“[We] Wanted To Ground It In Reality”: ‘Ncis: Origins’ Showrunner Dissects Season 1’S Most Pivotal Moment

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NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 9, “Vivo o Muerto,” featured a development that has been years in the making in the NCIS universe. While on the hunt for a marine officer who the cartel took, the team was set to come face to face with the man responsible for the deaths of Gibbs’ wife and daughter. In a surprising turn, Lala learned that the man who killed Gibbs’ family, Hernandez, was shot by a sniper six months prior. Everything about Gibbs and Franks’ behavior suddenly fell into place, and she realized they were responsible for it.

“We’ve been building to this for a long time and months ago when we got into the writers’ room, this was one of the top moments that we were building this season around. It’s such a huge part of Gibbs’ life and the lore of Gibbs,” showrunner David J. North told TV Insider of this huge moment in Gibbs’ life. North discussed the challenge of finally showing this moment that had been teased for years in the original show, saying,

“Gina [Lucita Monreal] and I, obviously having written on the OG NCIS for so long, have dealt with storylines around it, but really there was a lot of unanswered questions as far as what happened once Franks [Kyle Schmid] showed him that file. In NCIS canon, it’s just kind of Franks showed him that file and then we see that it was done.

“But here we really wanted to get into ground it in the reality of what would’ve happened, which is this was still a killer that NIS and no other people authorities could find. So how did Gibbs do it? And you kind of see that for Gibbs really did it by sheer will and in the process learned that he himself has ability to be a great cop.”

Hernandez’s Death Breeds Unforeseen Troubles for Gibbs In ‘NCIS: Origins’ Season 1

In as much as killing Hernandez was healing for Gibbs, the discovery has opened a can of worms for him with his coworkers, Lala especially. Keeping this secret, if she decides to keep it, threatens everything she holds dear about the job. The promo video for Episode 10, “Blue Bayou,” teases a radical decision by the agent when she decides to leave Franks’ team. The logline below for the December 16 episode teases some reminiscence when Christmas rolls around and Gibbs revisits his past in flashbacks.

“As Leroy Jethro Gibbs prepares for his first Christmas without his wife and daughter, flashbacks reveal the unlikely journey that led to his first day on the job as a special agent at NIS’ Camp Pendleton office working with Mike Franks and Lala.”

Tune in to CBS on Monday, December 16, to see the fallout of this crucial development at 10 p.m. Stream past episodes of NCIS: Origins on Paramount+.

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