NCIS Ignores Gibbs’ Best Relationship For Mark Harmon’s Homecoming
The latest episode of NCIS: Origins season 3 saw Older Gibbs leave Alaska to get help from an old friend — who turned out to be Woody — who owed him one. While most of “My Own Worst Enemy” centered on Young Gibbs helping Woody when he’s framed for murder, the episode ended with Older Gibbs leaving Woody’s home to make his next move — landing him back home in the NCIS offices.
Watching Mark Harmon’s full-time return on NCIS: Origins has been sentimental, and his homecoming even more so, with fans eager to see Gibbs finally reunite with Tony again after all these years. However, one thing stood out regarding Harmon’s appearance — the way it ignored the best relationship Gibbs ever had on the OG series.
Gibbs was shown remembering his past while walking through the bullpen to get to the office of the NCIS director (now Tony). However, even as several former team members came to mind, one very important person was missing from his reminiscences — Abby.
Mark Harmon’s NCIS: Origins Season 3’s Return To Navy Yard Explained
The first episode of NCIS: Origins season 3 opened with masked people shooting Older Gibbs outside his home in Alaska. The premiere immediately flashed back to the past to detail an episode where Young Gibbs and LaLa almost hook up, and Randy is kidnapped by a group of Russians and tortured. Viewers spent the entire episode fearing Older Gibbs might actually be dead (he wasn’t, of course).
Older Gibbs had simply used a trick he learned in the military to slow down his heart and breathe enough to pass for dead. He picked himself up after the masked intruders left, but as they left, he heard them say, “One down, one to go.” Gibbs then did what he does best by fixing up his gunshot wound before grabbing a bag and his dog to head off to stop whatever was about to go down.
That leads him to Woody’s in episode 2, as Gibbs needs Woody’s help with a fingerprint he captured from one of the shooters. After getting what he needed at Woody’s, Gibbs’ next stop is the Navy Yard, where he goes to confer with Tony. While it’s still unclear exactly who Gibbs is chasing, who else the shooters plan to kill, or what help he needs from Tony, the storyline is putting Gibbs back where everything started for a reason.
Gibbs’ Bullpen Voiceovers Don’t Include Abby
Older Gibbs walked into an entirely empty bullpen on his return, giving him the opportunity to reminisce about his past there. As he slowly walked through the area where he and his team once worked, voiceovers began. Gibbs hears Tony, Ziva, Ducky, and McGee as he looks around to see what’s changed. However, there’s no voiceover from Abby.
Abby was part of the core team for years, so it was odd that Gibbs didn’t think of her at all. Given how close Abby and Gibbs were throughout NCIS’s run, that seemed even stranger. Likely, the unfortunate behind-the-scenes drama that led to Pauley Perrette leaving NCIS had something to do with the absence.
Anything that happened off-camera shouldn’t have affected the years of on-camera history the characters had, though. Abby should have been included in some way, even if it wasn’t a voiceover, as having no mention of her simply didn’t make sense. A picture of her on someone’s desk, or something she once gave Gibbs still hiding in his old desk (which he stops by), would have been an easy way to invoke her memory and tug on the audience’s heartstrings.
Why Abby Was Gibbs’ Best Relationship In NCIS
Gibbs had excellent relationships with everyone on his team during his tenure on NCIS, with each holding a unique spot in his life. He occasionally gave Tony a hard time because he knew how much better Tony could be; he helped McGee become the agent he is today. Ducky played the role of confidante, and while Gibbs’ relationship with Director Vance was occasionally antagonistic, the two had a long history that made them comfortable with each other.
When it came to the women on his team, Gibbs treated them as equals just as he did Tony and McGee, but there was always a bit more softness. Losing his daughter devastated Gibbs, and he tended to “adopt” some of his female agents, particularly Ziva and Abby. Abby, however, always stood out.
She might not have been his daughter by blood, but Abby was definitely Gibbs’ daughter by heart, and their relationship on NCIS was the best one he had. He recognized Abby’s intelligence and ability to be a badass, but he was also more protective of her than anyone else on the team. When Ari shot into Abby’s lab in the episode “Kill Ari Part 1,” Gibbs was concerned about Tony, but mostly about Abby (it was also this episode where Abby tells Tony that Gibbs is always nice, and Tony replies that he’s only nice to her).
One of the more tragic aspects of the behind-the-scenes drama that led to Abby’s exit from the show was that Gibbs and Abby were never shown onscreen together in season 15. Gibbs never came down to Abby’s lab while she was in it, and even on the day she exited the show, the pair never interacted. Instead, she stood across the street from his house and waved. It was a devastating ending for the duo.When Abby left NCIS, it was still an emotional day for Gibbs (and for viewers, as it truly marked the end of an era). The uniqueness of their relationship and the closeness they shared on NCIS made it Gibbs’ best relationship, and as such, Abby absolutely should have appeared in NCIS: Origins season 3, episode 2. The fact that her name wasn’t mentioned is a travesty, so here’s hoping she’ll at least come up in conversation between Gibbs and Tony.
