As previously reported, the series’ premise follows Washington D.C.’s major case response team — run by Mark Harmon’s character Leroy Gibbs — as the group solves various cases.
When NCIS debuted on the CBS network in 2003, fans became captivated by Dr. Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) for his wit, and optimistic and heartfelt approach to any situation. In the show’s first season, Palmer had a minor role as an aide to medical examiner Donald “Ducky” Mallard before becoming a series regular and the team’s new medical examiner following Mallard’s retirement.
Over the years, many have seen Palmer’s personal and professional life transform as he became a husband and a father. Palmer’s romance with Breena Palmer (Michelle Pierce) — a mortician — began during the 7th season of NCIS after the pair met at work and hit it off right away due to their interest in medical science.
The couple would ultimately get married and welcome daughter Victoria Palmer in the show’s 12th season. But in a twisted turn of events, Palmer’s world would come crashing down after his wife Breena tragically passed away. So what happened to Breena, and on which NCIS episode was her death addressed?
What happened to Jimmy Palmer’s wife?
According to Distractify, on season 18, episode 7 — which aired in 2021 — Palmer announced to his coworkers that his wife Breena died after contracting Covid-19. Although Breena’s death wasn’t visibly shown onscreen, Palmer shared that he and his family were doing their best to adjust to the tragic event.
Following the shocking news that same year, in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Brian Dietzen — who plays the role of Palmer — offered some insight into how he was informed about Breena’s death on NCIS. Dietzen told the publication that at the time, producers wanted to spread awareness about COVID-19 by showcasing its harmful impact on one’s health by having one of the characters contract it and sadly pass away.
But because the producers didn’t want a notable cast member to suffer the tragic fate, they devised another idea and ran it by Dietzen. He said,
“I had been told that this was going to happen, that Jimmy was going to lose his wife before I received this script… The producers let me know that we want the advent of COVID to hit our team. And yet, we don’t want to lose a team member. So the prospect of having Jimmy lose his wife, the most optimistic team member lose someone, came to the table and they thought it would be a great storytelling mechanic — albeit very, very sad.”
As the topic shifted to how Palmer handled the tragedy, Dietzen shared that the character did his best to remain positive about the situation, especially knowing the couple had a child. Dietzen added that the character would hit a breaking point despite Palmer’s optimistic demeanor.
“When a person loses a spouse and they have a child, there is a period of time where you’re looking just to keep this ship floating. We can see within this week’s episode that Jimmy is trying to keep whatever happiness he can, trying to say, ‘Hey, my glass is half overflowing here. I’m doing really great,’ while we as the audience can see that that may not be the case and his team certainly can see it because they know and have loved him for years. He’s doing whatever he can just keep his head above water. But there’s only so long that that can happen before there’s going to be a certain breaking point.”
That breaking point occurred in season 18, episode 7, after Leroy Gibbs (Mark Harmon) confronted Palmer, and the pair had a heartfelt discussion about his struggles after his wife’s passing. Several subjects addressed in the conversation included the couple’s final moments together and Palmer’s letter to Breena, which she, unfortunately, didn’t get a chance to read. Palmer began his healing process that same episode when he read the letter out loud to his coworkers.
Years after Breena’s passing, Palmer would find love again, this time with special agent Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) at the end of the 19th season of NCIS after the pair went on numerous coffee outings and Palmer escorted Knight to her friend’s wedding.
NCIS is available to stream on Paramount Plus.