Although Mark Harmon briefly appeared in NCIS: Origins’ opening episode and narrates the prequel series, it remains to be seen if we’ll ever his older Leroy Jethro Gibbs onscreen again. Austin Stowell’s Gibbs journey, on the other hand, isn’t ending anytime soon. We’ll see him back as the younger version of the proper procedural character when NCIS: Origins Season 2 premieres on the 2025 TV schedule this fall, and co-showrunner David J. North how the prequel series will explore the younger Gibbs evolving from a “probie” into a more assertive NIS agent.
Probie, of course, is short for probationary agent, i.e. when a newcomer joins NIS/NCIS. Timothy McGee was frequently called that by Tony DiNozzo on the flagship series, and he learned that term from Gibbs, who was called that by his mentor, Mike Franks. Gibbs earned that nickname when he joined NIS in 1991, mere months after his wife and daughter were killed. But can we expect to see him speak up more in Season 2 and have more of an active role on the team? Here’s what North, who co-runs the series with Gina Lucita Monreal, told TVLine:
We’re inching our way there, definitely, in a way that we think is honest for the character. I mean, just take the fact that in Season 1, we know Gibbs’ gut was churning a little bit about Bugs and thinking, ‘Maybe there’s more to this story?’ But Gibbs didn’t go down that path, he didn’t gnaw at Franks and say, ‘Hey, my gut…’ — and he learned in the end he was right. Those are all stepping stones toward becoming the Gibbs that we met in 2003.
NCIS: Origins Season 1 finale unfolded. Still, I am glad that North and Monreal are giving this aspect of Gibbs’ characterization some thought, as it will need to fully addressed at some point.
CBS’ 2025-2026 fall TV lineup, sandwiched between NCIS and NCIS: Sydney. So I’ll just keep waiting for the next batch of episodes and think about how what the next stage of the younger Gibbs’ evolution will look like.