The question has been asked since the beginning of NCIS: how does Special Agent Gibbs get his boat out of the basement? NCIS, one of CBS’s most successful shows, is currently in its 19th season, which has seen a significant change in its cast. Gibbs, the head of the Naval Cr1m1nal Investigative Service, stepped down earlier this season. Despite this, due to the depth of his character, Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs will always be remembered as the show’s main character.
Viewers are well aware that Special Agent Gibbs is more than just a skilled investigator. He’s also a carpenter, and he builds boats from the ground up in his basement. Gibbs, who was given his perfect NCIS legacy when he left, has hand-carved several boats out of wood over the years. The NCIS chief begins with the frame before constructing the body and finishing the wood in preparation for the water. The boat then vanishes before the audience’s eyes, and Gibbs is seen beginning a new frame. His hobby, on the other hand, has resulted in one of the show’s longest-running mysteries.
How Gibbs gets his boats out of the basement has been a source of contention not only for NCIS viewers, but also for other characters on the show. Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) once told Gibbs that the mystery has spread beyond their team and is even being discussed outside the Navy Yard. “The theories were insane,” Torres said. Moveable walls, pulley systems… there’s a coal tunnel beneath your house.” However, in the episode “Great Wide Open,” NCIS season 19 finally answered the question. The FBI, led by Alden Parker, Gibbs’ NCIS replacement, attempts to locate and arrest Gibbs at his home. Gibbs is nowhere to be found, and the only thing left of his basement is a boat-shaped hole in the wall.
Every time Gibbs finishes a boat, he appears to remove the bricks in the wall to allow it to pass outside. Then he rebuilds the basement wall with bricks. On the surface, it appears to be a time-consuming, intricate task that no one would want to undertake—but this is Special Agent Gibbs. As a former Marine sniper, he thrives on patience and perfection, and he’ll almost certainly keep the mystery alive. Brian Dietzen, the actor who plays Jimmy Palmer on NCIS, confirmed that the episode did, in fact, solve the series’ long-running mystery. When a viewer asked if they had just seen Gibbs get his boat out of the basement, Brian replied, “Yes. We did, indeed.” (Image courtesy of Twitter.)
Now that the mystery of how Gibbs gets his boat out of the basement has been solved, everyone is wondering if Gibbs will ever return to NCIS and build another boat. As of now, NCIS actor Mark Harmon has stepped down as a series regular, so there’s a chance he’ll return. However, if Gibbs follows his own set of rules, it may not happen. The name of the boat he nearly drowned on, Rule 91, is clear: “When you decide to walk away, never look back.”