NCIS: ORIGINS just took fans back to the moment that made Leroy Jethro Gibbs a true leader.
“Back then, I didn’t know if I had what it took to be a team leader, but I figured I’d go to drinks that night and put it out of my head,” Gibbs, voiced by Mark Harmon, says in a voiceover in the Season 2 episode. “That’s not what happened because that night was about to become one of the craziest 12-hour runs in NIS history.”
Gibbs, played by Austin Stowell, must take charge when a Marine captain shows up at the NIS office exhibiting symptoms of a fatal virus, causing NIS to lockdown.
ORIGINS fans will get even more information about Gibbs’ backstory in the season’s next episode, which sees him forced to work alongside Special Agent Dwayne Pride, who shows up in NCIS as one of Gibbs’ most trusted friends.
Related: A Familiar Face Returns for Upcoming NCIS: ORIGINS Episodes
Executive producer David J. North told TV Insider that ORIGINS will be “sticking to canon” when it comes to introducing younger versions of well-known characters.
“We wanted to stick to canon and we’re really excited about that episode and that character,” he told the outlet of Pride’s introduction, teasing that viewers will see “the beginnings of that relationship, for sure. And let’s just say that their original introduction is not going to be at all what anyone expects.”
Stowell also teased his character’s upcoming episode with Pride, played by Shea Buckner.
“You don’t mess with Gibbs’ family ever, and he’s not quick to forget or forgive. You have to earn Gibbs’ trust and certainly you have to earn his allegiance and if you do something to make him think that you don’t deserve it, it’s going to take a lot to get it back,” he told TV Insider.
Stowell continued, “And so it is a bit of a rollercoaster ride. We go through quite a bit. By the end of that episode, we are seeing the notes of what we know becomes a very powerful friendship and working relationship that they go through a lot together and taking down huge global crime syndicates. So to get from there, we can’t make it easy. We don’t do easy on this show, that’s for sure.”
It was an honor for Buckner to take on the role originally played by Scott Bakula.
“Scott Bakula created this character with such charm and charisma, with such a storied career, that Pride was known as ‘King,’” Buckner told USA TODAY. “It wasn’t lost on me how important Pride is in the NCIS universe and to fans.”
Catch all the NCIS: ORIGINS drama Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, or stream on Paramount+.