After just three episodes, co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal confirms that they have plans to tackle Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ revenge plan against Pedro Hernandez in NCIS: Origins. The NCIS universe debuted its first prequel series chronicling the earliest years of Gibbs in the agency. While Mark Harmon narrates the events of the series, Austin Stowell plays the younger and more inexperienced version of the future MCRT leader. Since NCIS: Origins begins in 1991, just a few months after his first wife and daughter, Kelly and Shannon, were murdered, the procedural is compelled to address Gibbs’ eventual entanglement with their killer.
Speaking with TV Line on the heels of NCIS: Origins episode 3’s release, Monreal reveals they have plans to address what happened between Gibbs and Hernandez. She doesn’t get into the details of how they are going to do it, but she acknowledges that the Mexican cartel boss is far too significant in Gibbs’ story not to include in the prequel. Read her full quote below:
Pedro Hernandez is such a huge part of the canon of the show, and we definitely are adhering to that and servicing that. So yes, there will be moments of Pedro Hernandez that I think our fans will find that both satisfying and enlightening.
What Did Gibbs Do To Hernandez & How That Impacts His Story In NCIS
Hernandez Killed Kelly & Shannon
The story of Pedro Hernandez was told across multiple seasons in NCIS. Because Harmon’s Gibbs wasn’t forthcoming with his personal life, Kelly and Shannon’s tragedy was kept from his team for years. Even Ducky, who knew him for decades, didn’t know until the story was officially brought up. Even after that, it took a few more years for NCIS to fully tackle how Gibbs killed Hernandez as his act of revenge against the criminal for masterminding the murder of his family. Franks was well aware of this, and it was a secret that both men kept for years after.
The flagship series already tackled how the crime created problems for both Gibbs and Franks, but NCIS: Origins will have not just to show how the incident actually happened, but also the immediate aftermath of it. As seen in episode 3 of the prequel, Jackson Gibbs already has a hunch about Gibbs’ plans to hunt down Hernandez in Mexico. It’s uncertain if he will eventually learn what his son’s exact plan is, but it’s clear that he is against this revenge plot.
Our Take On How NCIS: Origins Should Tackle Gibbs’ Worst Crime
NCIS: Origins Cannot Escape Hernandez’s Death
It only makes sense that the creatives behind NCIS: Origins have a plan in place for how they want to handle Hernandez’s death. We saw snippets of it in the main series, but the prequel has the opportunity to show how exactly it played out, including when Gibbs planned it and what happened right after. Despite being new, NCIS: Origins has already established itself to be much darker than its peers in the franchise, so it has the ability to include the gorier details of Gibbs’ worst crime in the universe.
In the original series, Gibbs was depicted as the epitome of principle.
Since NCIS: Origins is already redefining the procedural’s true protagonist, it shouldn’t really matter if the prequel shows the character’s bad tendencies. In the original series, Gibbs was depicted as the epitome of principle. However, going through such a devastating experience can understandably bring out the worst people. If anything, doing this will only further humanize Gibbs.