The next origin story on the NCIS prequel is that of Gibbs (Austin Stowell) and Pride (Shea Buckner). We know by the time they’re together onscreen on NCIS (as Mark Harmon and Scott Bakula‘s versions, ahead of the NCIS: New Orleans premiere in 2014), they’re close and trust each other completely. But when they cross paths on NCIS: Origins in the Tuesday, March 17, episode, that couldn’t be further from the truth — especially on Gibbs’ side.
TV Insider has an exclusive sneak peek of “Feelin’ Alright?” in which the two meet again, and while Gibbs very much doesn’t want to see the other agent, well … Pride doesn’t seem to remember their previous encounter. Randy (Caleb Foote) gets to witness all of this. Then, we get Harmon’s telling voiceover. Watch the video above for more.
The two are brought together after a lieutenant’s water-logged body is discovered with a potential connection to an international smuggling ring and NIS Panama agents are called in to assist. At this point, Gibbs sees Pride as his nemesis — and then must find a way to move on from their past when they’re assigned to a dangerous undercover mission together.
“We know that, of course, the NCIS fans know how close Gibbs and Pride are and how much respect they have for each other, so we thought it’d be fun and interesting to see how the relationship began,” executive producer David J. North tells us. “And clearly it didn’t get off to the best start, but the fact that they meet how they do with sort of not seeing eye to eye, them going in undercover creates a lot of fun and start to see the way that their relationship formed.
Adds executive producer Gina Lucita Monreal, “We enjoyed seeing them play off of each other in a different way that we hadn’t seen before. We’ve seen them as the good friends, the respect and loyalty between them. So getting to see this other side of it was just really fun to build.”
Buckner actually previously guest starred on NCIS in 2018 (Season 16’s “Friendly Fire”). But when he read for Origins‘ version of Pride, “it was totally fresh,” says Monreal, adding that when it came to casting him, “He looks like the character, but more importantly, embodies that charm and that just cool way of being. That’s what hit us first.”
North agrees. “When he read, we thought, ‘OK, great.’ Because that’s not easy to do. Scott Bakula has so much charm and charisma, like Gina said, and so we were really lucky to find Shea,” he says.
As far as Easter eggs in this hour, much like with the episode that featured Adam Campbell as the young Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, “We put in as many as we could, so we hope the fans enjoy it,” North tells us.
What are you hoping to see from this young Pride episode? Let us know in the comments section below.