 episode "Helper."
Photo credit: CBS
The case on tonight’s episode gets personal when the team realizes that the money that Victoria discovered was part of a bank robbery which has never been solved in the 15 years since it happened, and the bank robber may live in the complex where Jimmy has a condo, so Jimmy gets involved in solving the case.
NCIS airs at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Streams next day on Paramount+.
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