‘NCIS’ Season 19: What’s Next for Gibbs, Plus How Gary Cole’s FBI Agent Fits In

Kate Hahn August 17, 2021, 9:00 am

'NCIS' Star Mark Harmon — Sonja Flemming/CBS

Season 19 = payback time. Indefinitely suspended NCIS boss Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) goes after the serial killer who tried to eliminate him in an explosion that turned his boat, Rule 91, into toothpicks.

“It’s not clear what state he’s in,” NCIS exec producer Steven D. Binder says. But “when you blow up a man’s boat that he’s handcrafted in his basement for the past half decade, you’ve opened up a serious can of whoop-ass.”

Gibbs’ righteous anger could be his worst enemy. We know he avenged the deaths of his wife and daughter, and his enraged assault on a perp got him suspended. His actions now could scuttle his career.

“Even if he were to go back to his former life at NCIS, his deeper issues don’t just go away,” Binder says. “And if he officially moves on, what happens to a guy like Gibbs without the job? We know his heart is pure, but Gibbs has been a troubled soul for a long time.”

'NCIS' Heads to Paradise: Meet 'Hawaii's Jane Tennant

The team carries on with FBI Special Agent Alden Parker (new series regular Gary Cole). He won’t take Gibbs’ place, but he’ll compel our attention. Teases Binder: “He’s going to cross lines that will make you both love and hate him.”

NCIS, Season 19 Premiere, Monday, September 20, 9/8c, CBS