NCIS: Origins Creates a Gibbs Family Mess – Before It Even Begins!
NCIS: Origins: A Prequel That's Already Creating Plot Holes
NCIS: Origins aims to explore the early days of Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell), a prequel focusing on those very early years in the 1990s. However, it's already stumbling, creating plot inconsistencies regarding his complicated relationship with his father, Jackson Gibbs (Robert Taylor), even before tackling the issues of Gibbs’ original series already presents!
Jackson's presence itself, despite seemingly being an unimportant supporting role which serves as a plot element that shows the complicated family history, directly impacts how Gibbs deals with intense grief in NCIS: Origins. It shows Jackson's attempts to heal Gibbs after his tragic loss (his wife Shannon and daughter Kelly). Their fractured relationship is implied yet those very moments are actually explicitly addressed and developed in the original show. And yet these are completely contrary in this particular prequel. Those contradictory elements contradict previously well-established lore which seriously impacts the viewers’ initial impressions.
Ignoring Established Canon: The Jackson Gibbs Problem
NCIS, after its long run (over 20 years!), has explored Gibbs' life extensively. In NCIS season 6, Gibbs reveals he hasn't spoken to his dad for 15 years! Those past conflicts; that incredibly intense drama and tense reconciliation are actually a huge and critically important part of the storyline in that particular series! The NCIS: Origins version of Jackson and Gibbs however, paints a completely different portrait of this relationship— one showing far more care and support; emphasizing that both maintain their connection after this tragedy, not showing the immense amounts of underlying hostility actually already addressed before this prequel had started. It fundamentally goes against canon already stated before. Those contradictory ideas in this prequel immediately make the already intense emotional tension even more pronounced; and that alone deserves close analysis. These initial inconsistencies immediately create uncertainty; impacting the credibility in other areas in the story that follows and fundamentally create problems with accepting the narratives as credible.
Another Inconsistency: The Mike Franks Connection
There’s yet another major problem: Mike Franks (Muse Watson) is another key character involved. That very significant storyline found in NCIS season 8, episode 1, shows how Franks helped Gibbs' family from Paloma Reynosa's vengeance— that shows how close and intimate both Gibbs and Franks already were. However, NCIS: Origins shows how they both knew each other before that original event, changing some fundamental details in the prequels, showing how intense that underlying problem actually became. It further weakens acceptance regarding canon, making it questionable whether it even attempted to stay connected to the events of the original show.
This shows itself in episode 3: Jackson visits Franks' house, trying to make him fire Gibbs because Jackson fears Gibbs might self-destruct. It showcases that close Jackson/Franks relationship that clashes greatly with the events depicted and established already!
Will Jackson Return? A Loose End in a Problematic Prequel
The episode ends ambiguously. Jackson leaves but then stops; he saves Gibbs' "rules" box—and it makes his later reappearance highly probable. Yet his role in NCIS: Origins remains seriously unlikely despite his clear involvement here, with that added hint for what follows.
Ignoring those underlying contradictions and flaws however: both NCIS and NCIS: Origins show this fractured Gibbs/Jackson relationship. But this fact doesn't change the other major problem here: The inconsistency. And these key inconsistencies highlight serious problems that create the massive sense of uncertainty and a massive failure; especially considering the already intensely troubled plot, surrounding Gibbs' recovery from his personal loss. There really were no other additional narrative purposes, making it an overall bad idea in hindsight, not helping create a better narrative around the characters' pre-existing connections. The initial problem remains fundamentally untouched and unacknowledged.
Conclusion: A Rocky Start for NCIS: Origins
NCIS: Origins shows early signs of becoming a solid prequel, yet faces huge problems—the contradictory statements related to established Gibbs family lore, is a gigantic error that creates serious doubt and negatively impacts viewers and makes those involved want to question and seriously think about how much work would really be needed to create such a complex prequel; needing that kind of enormous level of care to actually make a quality prequel from the ground up; it shows this initial failure at addressing some extremely basic storytelling elements surrounding Jackson Gibbs’ importance is a huge step in the wrong direction; particularly considering his extremely troubled role which needed extreme sensitivity and creative talent. While NCIS has an excellent and strong canon that greatly deserves respect, NCIS: Origins might create far more problems than solutions by this massive contradiction.
