The Only Thing Better Than One Gibbs Is Two: Mark Harmon’s Return to NCIS: Origins Is a Game Changer

If you’re like me, you’ve been licking your wounds because your favorite series on broadcast is on hiatus.

Oh, and you’re still pissed off about that shortened season news.

But forget all of that, because NCIS: Origins knows how to stoke the embers of your love and devotion for it, and nothing proves that more than the news of Mark Harmon’s return.

Set to the tune of one of my favorite ’80s tunes that will most assuredly have a girl firing up the old VHS for a proper The Breakfast Club rewatch, CBS has teased something so amazing that it’ll likely leave most of us flying on Cloud Nine until NCIS: Origins returns this Fall.

Mark Harmon is returning to the series, and not just in any brief cameo moment, either.

We can expect Harmon to reprise his role as Gibbs in all ten episodes of the season!

When it comes to NCIS: Origins, it’s pretty hard to build on perfection, but I admire the series for still taking some big swings and attempting to challenge itself even further to reach new heights.

And we’ll definitely get that with a new structuring that blows the roof off of what we already had.

If you don’t recall, the last time Harmon guest-starred on the series it was NCIS: Origins Season 2 Episode 5, which marked the ambitious and wonderfully executed crossover even with the mother show, NCIS.

It had the team racing to solve a case in the 90s that they didn’t quite succeed in solving, until the NCIS team was finally able to resolve everything that had haunted Mike Franks for decades until he died.

The crossover event was spectacular, a ratings juggernaut, and critically lauded )not just by us), showcasing the best of the franchise, especially when it successfully merges.

But the premise of an unsolved case from the ’90s being ever-present in the current timeline is something that Origins intends to capitalize on in this highly-anticipated third season.

CBS teases that the season will juggle two timelines, with present-day Gibbs dealing with a mystery tied to his ’90s Camp Pendleton days.

What’s interesting about the phrasing is that they don’t explicitly mention that it’s a case connecting things, or even the cause for Gibbs potentially stepping out of retirement.

The word “mystery” does a lot of heavy lifting here, allowing our minds to race with possibilities.

Yeah, it’s possible that there’s a significant enough case that will have Gibbs and us enthralled for a full ten-episode arc.

And we know from the revenge after Vance’s death that Gibbs is more than willing to step into familiar roles when properly motivated.

But I’m more intrigued by the idea that this “mystery” could have to do with one of NCIS: Origins’ primary players, too.

We still don’t know what happened to Lala, and many viewers have been speculating that she either died at some point, while others have held onto hope that Gibbs could reunite with her in the present day in some capacity.

Of course, NCIS: Origins Season 2’s finale left us with someone kidnapping Randy because of his computer work.

I’m allowing myself to believe that this mystery could potentially connect to one of our beloved NCIS: Origins characters we’ve yet to see in the present day having something happen to them, and Present-Day Gibbs is pouring his all into figuring things out for the rest of the season.

It could actually lead to seeing an NCIS: Origins character in the present day whom we haven’t seen yet! So far, we haven’t seen any of the main players in the present day outside of Vera.

Nevertheless, whatever the mystery is, it could be a game-changer for NCIS: Origins if it results in Harmon stepping back in front of the camera for the full season.

Hell, in many ways, it reminds us of this series’ core premise in the first place.

Origins has also sold itself as the story that Gibbs never told, and now, it seems we’ll be getting an engrossing new chapter that merges worlds.

And given that many viewers have been concerned about the fate of Origins, especially with a shortened season, this may be a vote of confidence, or at least more of an incentive for viewers to tune into what is inarguably one of the best offerings in the NCIS franchise.

Are we calm? Is everyone staying calm right now? Because, truthfully, I am not. No, I’m buzzing in my seat while typing this!

To get you hype, check out the Instagram tease of Gibbs’ return. It opens with seemingly ominous music closing in on two Gibbs director’s chairs before we hear Harmon himself say, “You’ll see.”

And keeping up with Origins, having some of the best needle drops on primetime, Simple Minds’ iconic “Don’t You Forget About Me” starts playing in the background.

As IF we could forget!

I’m practically bouncing out of my seat, so I’m going to turn it over to you, Origins Fanatics. What are your thoughts, theories, and reactions to Mark Harmon’s return?

NCIS: Origins returns this Fall on CBS! Check out all of our content.