NCIS: Origins Star Previews Prequel Show’s Gibbs & Mike Franks Dynamic

Kyle Schmid teases what to expect from young Mike Franks’ relationship with Leroy Jethro Gibbs in NCIS: Origins. This fall, CBS is launching a brand-new expansion series in the evolving NCIS universe. But unlike previous spinoffs, which just see new branches of the agency in other locations, NCIS: Origins will be a prequel. Set in the ’90s, on the heels of Gibbs’ return from Operation Desert Storm, the new show will tackle his early years as part of Franks’ tag team. As such, it will also reveal the beginning of the pair’s unbreakable bond.

Ahead of NCIS: Origins’ premiere in October, Schmid talks to TV Line to preview what viewers can expect from his take on young Mike Franks. Specifically, he discusses the dynamic between him and Austin Stowell’s young Leroy Jethro Gibbs, as the prequel also chronicles the beginning of their relationship. Read his full quote below:

As Mark Harmon and [showrunners] Gina [Monreal] and David [North] mentioned [at TCA], there was something ‘broken’ in the Jethro Gibbs character in the beginning, something that I believe Mike Franks sees in part in himself.”

“To potentially lose somebody based on the circumstances and experiences that they’ve had is a shame, and I think Mike Franks sees an opportunity to try and save somebody from themselves. Bringing Gibbs into the world of NIS in 1991 was an opportunity to give an incredibly talented young man a second chance after a broken heart.