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‘NCIS’: How Much of the Beginning of Season 19 Will Be Devoted to Gibbs Storyline

The season 18 finale was (literally) explosive, but how is NCIS going to top that? Do things keep getting crazier and crazier until the whole thing just ramps up and fizzles out?

Showrunner Steven D. Binder said of Gibbs in the new season, “He’s been dangerous; now it’s going to be the subject of all the stories. Gibbs is going to be fully unchained.”

According to TV Insider, Gibbs is the subject of the first 4 episodes in the series, an arc that explores his status as an agent, his status as an investigator, and, probably, his status as being alive. While it’s unlikely that Gibbs will die (no Gibbs, no show, after all) it’s unclear from the finale how injured he is from the boat explosion.

Binder goes back to Gibbs’ DNA when considering what the character will do now that he’s not officially with the NCIS. “He was a little rapscallion in his small hometown, straightened out by the military and NCIS,” says Binder, “When you take those things away, does he revert?”

Now Gibbs has had those things taken away: he’s been suspended from the NCIS since episode 10 of season 18, working with investigative journalist Marcie Warren to find a serial killer. However, Gibbs doesn’t have access to NCIS databases anymore, but he’s also not restricted by NCIS rules and regulation, either. He can essentially do what he wants now. But, his actions still have real world consequences; will he fly off the handle a little bit?

Of the first 4 episodes, Binder says, “the next episode feeds into the last.” So, they’re all going to be connected, with a cat-and-mouse chase in episode 2 and a road trip in episode 3.

‘NCIS’: What Details Can Fans Expect From Season 19?

Apparently, season 19 opens in “real time,” picking up where the finale left off. Binder said the story was “too interesting of a moment to skip ahead,” so fans could possibly be met with a soaked and bloody Gibbs in the season opener.

There will also be some big cast changes, what with Gary Cole and Katrina Law joining the crew. Cole plays Alden Park, and Law plays Jessica Knight. While both are joining the show, it’s unclear who’s officially joining the NCIS team. Now that Gibbs is no longer the leader, who’s going to take his place?

Maybe no one; right now, for the season opener, Binder says they’re focusing on getting the team back together. Does this mean Gibbs is coming back as team leader? Will he be reinstated as an NCIS agent? Or will he have to go rogue for a little bit before that happens? In any case, I see a disciplinary hearing in Gibbs’ future.

Of Gibbs’ return, Binder said, “We are focusing right now on telling the best stories we can with the characters we have, and Gibbs is a part of that world.” NCIS fans rejoice: it looks like Gibbs is here to stay, at least for a little while.

NCIS season 19 premieres Monday Sept. 20 at 9/8c.