CBS Officially Undoes Gibbs’ NCIS Ending In Origins Season 3 Trailer
Mark Harmon’s Old Gibbs is back, and this time all throughout NCIS: Origins season 3’s run.While CBS’s fall 2026 lineup is still weeks away from debuting, details about what to expect from the network’s premier procedural have already been revealed. NCIS‘s revamped Super Tuesday slate will see a few changes, including the debut of LL Cool J and Sam Hanna’s NCIS: New York and Michael Weatherly’s return to the mothership. For the franchise’s only prequel, NCIS: Origins season 3 will see the full-time return of Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
For context, Harmon left NCIS in 2021 after 19 seasons. Narratively, Old Gibbs retired in Naktok Bay, Alaska after one final mission that brought him to the remote location. Per the latest update, he remains there, seemingly still alone — except for his new dog. Throughout NCIS: Origins‘ run, Harmon has provided the narration that bookends all episodes. He has only appeared twice, but that is about to change when season 3 rolls around.
CBS has officially released the first look at Harmon’s return as Gibbs in NCIS: Origins season 3’s trailer. The video is packed with so many reveals, and that doesn’t even include the narration from the inaugural show actor. In the clip, Old Gibbs admits that the peace that he thought he had when he retired has ended, as ghosts from his past haunts him in Alaska. Watch it below:
It’s surprising that CBS is being very generous with the way that they are marketing Harmon’s return. While the trailer doesn’t reveal what exactly pulls him out of retirement, the fact that he leaves Naktok Bay and travels to Washington DC is a massive treat for anyone who misses Old Gibbs. To cap it all off, seeing Harmon step back in the orange-walled MCRT office surely evokes intense nostalgia. The bullpen is clearly empty, but it isn’t difficult to imagine that any person present during his homecoming was digitally removed to preserve the surprise.
The NCIS: Origins season 3 trailer also features the first-look at Young Gibbs’ full-blown affair with Lala Dominguez — a storyline that the show was setting up since its inception. Instead of stretching out the will-they/won’t-they dynamic, like how the flagship handled Tony Dinozzo and Ziva David’s love story, the prequel was quicker to pay off the storyline, which was a great twist. Now, the challenge for NCIS: Origins is to come up with a compelling explanation with regard to their inevitable split and potential reunion.
dnfortunately, Harmon’s full-time return to NCIS coincides with CBS’s decision to slash the episode count for the prequel. Instead, NCIS: Origins season 3 will only have 10 episodes. Admittedly, it’s a frustrating development, but considering how much the franchise is leaning on its history with the return of several familiar characters to the universe, it’s safe to say that fans will take whatever they can under these circumstances.
