‘NCIS: Origins’ Bosses Talk Gibbs and Franks’ Bond & Learning More About Mary Jo

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoiler for NCIS: Origins Season 1 Episode 4 “All’s Not Lost.”]

NCIS: Origins dives into a dark part of Gibbs’ (Austin Stowell) past, when he learned of his wife and daughter’s murders while overseas in Kuwait in flashbacks.

It’s at this point that you see, Stowell tells TV Insider, “he’s trying to take his own life. He’s seen how fragile life is and of course, he knows that just taking himself out wouldn’t solve anything, that there has to be more out there. We’re all doing that all the time, and it doesn’t have to be circumstances like this. It can be that we’re working a job that we’re not so happy with or we’re in a relationship that we’re not sure if we’re in love with the person and we’re looking for more and it’s okay. That’s just the part of life, the journey to find more.”

But it’s in the present for Gibbs in the prequel that he begins taking steps to reach out to those around him, with the major one being showing up at Franks’ (Kyle Schmid) for dinner.

“For Gibbs, he has these agents who know what he’s gone through around him, this new team, this kind of found family and it’s going to take time,” says co-showrunner David J. North. “But certainly that was a big step is just him putting himself out there and showing up for a dinner with Franks. And it’s a big step for Franks as well, letting Gibbs into his personal life.”

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Adds co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal, “I think, too, in just seeing where our past story is going, when we see these flashbacks, we’ll start to understand better the birth of their bond and the complications. And so I think these moments that we’re getting of them bonding along the way will have a deeper meaning deeper as we move forward as well.”

This episode also features a nice moment between Gibbs and Mary Jo (Tyla Abercrumbie), when he stops by her place to give one of Kelly’s stuffed animals to a young girl connected to the case of the week. Mary Jo can tell how emotional Gibbs is at the moment and starts to tell him that he’s not alone and she has her own … when the phone rings, interrupting them.

“We will get follow-up on that a little bit later on in the season, and we will learn a whole lot about more about Mary Jo and how she really is the backbone of that office,” promises North. “One of our favorite relationships to write is the relationship between Mary Jo and Franks and just the utmost respect that Franks has for her and the trust.”

Erik Voake/CBS

Looking ahead after this episode, there will be “more Gibbs flashbacks leading to getting to NIS and the fans learning things about Gibbs that we think they’re going to love and enjoy actually watching,” teases North, with Monreal adding, “more Easter eggs along the way.”

North also teases there will be other younger versions of characters we know and we haven’t seen the last of the Sandman, from the series premiere.

NCIS: Origins, Mondays, 10/9c, CBS