‘NCIS: Origins’ Preview: Mark Harmon’s Gibbs Reunites With Lala

Considering the shock that Gibbs (Mark Harmon) just got in 2026, we’re not at all surprised by what the preview for the Tuesday, November 17, episode of NCIS: Origins shows: him collapsing. But what is shocking is two of the people he then encounters; we knew about Muse Watson‘s return as the older (and dead) Mike Franks.

Remember, Gibbs was shot in the Season 3 premiere in Alaska. He stitched himself up before leaving his cabin behind and heading to California, where he visited Woody (Bobby Moynihan), then across the country to D.C. to reunite with Tony (Michael Weatherly), then Bishop (Emily Wickersham). Along the way, he dug the bullet out of his own shoulder. He and Bishop then headed to Baltimore to find the tracker, Briggs, who found him in Alaska, and while interrogating him, notably, Gibbs’ shoulder began to bleed again. Then Briggs informed him that Lala (Mariel Molino) did not die in the plane crash she supposedly did and is the other target.

CBS

Now, in the next episode, as the video above reveals, Gibbs collapses and Bishop rushes to his side. Gibbs then finds himself (in his head) in the ’90s NCIS office, and through the door, his younger self, played by Austin Stowell, gestures for him to turn around. “This isn’t real,” the older Gibbs says, then comes face-to-face with Lala. “It’s been a while,” she remarks.

“Is Lala alive?” Gibbs asks Watson’s Franks, who reminds him, “We had a funeral.” (That means nothing.”

And in the ’90s, the team plays beach volleyball.

TV Insider did ask Stowell and Molino, while talking to them for our digital cover story ahead of the season, about the possibility of sharing the screen with Harmon in any way, given the frequent use in TV and film of hallucinations and dreams for just that.

Related

'NCIS: Origins' Star Mariel Molino Talks Lala's Father, Dance With Gibbs & More

“Wouldn’t that be a treat? I mean, I’ve said it since Season 1. I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t know how, but I would love to get to act with Mark Harmon. That would be so special,'” Molino said at the time. “I’m hoping they figure out a way.”

Stowell pointed out, “I think in life, we all talk to —” and Molino interjected with “the dead,” before he finished with, “younger versions of ourselves. Or maybe that version talks to you in some way, that the echoes of your past show up daily, so who knows?”

What’s your theory about this next episode? Let us know in the comments section below.

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