The story of Leroy Jethro Gibbs rolls on…
If you thought 19 seasons with Mark Harmon’s NCIS special agent was enough to unpack his story, think again. Set in 1991, NCIS: Origins’ debut season introduced viewers to a younger Gibbs, serving as a prequel to his future on the long-running CBS procedural. Now, season 2 is fast approaching.
Audiences are hungry for it, too — according to Paramount, the parent company of CBS, the 18-episode prequel series drew 9.2 million viewers on streaming alone.
Harmon haunts the series as its narrator, while Austin Stowell (Bridge of Spies) plays the younger Gibbs. Starring alongside him are younger versions of NCIS favorites like special agents Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) and Vera Strickland (Diany Rodriguez).
And then there’s Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez (Mariel Molino), a special agent who we learn is dearly important to Gibbs, despite her never being mentioned on the flagship series.
There’s a reason for that, of course, and it has something to do with that season 1 finale cliffhanger. So, will there be an NCIS: Origins season 2? When is it coming out? Who will appear in it? Read on as we answer those questions and more with insights from the cast and creators.
Will there be an NCIS: Origins season 2?
Yes, there will be a season 2 of NCIS: Origins. CBS parent company Paramount Global announced the renewal in February 2025.
What is NCIS: Origins season 2 about?
The NCIS: Origins season finale sets up several storylines that, according to the cast and creators, will be unpacked in season 2.
First and foremost will be the aftermath of the messy business involving Gibbs, Franks, Lala, and the murder of Pedro Hernandez. During the finale, we saw Gibbs initially own up to the murder of Pedro, as he didn’t want to drag his complicit colleagues into the dirt with him. Later, however, Lala leverages her own friendship with Lara Macy (Claire Berger), who’s investigating the case, to sweep it under the rug, lest Lala find her entire life ruined alongside Gibbs and Franks.
Her gambit works, and the season ends with Macy telling Franks that there’s insufficient evidence to pursue the case. Franks knows something happened to trigger Macy’s change of heart, and Schmid told Entertainment Weekly that they’ll likely be confronting it next season.
“Franks is an intelligent man,” the actor said. “He can read between the lines. That’s why he is such a good interrogator. I think there’s more to that story to be told.”
While we’re on the topic of Franks, the finale also reveals the source of those mysterious phone calls he’s received all season. Turns out it’s his older brother, Mason, and he wants to talk about what happened to them during their time fighting overseas in the Vietnam War. (As a reminder, episode 11 of the series centered on a flashback about how Franks was drafted and his brother volunteered to go fight alongside him.)
“There’s a whole season of buried secrets for Franks and his family,” Schmid told us. “That is a conversation that I’m very much looking forward to exploring in season 2. There’s so much left on the table that fans are going to just eat up.”
Another major storyline to play out in season 2 concerns Randy (Caleb Foote), who’s finding himself burnt out and desiring a desk job. If the idea of the show’s comic relief being chained to a desk is bumming you out, allow co-creator David J. North to ease your mind.
“Randy’s had so many different close calls and he’s thinking about Randy Junior and his family,” he told EW. “But I don’t know that Randy, once he’s stuck to a desk, would find that as appealing as he thinks. So we’ll see where it takes us.”
Finally, the finale also introduces us to a key figure in NCIS lore: Diane (Kathleen Kenny). Fans of the original series know that Diane is a future ex-wife of Gibbs, meaning that season 2 could very well reveal the origins of their (ultimately doomed) love story.
But that, of course, will be complicated by his relationship with Lala. Speaking of…
Did Lala die at the end of season 1?
We asked creators North and Gina Lucita Monreal straight-up whether or not Lala survives the climactic car crash at the end of the season 1 finale. Their response? “We will neither confirm nor deny.”
A synopsis for the season 2 premiere, however, promises that “Lala’s fate is revealed,” so you’ll certainly want to tune in.
Gibbs and Lala’s relationship is nothing if not loaded. The pair danced around each other all season, and nearly kissed in the finale. What’s more, Lala broke the rules to save him from a prison sentence, and as Stowell noted while discussing the story with EW, she was racing to his house when she got into the accident.
“This will have gigantic ramifications on him,” he told us. “Is she dead? Is she in a coma? Is she paralyzed? I don’t know any of these things. I know this much. He’s going to find out that she was in a car accident after it seems like she was on the way to his house, so the guilt will only build.”
“This is a story I don’t tell,” Harmon says in the episode’s closing narration. “I can’t find the words. But it never stops running through my head. The story of her.”
Speaking with EW following the finale, North emphasized that “the story that older Gibbs is referring to is still being told.” Monreal, meanwhile, added, “We don’t fully understand that yet because we haven’t seen the aftermath of what happens in the finale. We don’t see his reaction to it yet. We don’t know all of the intricacies of everything happening around it. We can’t fully comprehend yet what he’s meaning by that because we haven’t seen it in totality.”
Who’s in the NCIS: Origins season 2 cast?
The cast for season 2 of NCIS: Origins has yet to be confirmed. Based on remarks made by the cast to EW, though, we can safely say that Stowell’s Gibbs, Schmid’s Franks, and Foote’s Randy will all return for another round.
Molino’s Lala, on the other hand, remains up in the air. The same goes for this younger iteration of Macy, a character who appears in both NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles. When we asked if she’d return to Origins, Monreal said, “We never say never. She’s in our world now, so could be.”
Another character we’ll definitely be seeing more of is Kenny’s Diane. “We definitely will stick to canon,” Monreal said when asked about Diane’s future on the show. “We’re very aware of Gibbs’ relationships that have been established on the show and are excited to figure how to portray them in Origins.”
Fans of NIS head Wheeler (Patrick Fischler) will also be happy to know that the showrunners have plans for him following the character’s suspension. “We love Wheeler,” Monreal told TVLine. “We left him in a place where there are a lot of questions surrounding his story, and we’re super excited to dig deeper into his story, so we will be seeing Wheeler in Season 2 for sure.”
Is there an NCIS: Origins season 2 release date?
Indeed, season 2 of NCIS: Origins will premiere on Tuesday, October 14 at 9 p.m. ET.
The premiere, titled “The Funky Bunch,” will find Gibbs and Franks investigating “the disappearance of a young Marine connected to a mysterious compound with a charismatic leader,” per a synopsis.
Is there a NCIS: Origins season 2 trailer?
EW exclusively debuted the trailer for NCIS: Origins season 2 in September.
While reintroducing fans to the team, it becomes clear that not all is well among our heroes. “I need this team back to the way it was before I lose my damn mind,” shouts a frustrated Franks.
A voiceover from Harmon’s Gibbs, meanwhile, hints at the fate of Lala. “The job wasn’t right without her,” he says.
But duty calls. The clip juxtaposes plenty of action and comedy as Gibbs, Franks, and company bust heads out in the field and back in the office.
Where can I watch NCIS: Origins?
NCIS: Origins airs on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
