Spoiler Alert for NCIS: Origins season 1, episode 10, "Blue Bayou"
The midseason finale of NCIS: Origins ups the stakes for the Leroy Jethro Gibbs prequel series, introducing a vital relationship that explains a missing piece of his backstory. The outing highlights a character previously in the background, bringing them to the foreground as their story ties back to Gibbs. It's a complex outing, as the NCIS spinoff rotates between Gibbs' 1991 present and the six months that led to him joining NIS.
The NCIS: Origins story has covered some vital Gibbs narratives from NCIS. The prequel expands on pivotal moments from the agent's past, explaining how his NIS colleagues navigate alongside the future Agent in Charge after the death of his family. Beyond what happened to Gibbs' wife and daughter in NCIS, the prequel story explores new characters, giving them their own challenges alongside the former Marine, and episode 10 introduces the show's best character yet.
10 Gibbs Apologizes To Lala About His Hernandez Secret
Lala Is Mad At Gibbs
NCIS: Origins episode 9 covers a vital story from Gibbs' past, expanding on what happened in flashbacks in the original series. While NCIS audiences already knew that Gibbs shot and killed his family's murderer, the preceding episode confirmed that Gibbs killed his family's killer before joining NIS. The prequel series had kept the details vague until episode 9, delivering a massive reveal when Gibbs and Lala Dominguez travel to Tijuana, Mexico, for a case in the outing.
Gibbs and Lala's case ties back to Pedro Hernandez, the leader of the Reynosa cartel and the man who murdered Gibbs' family. The outing brought new emotions, with Lala vowing to avenge Gibbs' family, only to discover Gibbs has other plans. When Franks' team discovers that a sniper shot Hernandez six months earlier, Lala knows Gibbs is responsible, and she's angry with her team members. In episode 10, Gibbs apologizes for his transgressions, but it isn't enough to satisfy Lala.
9 Lala Wants Off Franks' NIS Team
Lala Doesn't Trust Gibbs Or Franks
After returning to NIS, Gibbs and Lala stall to clear the air. In the episode's narration, Mark Harmon's older Gibbs notes that it took Lala days to look at him again. When Lala finally engages with Gibbs, he apologizes to her. Lala seems to partly understand, suggesting she doesn't know what she would do if someone killed her family. Still, Lala says she was hunting for Hernandez to help Gibbs and make him feel whole again, highlighting their intense relationship.
While Gibbs is forthcoming in his apology, the female agent doesn't want to continue in her current circumstances. Lala tells Gibbs that she has a meeting with Special Agent in Charge Cliff Wheeler on Monday, and she's requesting to leave Mike Franks' team, with strong reasons for her decision. Lala notes that after learning Gibbs killed Pedro Hernandez, she doesn't trust him or Franks, who allowed him access to the information he needed to do the job.
8 Gibbs Gets An Upsetting Phone Call
Gibbs Walks Out Of NIS
While it's been an emotional day already with Lala's confrontation, Gibbs gets a phone call that worsens everything. NCIS: Origins doesn't reveal what the call is about at the time, but the episode reveals its meaning and how it ties back to Gibbs's story in NCIS. After receiving the upsetting phone call, Gibbs walks out of NIS. While the agent had an emotional start at the agency, he's been more composed since getting his footing, so it's a rare moment for Gibbs.
Harmon's narration describes how things were difficult for Gibbs then, and the phone call strained his ability to roll with the punches. Without revealing what he's distracting himself from, NCIS: Origins shows Gibbs hauling lumber into the office as he prepares to build a shelving unit for the office's storage unit. Gibbs wants to help Mary Jo and others access stored items more quickly, and the moment calls back to Gibbs' love of carpentry and how he uses the hobby to process grief.
7 Flashbacks Show Gibbs' Life After Getting Discharged
Gibbs Can't Tell His Dad
NCIS: Origins Cast | Character |
|---|---|
Austin Stowell | Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs |
Mariel Molino | Special Agent Lala Dominguez |
Kyle Schmid | Special Agent Mike Franks |
Diany Rodriguez | Special Agent Vera Strickland |
Tyla Abercrumbie | Officer Mary Jo Sullivan |
Caleb Martin Foote | Special Agent Benjamin "Randy" Randolf |
While NCIS: Origins shows many glimpses into Gibbs' life after getting discharged from the Marines, episode 10 recreates the moment. Stowell's Gibbs takes his gear to check out and is cleared as an official civilian, with his fellow soldier noting that his war objects were well-used. The moment gives NCIS viewers a clearer picture of Gibbs' emotional state when transitioning between careers, including how he processed leaving the Corps and what he did to Pedro Hernandez.
After an outburst over the murder, Pedro Hernandez calls his landlord, Ruth, to check in on him. She asks her unruly tenant to pack up and leave. However, Ruth eventually has a change of heart and lets him back inside, telling him she's aware of what happened to his family. NCIS: Origins shows how Ruth is vital to Gibbs' recovery, bringing over puzzles as they sit silently and complete them together. The friendship is essential in light of the reveal of how Franks treats Gibbs.
6 Gibbs Wants To Talk To Franks After He Kills Pedro Hernandez (But He's Avoiding Him)
Franks Avoids Gibbs At The Store
NCIS: Origins explains how Mike Franks avoided Leroy Gibbs after showing him the file that enabled him to murder his family's killer. Harmon's narration describes how when Gibbs got back from his journey to Mexico to kill Hernandez, he carried the weight of the murder heavily on his chest. Gibbs hopes to connect with Franks and discuss his experience, but to Gibbs' dismay, the man sworn to protect Shannon and Kelly won't return his calls.
