‘NCIS: Origins’ Bosses on Diving Into What Makes Mike Franks ‘Tick’ & Gibbs Finding His Footing

NCIS: Origins may be centered around Gibbs (Austin Stowell) and telling the story of his life before what we saw on the mothership — the series begins on his first day at NIS — but it’s also telling us the backstory of another character franchise fans know well: Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid), then Gibbs’ boss.

And the focus turns to Franks in the January 27 midseason return, with a pivotal part of his past involving his family revealed. “What we’re really excited about is that this is really a character-driven show,” co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal, who co-wrote this episode with Jennifer Corbett, tells TV Insider. “Yes, we have a crime every week, but it’s really about these people and how they relate to each other and themselves in the world. And so we were really excited to come to a point in Gibbs’ story where we could put that on hold for a moment and really delve into our other characters. And we started that with Franks because he’s such an iconic character and we’re so excited to dig into his backstory and what makes him tick.”

Going forward, they will delve into the other characters as well. “We have this fantastic group of actors who are just so incredibly talented, and we’re just thrilled to be able to feature them in the back half of our season,” says Monreal.

Meanwhile, how’s Gibbs doing considering where the show left him? We saw the moment we’d only seen in flashes on NCIS — killing Pedro Hernandez, who murdered his family — and his teammate Lala (Mariel Molino) learned about it. She nearly left the team. Plus, Gibbs found out that his landlord and close friend Ruth (London Garcia) died of cancer.

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“Starting with Episode 11, Gibbs is trying to move on and find his footing again, having done what he’s done, but really Gibbs’ story is — although we’re kind of switching off and showing more of Franks in our flashbacks — really just getting started as far as what’s going to go on with [him] and Lala and how he finds his way as an NIS agent,” notes co-showrunner David J. North.

Adds Monreal, “We’re also really delving into Gibbs’ mental health and how he’s dealing with all of these things that have come at him in the first season. On a procedural show, it’s not often that you get to delve into a character that deeply, so it’s just something that we’re really proud that we’re able to put forth.”

What are you hoping to see in the second half of NCIS: Origins‘ first season? Let us know in the comments section below.

NCIS: Origins, Midseason Return, Monday, January 27, 10/9c, CBS