Mark Harmon’s ‘NCIS: Origins’ Episode Quietly Breaks Three of Gibbs’ Most Important Rules

Mark Harmon returned in a special NCIS: Origins crossover event, and his appearance marked the prequel breaking at least three of Gibbs’ rules. The Navy-themed procedural aired a special crossover episode between NCIS and NCIS: Origins on Veterans’ Day, Tuesday, November 11. In a scheduling adjustment for the two-part story, NCIS: Origins aired before the flagship series for the first time, kicking off the decades-spanning mystery in 1992 with the Gibbs-focused prequel. NCIS Season 23 then reopens the mystery 30 years later.

The two-hour event begins with NCIS: Origins Season 2, Episode 5, “Funny How Time Slips Away.” The team is called to investigate the mysterious death of Louis Burke, who was blown apart in his car by an oncoming train. When Gibbs (Austin Stowell) and the rest of Mike Franks’ (Kyle Schmid) team go to investigate, they discover the entire dust-blown town of Serenity, California, is lying to them, and the community is covering up for a murderer. When the team must step away from the case, the series reveals the origin of a vital rule that Gibbs follows.

Mark Harmon’s Return as Gibbs in NCIS: Origins Crossover Event Explained

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When the news broke that Harmon would reprise his role as Gibbs, the legendary NCIS actor said he took the opportunity because he was proud of the boundary-pushing storytelling that NCIS: Origins showrunners David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal were doing, and they approached him with a premise he liked. Harmon also thought it was a good time to check in with his retired NCIS character. At the top of the episode, Gibbs is sitting at his secluded cabin in Alaska, tinkering with a radio as a storm blows through his home in Naktok Bay.

Gibbs retired to the Last Frontier as Harmon exited NCIS in Season 19, saying goodbye to Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) after his ultimate case brought them both to Alaska. Harmon had reprised Gibbs once before, three years after his NCIS exit, in the series premiere of NCIS: Origins last year. Harmon’s character was depicted sitting by the fire, revisiting vital memories from the past. When audiences check in with Gibbs again, he is still reminiscing about his early NIS days on Mike Franks’ team, thinking about Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino).

Gibbs looks different from when audiences last saw him, but his vitality hasn’t waned, nor has the former Special Agent-in-Charge’s cool demeanor. As Gibbs gets his radio powered up, he tunes out of the weather forecast and into an old song, Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away.” Not much has changed for Gibbs, and he says as much to a new friend, a dog he’s welcomed into his home just before the storm. As older Gibbs reflects on his history, his face morphs into Stowell’s rendition of Gibbs, as NCIS: Origins slips into the past.

NCIS: Origins Reveals the Origin of Gibbs’ Rule #11

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One of the most memorable aspects of the prequel episode is that the NCIS: Origins crossover event reveals the origin of Gibbs’ Rule Eleven, “When the job is done, walk away.” The episode also highlights how both of the original NCIS characters struggle to do that, with a case that pushes the limits of what Franks and Gibbs can accept. After a local sheriff turns himself in for a murder that he didn’t commit, the team takes turns pleading with him to tell them what really happened. When he refuses, his going to prison hits Franks and Gibbs the hardest.

When Gibbs urges Mike that the job isn’t done, Franks pushes him up against the wall and tells him that they need to walk away. He reminds Gibbs that Sheriff Mulligan (Shiloh Fernandez) is willing to go to prison to help Lainey Sims (Gabrielle Haugh), and implies that he should stop carrying around pictures of victims. Still, the story reveals that Mike struggled to follow his own rule, which inspired Gibbs’ Rule Eleven. Franks visited Mulligan every year until he died, with NCIS: Origins featuring an appearance from the original Mike Franks actor, Muse Watson, to close out Franks’ story and the episode.

NCIS: Origins Breaks Three Gibbs Rules in Season 2, Episode 5

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In what will quickly become one of the most foundational episodes of the NCIS franchise due to Harmon and Watson’s appearances, Leroy and his team break two more of Gibbs’ rules. They are rules he has probably already established in 1992, since they preceded Gibbs’ Rule Eleven in the list. After Gibbs and Lala arrest the perpetrators who vandalized their NIS car, they keep them at the sheriff’s office and lock all three of them in the same cell. While things are still a mystery at this point, everyone is a suspect, especially someone vandalizing the feds’ property to distract them.

Therefore, NCIS: Origins quietly breaks Gibbs’ Rule One, “Never let suspects stay together,” which the Special Agent-in-Charge tells Kate Todd (Sasha Alexander) in the premiere of NCIS. The three suspects turn out to be harmless, and in fact, keeping them in the same jail cells leads to a remark that breaks the case, with the youngest of the suspects making a passing comment that the sheriff always loved Birdy, but she never loved him back. Therefore, the installment just goes to show further that sometimes even one’s own rules are worth breaking.

Gibbs also breaks rule nine, “Never go anywhere without a knife,” in the crossover episode. Gibbs breaks with his protocol in Serenity when he loses his knife at the crime scene, either while investigating or looking for pictures of his victims that he has printed off and put in his notebook. Lala goes looking for Gibbs’ pictures after he loses them in the wind and finds his pocketknife, indicating he had been without it for some time. The episode is dense with subtle references to Gibbs’ personal code, making Mark Harmon’s return even better.