‘NCIS: Origins’: Michael Weatherly Says Mark Harmon Reunion Was ‘More Moving’ Than He Expected

As Kyle Schmid describes this week’s NCIS: Origins, “We get to see two legends reunited. Wow, right?”

CBS has released a video, which you can watch below, of the cast discussing the latest episode, “Return of the Mack,” which, in the 2026 timeline, sees Mark Harmon‘s Gibbs and Michael Weatherly‘s DiNozzo reunite when the former turns to the latter, now the agency’s director, to help in his investigation into who tried to kill him in Alaska and has a second, unknown target. (The two starred together on NCIS for 13 seasons, until Weatherly exited as a series regular. He returned this season. Harmon exited the mothership in Season 19 and is now in all episodes of the prequel’s Season 3.)

“Returning as DiNozzo allowed me to do a scene with my old mentor, boss, father figure Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a.k.a. Mark Harmon. It was a lot more moving than I thought it was going to be,” Weatherly admits. “There was a lot going on in those scenes, a lot of moving parts, a lot of power dynamics shifting. There was a lot of father figure themes for me coming back as Director DiNozzo to becoming the father of, in a sense, the NCIS universe.”

Gibbs and DiNozzo’s reunion ended with the former telling the latter, “The bravest people I’ve ever known are in this building. And they’re lucky to have you leading them, Tony. I’m proud of you.” After he left, DiNozzo said, “Take care, boss.”

Showrunner David J. North revealed to TV Insider that the “I’m proud of you,” at “the starting point of this, that was the only line that we knew. We all knew as writers that that was the line we needed to get there. As a fan of the series, that’s what I wanted to hear. And look at what DiNozzo’s accomplished now and certainly in what we saw in the Tony & Ziva spinoff, and now for him to be back as director, Gibbs would have to be proud. He really brought DiNozzo up, and now he’s at the pinnacle of NCIS, which is pretty cool.”

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To watch the union was “really just special,” he added. “It’s hard to describe, obviously, the chemistry that they have. It’s magic; it’s legendary TV that they’ve done at this point. They’re both titans and to be able to get them back on set together and things like that never come together easily. But Eric Christian Olsen, executive producer with me, was a big part of helping make that happen. And it was really a really special day, one I’ll never forget.”

What did you think of the Gibbs and DiNozzo reunion? Let us know in the comments section below.

NCIS: Origins, Tuesdays, 10/9c, CBS