The Season 2 finale of NCIS: Origins didn’t just deliver emotional character moments — it rewrote franchise history. In “Hollywood Ending,” viewers finally learn how the original NIS evolved into the NCIS known across television for decades.
The episode centers on the Camp Pendleton office facing closure after Tom Morrow considers breaking the team apart. Ironically, their success solving cases becomes the reason leadership wants to redistribute the agents elsewhere.
Determined to stay together, Vera Strickland and the team craft a bold proposal: transform the agency into the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, proving the military is willing to investigate its own corruption seriously and publicly.
The finale also packed in nostalgic details longtime fans instantly recognized. Gibbs receives his first official NCIS jacket and cap, complete with the famous logo still used in the present-day series. To make the moment even more emotional, the background score subtly echoes the classic NCIS theme song.