NCIS will soon launch its twenty-second season, and unlike with, say, Law & Order: SVU, none of this procedural’s starting team remains. Both Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly, however, will return soon for the NCIS: Tony & Ziva spin off, and we will soon learn more about Leroy Jethro Gibbs‘ history, which includes a formative tragedy, but let’s set that aside for now.
Additionally, it’s worth remembering that NCIS began as a spin off to JAG, which acted as a springboard for Mark Harmon’s Gibbs and Donald “Ducky” Mallard. Sadly, actor David McCallum passed away a few years ago, and Mark Harmon left NCIS during Season 19. Still, fans remain fond of the character who began his primetime TV run as an enigma, whose complicated history was somewhat revealed in various flashbacks with the younger Gibbs portrayed by Mark Harmon’s real-life son, Sean Harmon. Origins will now feature a different actor as young Gibbs, although both Mark and Sean are onboard for producing duties. And fortunately, for those who have had enough of geographically-based spin off titles, the franchise is taking a character-based approach from the start, so let’s explore what we can expect.
Cast
TV Line has published exclusive photos of Austin Stowell as Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Kyle Schmid as Special Agent Mike Franks (portrayed by Muse Watson in NCIS), who the publication also features in the below video. Although Stowell doesn’t exactly resemble how Mark Harmon looked at that age (shoutout to Summer School), he’s pulling off a “younger Gibbs vibe” for sure:
Plot
NCIS: Origins will begin in 1991, over a decade before we meet Gibbs’ later career colleagues, including Ziva (who replaced Kate), Tony, Abby, and more. Additionally, viewers will arrive at this spin off while already knowing about the death of Gibbs’ wife and daughter (who we already know that he took vengeance for) as well as his fraught relationship (first revealed in the “Heartland” episode of NCIS) with dad Jackson, and presumably, we will receive even more texture on why Gibbs spends his later career keeping everything close to his sleeve. Additionally, the first episode’s title has been revealed to be “Enter Sandman.”
As Screenrant has noted, this almost certainly refers to Gibbs’ time in Operation Desert Storm. Perhaps we’ll find out he listened to Metallica a few times, too, you never know. Curiously enough, a Season 7 NCIS episode also featured a character named Navy Captain James “Sandman” Powell, although that’s probably mere coincidence, and this episode will have plenty to do with Gibbs’ tours as a Marine sniper.
Perhaps we will eventually meet young Ducky, and it would be a (Naval) crime to leave him out of this show, particularly because NCIS revealed that the lovable medical examiner and Gibbs were first acquainted in 1980. However, this dynamic hasn’t been confirmed for Origins‘ first season, unlike the appearance of Special Agent Mike Franks as a regular character. Actor Kyle Schmid spoke with TV Insider to discuss the “edgier” tone of this spin off:
“I think 1991 in Los Angeles is a very poignant point in history with a lot that happened. We’re going to be able to explore all of that with phenomenal directing. I think with a younger and edgier cast, it will make for an edgier show in the process. This is super exciting because we have phenomenal actors who really get to dig into this stuff that I’m hoping will blow the doors wide open.”
Additionally, the show’s CBS description clarifies that we’ll meet up with Gibbs “as a new special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office.” We’ll follow as “[h]e takes his place on a gritty, ragtag team” with Franks in charge.
CBS has done a pretty good job of keeping a lid on specifics, but we will not have to wait much longer to see different shades of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
Release Date
NCIS: Origins will premiere on October 14, and a full season order is on tap.
Trailer
This teaser does a fine job of showing us the older Gibbs, presumably fishing in Alaska, while living up to its name in teasing what’s to come.