NCIS: Origins Boss Takes Us Inside The Gibbs-Tony Reunion, Teases More 'Faces' From The Past — And Romantic 'Progress' For Gibbs And Lala

Warning: This post contains spoilers from Tuesday's episode of "NCIS: Origins."

Welcome home, Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

This week's "NCIS: Origins" gave franchise fans a blast from the past as Mark Harmon's Gibbs returned to his old stomping grounds at the NCIS squad room — where he reunited with former team member Tony DiNozzo (played by Michael Weatherly), who's the newly christened NCIS director. The two old friends shared a drink in honor of the late Leon Vance and puzzled over the mystery of who tried to take out Gibbs in the premiere... and who their next target might be.

Since this was such a momentous occasion in "NCIS" history, TVLine has to reach out to "Origins" showrunner David J. North to get the inside scoop on the long-awaited reunion. Read on to get his take on Gibbs and Tony's new dynamic, what the future holds for Gibbs and Lala's romance (hint: we'll see progress "soon"), and what other familiar faces might be helping Gibbs in his investigation — including, we now know, Emily Wickersham as Ellie Bishop.

TVLINE | First, I want to go back to Mark Harmon appearing in every episode as Gibbs this season, instead of just narrating. Why was this the right time for present-day Gibbs to get back into the action?
Mark [and I], we have a long history together, and [he's] a longtime collaborator of mine on "NCIS" and other things, and in doing "Origins" with him, this was certainly never the plan. But we did a crossover with the mothership last year, and the response was just incredible, and seeing him back on screen again... I mean, I wrote a three-and-a-half-page scene, I think, of him talking to a dog, and the internet went on fire. So when Season 2 ended, of course that was in my head as a producer, and so in talking to Mark, [I asked], would he be open to it at all? He said, "Yeah, depending on what it was." So I got with the writers and came up with an idea to pitch him, and he just sat in my office and listened and said, "Okay, let's do it."

TVLINE | This week, we get to see present-day Gibbs go back to the old NCIS office and reunite with Tony DiNozzo. Was it just kind of kismet that Tony came back to "NCIS" this season as director at the same time? How did this reunion come together, logistically, with both shows?
I think that, yeah, they were sort of happening independently of each other. When I heard that Michael Weatherly was coming back, first of all, I thought, "That's really cool," because who else could really fill Leon Vance's shoes? I mean, it was just another "NCIS" legend. And Eric Christian Olsen, a producer with me on "Origins," was really an integral part of making it all happen. Because obviously, that's a lot of moving pieces to different shows, to two different actors that are legends in their own right.

So we started working on it, and you mentioned Mark being back in the squad room. That was like another character for me. Once I knew Mark was doing this, I started thinking, "What characters do I want to see him with?" I thought, honestly, I want to see him in the orange walls, see him in the bullpen. That's its own entity. That's its own moment, and that's why that lived totally separately from seeing him with DiNozzo.

TVLINE | What would you say the dynamic is like between Gibbs and DiNozzo now, 10 years later? It seems like they're more on equal footing than they were back in the old days.
Yeah, I mean, things change over time, and I think me having written those characters for so long, there always was an underlying respect, even back in the days of head-slapping and DiNozzo doing all his shenanigans and antics. He was an incredible agent. DiNozzo always was so smart, and Gibbs knew that, and Gibbs would always want DiNozzo watching his back in the foxhole. But yeah, now things have changed, and I think DiNozzo rising through the ranks to now be at the pinnacle of NCIS, of course, [Gibbs is] proud. He has to be.

TVLINE | Yeah, Gibbs had that moment where he actually told Tony that he's proud of him, and it kind of felt like a moment two decades in the making, right?
Yeah, it was. It really was. And it's funny: You have little things you want to hit when you start thinking, "Okay, well, now we've got these guys. It happened. Got to write them something." And one thing I knew very early on was that I wanted to have it build to a point where Gibbs can tell Tony he's proud of him.

TVLINE | Another thing you probably wanted to hit was them sharing a toast to Leon Vance. How important was it for those two characters to share that kind of closure after Vance's death, since they spent so much time with him?
Well, it was important to me, as someone that has so much respect for Rocky Carroll and what he accomplished on that show. And I can say this: I wrote it. That was written in there from the beginning. But had it not been, it would have been put in there by Mark, I can tell you. Something would have been done by Mark, because that's just how much Rocky and Leon mean to Mark.

TVLINE | We know Gibbs is supposed to be dead, so he can't exactly go and say hi to Jimmy Palmer or McGee or everybody like that. But will we see any more familiar faces helping him along the way in this investigation?
Yep. [Laughs] I'm just excited because we've really swung for the fences this year in trying to get what we think would be the most special stuff for the fans, and everything has worked out so far. We've got a little ways to go, but yeah, "NCIS" fans aren't going to want to miss a single episode of "Origins" this year. And I don't just say that as like, "Oh, it's my show" and all that. I know the "NCIS" fans. I've given a lot of my adult life to writing for this franchise, and I'm telling you: They are not going to want to miss a single episode.

TVLINE | We still don't know who the gunmen were referring to when they said "one down, one to go." Is that mystery going to play out all season long, or are we going to get an answer to that soon?
That'll play out all season long, yeah. In order for Gibbs to get his answers on who the second target is and who is after him and why... that will all be resolved in the season finale that I'm writing right now.

TVLINE | In the past, Gibbs and Lala are still kind of tiptoeing around things after they kissed. Are you slow-playing things with them a little bit, hoping that they don't get too close, too fast?
Nope. I mean, the typical procedural thing is not what we're doing. Obviously, they kissed at the end of Season 2, and now it sort of looks like things are going to move slowly, but [they're] not. Things are going to progress fast between Gibbs and Lala, for better or worse. I won't say which one it is, but we're going to see a lot happening quick this season.

TVLINE | I know fans want to know how Lala fits into everything, since we didn't know about her in the present. Are we going to get more clues by the end of the season on that?
For sure, yeah. So this started off as: This was the story of her. It's really the story of Lala, and that's been a big driving question: What does that mean? And a lot will be answered this season. A whole lot.

TVLINE | You've said that beyond the Gibbs and Tony reunion, there are "lots of incredible surprises in store" this season. Can you give us a hint about what else we can expect?
In Mark's storyline, in 2026, we will see additional faces, not only from "Origins" but from Mark's past, from older Gibbs' past. Yes.

Let us know your thoughts on Gibbs and Tony's reunion — and "NCIS: Origins" so far this season — in a comment below.