NCIS: Origins episode 3 reveals the real reason Gibbs joined the NIS
By Sabrina Reed
Major spoilers ahead of NCIS: Origins episode 3
The question of why Mike Franks has vouched for Gibbs as an NIS agent has hovered over the beginning of NCIS: Origins. And, while episode 3 "Bend, Don't Break" once again asks this question, that's not really the point. At least not when it comes to Gibbs' reason.
At first we don't hear it from the newly minted agent himself. The part of the impetus for his decision to join the agency is revealed by his father Jackson. The moment happens when he goes to speak to Mike at his home and doesn't wait for an invite in, he steps right into the house. Jackson is a man who is holding onto the pieces of his son he has left as best he can while trying to navigate his own grief without losing himself to it.
Jackson is spitting mad about the deaths of his daughter-in-law and grandchild, just as Gibbs is, but his anger is targeted at Mike. He blames him for letting the murderer run off to Mexico, and recruiting Gibbs to the NIS. The latter isn't a job Jackson thinks his son is suited to because he was trained as a sniper not an investigator but he's also not in the headspace to do the work.
He believes Gibbs has a death wish and that Mike is wrong to let him go out in the field knowing that Gibbs wants to endanger his life. But there's a piece of what Jackson has worked out about his son's thinking that he withholds from Mike. Gibbs was fashioned into a killer by the marines. That's his skillset and that's the mind he's thinking with. Jackson says as much when Gibbs rejects his insistence that he leave the NIS and come back with him to Stillwater so he can heal.
Jackson has Gibbs' train of thought pinned. Working for the NIS is a means to an end. Gibbs wants to be able to track the man who murdered his wife Shannon and their daughter Kelly so that he can kill him. While his father doesn't think it's worth it and that he'll be throwing away his life if he keeps going down this path, Gibbs angrily disagrees and throws his father out.
Though Jackson does leave in "Bend, Don't Break," he sets his son up the best he can by leaving the lifetime warranty for his bed frame for him to mail in, a happy picture of his son and his family, and digging Gibbs' box with all of his rules out of the trashcan.
Note: NCIS answers whether Gibbs killed the man who murdered his family or arrested him. We've provided the information below. If you'd prefer to go into this NCIS: Origins arc without this answer, stop reading here. There are spoilers ahead.
Did Gibbs kill the man who murdered his wife and daughter in the NCISverse?
As Americans Undercover previously reported, NCIS does cover the death of Shannon Fielding and Kelly Gibbs. The episode "Personal Day" goes into the events that led to their murders. The hit was carried out by Pedro Hernandez, a Mexican drug dealer who'd killed a marine. Shannon and Kelly were witness to the crime and were put under the NIS' protection.
They were in the care of Agent Kurt Mitchell who was driving them to a safe house when he was shot. Hernandez was the one who pulled the trigger as ordered by Benson Long, a Reynosa Cartel boss. Gibbs admitted to killing Hernandez when talking down Mitchell's son, Luis, who'd become a DEA agent. He didn't want Luis to make the same decision he did by killing Long. Getting revenge didn't bring Shannon and Kelly back or fix the great loss he suffered. He says as much to Luis.
It seems NCIS: Origins may be gearing up to dive into this part of Gibbs' story at some point during its run. We'll keep you posted as news comes in. Stay tuned to Americans Undercover for coverage. New episodes of the series air Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. Next day streaming is available on Paramount+. Follow us on X and Facebook for more content!