How NCIS Is Sacrificing Gibbs to Keep Its Legacy Alive

Warning! Spoilers ahead for NCIS: Origins season 2, episode 9, “Fools Rush In.”NCIS‘s trailblazing spinoff is telling a compelling story, but it’s costing the franchise Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ 19-year legacy. CBS’s Super Tuesday block for the 2025-2026 TV cyclehas been successful for the network thus far.

By lumping together all active NCISfranchise shows, it is able to emphasize how encompassing the universe that started in 2003 has become. This allows for great crossovers, not to mention re-emphasizing how they all exist in the same reality.

This is particularly applicable to NCIS: Origins, which functions as Gibbs’ origins story. While Mark Harmon exited the flagship in 2021, his presence continues to loom large on it, after being the face of the show for almost 20 years.

Aside from its current storytelling, NCIS also continues a juggernaut in syndication and streaming, which means that its long history has remained at the forefront of the pop culture zeitgeist.

Usually, this is a great thing, but the downside is that it makes it easier to notice issues with overall continuity.