NCIS: Origins review: A streaming quality crime drama made for a broadcast audience

Let the record show that NCIS: Origins has a statement to make. The series is its own entity drawing from the legacy of the flagship but setting up its own shop. It's the 2020s, we're living in darker, grittier times when it comes to the kind of crime dramas that make up the television landscape but this CBS original takes us over 30 years into the past and doesn't sugarcoat what its characters are going through for the sake of nostalgia (though there's plenty of that!).

From the way its shot, to its coloring, to much of the dialogue, this crime drama feels like it belongs on streaming as if it was bound for Paramount+ but CBS needed to fill a spot in its roster. That's not the case and network TV is going to be the better for it. I said this in my review for High Potential, and I'm going to say it again, crime procedurals are a dime a dozen and what makes or breaks one is how the show takes the paint by numbers formula and makes it feel different.

In NCIS: Origins' case, we're meeting a younger Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell) who doesn't give off the gravitas and air of authority fans of the original series are used to seeing. He's green as a gillyweed and so full of anger he might as well be radiating it like a neon sign for how much he wears the emotion in his posture and attitude. But that's understandable, we're meeting him in the aftermath of his wife and daughter's murders.

His position with the NIS gives him purpose but Gibbs is working on shedding the mentality of a marine for the investigative knowhow of a military agent. It's a different set of skills, ones he's going to need to learn fast on a job where death, which is already haunting him, meets him at every scene and around every corner.

The show's opening case is a two-parter that stretches across its two hour premiere and gives us the opportunity to get to know the team comprised of Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid), Benjamin "Randy" Randolph (Caleb Martin Foote), and Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino).

Without a doubt Schmid is the standout in the premiere, playing Franks as a grizzled agent who does what he has to in order to get justice. He's chameleon like when it comes to a suspect, changing his approach to grease the wheels of what he needs. And Schmid is enthralling in the role, showcasing why Gibbs is fascinated by him. He's a flaring candle in the dark with a clear cut way of seeing the world, for good or for bad and "Enter Sandman" doesn't pull its punches on the bad.

Lala Dominguez is very aware of this and you will be too by the closing credits of the premiere. You'll also get a decent understanding of the boys club she, Vera Strickland (Diany Rodriguez), and Mary Jo Sullivan (Tyla Abercrumbie) are navigating. Though we don't see much of Vera and Mary Jo in the premiere. Lala, however, gets ample screen time and she's shown to be a tough as nails but compassionate special agent who isn't feeling Gibbs being put on her team.

It's very clear that the two most important relationships Gibbs is going to have in this show are with Mike and Lala though their dynamics are wildly different. Mike sees something in Gibbs, enough to ignore red flags about him and his temperament. Meanwhile, Gibbs and Lala seem to stop and start with their friendliness. They're prickly and under each other's skin one moment and then sharing a smile the next. It makes for interesting scenes and questions on where this is all going which the show wants to keep the audience guessing about.

As for the case in "Enter Sandman," it's enough to hold your attention and has a twist that's supported by great acting from Schmid. But NCIS: Origins is going to live or die on the character element of its formula. This is a series that asks viewers to invest in its overall plot, one fueled by the mystery of why the Gibbs we know is telling this story now and how each character plays a part in it. That's the hook, it's likely the cases are just the means of baiting it.

NCIS: Origins premieres Monday, Oct. 14 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS before moving to 10 p.m. on Oct. 21. Stay tuned to Americans Undercover for coverage. Follow us on X and Facebook for more content.