The Surprising Real Reason Why Leroy Jethro Gibbs Became a NCIS Agent

Fans of NCIS think that they know Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ backstory since so much of it was laid out in the original series, but what they’re learning from watching NCIS: Origins is that there’s so much more to the story than was revealed.Last week’s “Vivo o Muerto” episode shared the story of how Gibbs (Austin Stowell) tracked down Pedro Hernandez, the man who killed his wife and daughter, and killed him with a sniper’s bullet. And this week’s episode, “Blue Bayou,” reveals the truth of the repercussions of that act and the surprising way Gibbs ended up becoming an agent—and it wasn’t because of Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid).

This story came about because [co-showrunner] Gina [Lucita Monreal] and I were always fascinated that there was this big missing part of Gibbs’ life after 400-some episodes,” says co-showrunner David J. North. “What we never really knew is what happened to Gibbs after he killed Pedro.”What we learned on the mothership is that Gibbs killed Pedro and next thing he was working for Mike Franks as an NIS agent out of Camp Pendelton, so the assumption always was that it was Franks who invited him to attend FLETC and then hired him on. But that’s so not what happened