SPOILER ALERT: This story contains details from the Season 3 premiere of "NCIS: Origins."
Talk about a helluva bang-bang opening for Mark Harmon's full-time return asLeroy Jethro Gibbs on "NCIS: Origins."
Moments after the franchise icon appears at his remote Alaskan home in the Season 3 premiere (streaming on Paramount+)– and tries to feed his adopted dog a delicious (no doubt hand-caught) salmon dinner – Gibbs is shot near the heart by a seemingly random sniper. The blood pours out of his chest as Gibbs falls to the ground. It's bad.
Executive producer and showrunner David J. North says it took something that drastic to get Gibbs back in the "NCIS" game. The gunshot marks the beginning of an unfolding "Origins" mystery involving another NCIS team
member that began 34 years ago. The sniper even says, "One down, one to go," after checking for Gibbs' nonexistent pulse. So there's someone else in their nefarious sights.
"It needed a really big thing to get Gibbs out of Alaska," North tells USA TODAY. "It wasn't enough for older Gibbs to be shot and want revenge. Gibbs has to protect someone else that he has a relationship with. He had no choice. He needs to go figure out who else was in trouble."
The episode action shifts back to 1992, where younger Gibbs (Austin Stowell) is still training at Camp Pendleton, California – and the case that launches the mystery begins when Special Agent Bernard “Randy” Randolf (Caleb Foote) is kidnapped.
Back in Alaska, former Marine sniper Gibbs patches up his wound, Rambo-style, loads his rifle, beckons his faithful dog and heads out for his old "NCIS" home. The bullet wound will continue to play a part in older Gibbs' new "Origins" journey.
"The bullet didn't hit his heart," North says of the wound. "We saw him patch it up in the cabin, but it's not the end of it. It's going to track through the rest of the season."
Who's the mystery 'Origins' person in danger? Who's the Russian mole?
Gibbs is compelled to go on a trek to protect the mystery "NCIS" figure endangered by the Russian plot. But who is the person Gibbs is looking for 34 years after the original incident?
It's not Gibbs' mentor Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid in "Origins"), who died years before the events of the original "NCIS" ended and appeared there largely in flashbacks, played by Muse Watson.
Special Agent Cecilia "Lala" Dominguez (Mariel Molino) is a major possibility, given her central place in the "Origins" story and the continuing mystery surrounding her future. Another strong candidate is Randy (Foote), who gets his '90s-era NIS computer stolen, is kidnapped by Russians, beaten badly and saved by the team.
"I won't give anything away, but this is the case that started it all," North says. "They saved Randy and thought this case was over. But they really opened Pandora's box. I'd just say to stay tuned for who this second target is. And that Lala's fate is the throughline that 'Origins' is all about."
As for the possible Russian mole? All signs point to forensic analyst Woodrow "Woody" Browne (Bobby Moynihan), who will appear in Gibbs' modern-day storyline in future episodes. But that could easily be a bluff. He looks too guilty to be guilty.
What's the 'C' celebration in 'NCIS'? The 'Origins' title is finally correct
"NCIS: Origins" Season 3 takes place in 1992, the same year the Naval Investigative Service (NIS) officially became the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). The premiere episode has some fun with the bureaucratic makeover, with the Camp Pendleton team happily adjusting from "NIS" to the new "NCIS" name. It's a small bit of franchise history that's an origin story for the show title itself. There's even a NCIS naming party with NCIS hats.
"Staying true to history, we called it NIS in the beginning, which was maybe confusing to some fans," North says. "It ended up being a cool thing where we could really see the shift and the changeover to adding the 'C.' We had some fun with that."
Is Gibbs' special breathing technique part of 'NCIS' lore?
Gibbs' special breathing technique is a new addition to the icon's story, not something previously established in the character's lore. But the "party trick" – relaxing so completely that the heart appears to stop – becomes a clever throughline: Randy uses it to fake his death and fool the Russians, older Gibbs (Harmon) uses it to deceive the loose-talking sniper, and young Gibbs (Stowell) pushes it so far at an actual party, that he fades out on the pool table as the episode ends.
The moment gives Lala a chance to pass along one mysterious message, whispering words into Gibbs' ear that echo across the decades to his older self.
"Hey, Gibbs. Don't go too far," Lala whisper to the man she loves.
The meaning of those mysterious words will be revealed in future episodes.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mark Harmon's Gibbs gets shot in 'NCIS: Origins.' How his hero heart keeps beating
