- Title: NCIS: Origins – Enter Sandman
- IMDb: link
The two-part opener to NCIS: Origins introduces Austin Stowell as Leroy Jethro Gibbs on his first day working for NIS (which would eventually get rebranded into NCIS). Still shaken from the loss of his wife and daughter (shown in flashbacks), Gibbs is far from the cocky veteran seen in the NCIS opener, but the journey to how he gets there should be half of the fun. While we do get present day narration and cameos from Mark Harmon foreshadowing the importance of the case, and some dark secret he never shared, along with his relationship to one of the agents in particular, they are few and far between and it doesn’t appear (at least from this) that he will have a large part in the series.
Fulfilling their purpose to introduce Gibbs to NIS and reintroduce audiences to both the character and the far more sparsely-furnished fledging agency, the two-parter does its job. The other agents of note are the younger version of Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) who brings him onboard despite others’ reservations, Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino) who butts heads with Gibbs repeatedly, and the friendly Bernard (Caleb Foote). We get less of Tyla Abercrumbie, Diany Rodriguez, and Patrick Fischler who round out the rest of the NIS office along with an appearance by Robert Taylor as Gibbs’ father.
The case, which hits a bit close to home for Gibbs, involves the death of a Marine’s wife. While found in a fire, Gibbs discovers she was actually killed by a sniper who later claims three more victims on the beach bringing the the FBI attempting to push NIS to side. The team does collar a suspect who confesses to the crimes due in large part to Gibb’s work on the case. However, the Gibbs’ gut, which he hasn’t yet truly learned to trust, leads him to suspect there’s more to the story.