The episode worsens when Gibbs gets a job with Ruth's fierce encouragement, only to find himself face-to-face with Franks. Gibbs is persistent about getting a beer with Franks because he needs to discuss something with him, but Mike is adamant that he doesn't have the time. The circumstances create an awkward moment for Franks' partner, Tish, who eventually encourages him to talk it out with Gibbs in the parking lot.
5 Gibbs Confesses That He Killed His Family's Murderer To Ruth
Gibbs Gets His Family's Murder Off His Chest
When Franks finally talks to Gibbs outside his car in the grocery store parking lot, the conversation doesn't meet the former Marine's expectations. When Gibbs tells Franks that he needs to discuss something with him, referring to his murdering Pedro Hernandez, Franks insists that he doesn't want to talk about it. Franks correctly guesses that Gibbs is either looking for a lead or feeling the weight of what he did, and Franks clarifies that he doesn't want to deal with either.
However, after Gibbs chases after thieves who took Ruth's vacuum cleaning, the friends sit on Marine's truck bed and drink a six-pack of beer. With gentle probing, Gibbs tells Ruth that she gets sad when Linda Ronstadt's "Blue Bayou" song comes on the record player, and she reveals the song reminds her of her estranged son in New Orleans. After she opens up, Gibbs tells Ruth he murdered Hernandez, feeling a profound sense of relief and deepening the friends' bond.
4 NCIS: Origins Reveals The Reason Gibbs Fails His NIS Psych Eval
Gibbs Was Shocked By Ruth's News
NCIS: Origins episode 10 reveals that Ruth is a true friend to Gibbs and has a stronger sense of support for him after his family's death. When Gibbs confesses he murdered a man to Ruth, she laughs, commenting on the strange wonder of their connection. Harmon's Gibbs explains in the following narration that after learning Gibbs' secret, which he needed to tell someone, Ruth saw something in Gibbs he didn't see, encouraging him to become a law enforcement officer.
However, Leroy and Ruth's story takes a devastating turn when Gibbs returns from FLETC, ready to begin at NIS. Gibbs notes that the training was easy for him after the Marine Corps, and he just needed to pass his psychological evaluation. However, as Gibbs arrives home and prepares for his assessment, his neighbor welcomes him and reveals heartbreaking news. Ruth tells Gibbs she's dying right before, offering a reason as to why Gibbs fails.
3 Franks Finally Takes Gibbs Under His Wing & Recruits Him For His Team
Ruth Sets Franks Right
After feeling certain he failed his psych eval, Gibbs calls Ruth from the bar where he is pounding back shots of liquor. He tells his friend, or his "big sister," that he believes he will fail out of NIS due to the assessment, and Ruth blames herself. Gibbs presses Ruth on why she didn't tell him that she was dying before he left for training, noting that they could have had more time together. The phone call shows Gibbs struggling to let go of yet another loved one in his life.
After hanging up on Ruth, Gibbs plays "Blue Bayou" on the jukebox, which causes the bar to pause. A Marine approaches Gibbs about his selection, and when he goes to unplug the machine, Gibbs starts a fight that ends with him in jail. When Franks and Ruth both come to retrieve Gibbs, the latter lectures Franks on how the agent is failing a man who desperately needs him. The moment is the wake-up call Franks needs, and he recruits Gunny to his NIS team afterward.
2 Lala And Gibbs Reconcile After Ruth's Death
Ruth's Death Changes Things
After placing a significant piece of Gibbs' metaphorical puzzle, explaining who really supported him while transitioning from the Marines to NIS, NCIS: Origins episode 10 returns to the present. After her confrontation with Gibbs, Lala is intrigued by the phone call her team member received and hesitantly asks if he's okay. Gibbs is still building shelves, and he's just stumbled upon a potentially massive secret, but he takes a moment to stop everything and sit with Lala.
Gibbs insists it's a long story, but Lala assures him she wants to hear it, so the probie tells her about Ruth. As Lala and Gibbs begin their conversation, Harmon's older Gibbs recounts how their discussion prompted Lala to cancel her meeting with Wheeler, deciding to stay on Mike Franks' team. The development emboldens an existing pattern in the story, where Lala's gut tells her she can't trust Gibbs. Still, she betrays it, foreshadowing something ominous for the second half of NCIS: Origins season 1.
1 Gibbs Finds Evidence That Someone Is Covering Up A Second Sniper In Sandman's Case
Who Is Covering Up NIS Secrets?
Gibbs is building shelves for the NIS storage closet because it's a mess. Earlier in the episode, he and Mary Jo go to retrieve the office Christmas tree, and the secretary notes a shredder that broke after someone burned it out from using it too much. The comment indicates that someone was trying to clear a paper trail within NIS, covering their tracks, and Gibbs finds some concerning evidence when he accidentally knocks it over.
Gibbs finds a piece of a shredded document that notes evidence of two snipers in the opening NCIS: Origins case regarding Jamison "Bugs" Boyd. The character returns in NCIS: Origins episode 8, when Vera Stickland interviews the sniper for her NIS profiling program. Context clues suggest Vera could be covering something up, although someone else could be involved in further investigating his case.
