Fans of NCIS think that they know Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ backstory since so much of it was laid out in the original series, but what they’re learning from watching NCIS: Origins is that there’s so much more to the story than was revealed.
Last week’s “Vivo o Muerto” episode shared the story of how Gibbs (Austin Stowell) tracked down Pedro Hernandez, the man who killed his wife and daughter, and killed him with a sniper’s bullet. And this week’s episode, “Blue Bayou,” reveals the truth of the repercussions of that act and the surprising way Gibbs ended up becoming an agent—and it wasn’t because of Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid).
“This story came about because [co-showrunner] Gina [Lucita Monreal] and I were always fascinated that there was this big missing part of Gibbs’ life after 400-some episodes,” says co-showrunner David J. North. “What we never really knew is what happened to Gibbs after he killed Pedro.”
What we learned on the mothership is that Gibbs killed Pedro and next thing he was working for Mike Franks as an NIS agent out of Camp Pendelton, so the assumption always was that it was Franks who invited him to attend FLETC and then hired him on. But that’s so not what happened.
Photo: Erik Voake/CBS
“In the timeline, there was a good nearly five months there,” North continues. “I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that sometimes the most unexpected people come into our lives and are the most influential. That’s what [his landlady] Ruth [London Garcia] was to Gibbs. She really saved him when he had no one. Franks felt he had done what he needed to do to do right by Gibbs, which was show him the [Hernandez] file. But after that, it was too much for Franks. Luckily, Ruth was able to impact Franks, as well, to bring the two back together.”
Related: NCIS: Origins Reveals The Secret Behind Gibbs’ Killing of Pedro Hernandez
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. In that five-month period between killing Pedro and joining NIS, Gibbs was having a rough time. In an Easter egg moment, we see him packing groceries, which he must have done many times at his father’s store in Stillwater, and now he’s doing it in Oceanside, as a way of making a living, but also trying to get in touch with Franks, who won’t return his calls.
Finally, Franks comes into the grocery store while Gibbs is working and Gibbs follows him out to the car. Still, Franks refuses to talk to him until his girlfriend Tish (Tonantzin Carmelo) urges him to do so.
Photo: Erik Voake/CBS
“As she says to Franks, the poor guy’s been through hell, the least you can do is talk to him,” North explains. “Sometimes she’s Franks’ better angel. We’ve seen that. But Franks was treading lightly there. Gina and I really wanted to stay true to canon, but tell this as honestly and develop these characters in an honest way. The fact is it was a huge bold thing that we know Franks did in showing him that file but it doesn’t mean he wants to risk running himself into the ground for this guy that he barely knows. At this point, they really didn’t have a relationship.”
Related: NCIS: Origins Star Austin Stowell Reveals the Personal Tragedy He Used to Get Inside Gibbs’ Head
So, Gibbs goes on a downward spiral, so much so that Ruth evicts him from the apartment because he’s being so destructive, and he ends up sleeping in the bed of his truck. One night when it’s pouring rain and he looks like a drowned rat, Ruth finally takes pity on him and lets him move back into the apartment and the two strike up a friendship that begins with them working on jigsaw puzzles together.
Eventually, over some beers, Gibbs confesses to Ruth that he killed a man and when he tells her the story, it’s Ruth that sees that the skill it took to track down Pedro would make him a good cop. Instead of trying to get on a police force, Gibbs attends FLETC and then applies to be an NIS agent.
In writing the story, Gina and David spoke to Mark Harmon, the original Gibbs, on how he approached the killing of Pedro Hernandez when he played that part of his storyline.
“It’s interesting,” North says. “Having talked with Mark Harmon a lot about this, Mark said to me before how he’s played it is it brought him no feeling, it brought him no resolution, and if he had to do it over again, he’d do the exact same thing. The healing that he thought maybe he was going to get from it, he didn’t. So, that’s how I wrote it.”
Bottom line is that even though the end result wasn’t what Gibbs had hoped, he would still have done it again.
North explains, “He can’t go on living knowing this guy is alive.”
NCIS: Origins airs Monday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
Next, NCIS: Origins‘ Kyle Schmid on Mike Franks Being a Gruff Cowboy on the Outside but a Lover on the Inside
