NCIS winter finale: What’s next for Gibbs and Phineas?

“IRL” â€" The NCIS team investigates a petty officer's murder that was live-streamed on a popular gaming app. Also, Gibbs watches his 11-year-old neighbor, Phineas (Jack Fisher), when his mom must leave on a last-minute trip, on NCIS, Tuesday, Nov. 26 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Mark Harmon as NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Jack Fisher as Phineas. Photo: Patrick McElhenney/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
“IRL” â€" The NCIS team investigates a petty officer's murder that was live-streamed on a popular gaming app. Also, Gibbs watches his 11-year-old neighbor, Phineas (Jack Fisher), when his mom must leave on a last-minute trip, on NCIS, Tuesday, Nov. 26 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Mark Harmon as NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Jack Fisher as Phineas. Photo: Patrick McElhenney/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

If you expected something fishy to be going on with Gibbs’ neighbors in NCIS Season 17, you’d be right. The winter finale left a Phineas-sized problem.

Gibbs has a Phineas-sized problem on his hands. After we’ve watched the two grow close in NCIS Season 17, Gibbs had to do something that would cause Phineas pain for the rest of his life. Just what will Gibbs do next?

There’s no point asking if he regrets his choice. He chose to save Ziva. That did mean killing Phineas’ mother, but he doesn’t regret what he did. He just hates the fact that the woman after Ziva happened to be Phineas’ mother. As Phineas begged Gibbs to do everything he could to save his mom, Gibbs realized he had no choice but to kill her.

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The last we saw of Gibbs in the NCIS winter finale was him going to Phineas to break the truth. Would he tell the full truth? That’s something we didn’t get to see. With the bond the two have gained over the season, it is heartbreaking to see that they’ll now be split up.

Even if Gibbs did chose to foster or adopt Phineas (depending on the real situation with his father), would Phineas even want to be around Gibbs? If Gibbs tells the full truth about his actions, then there’s no way Phineas will want to be around him.

Gibbs likely will want to take this boy in or find some way to look out for him. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gibbs finds out where Phineas is heading so that he can keep a close eye on him. We’ll likely find out that Gibbs is tracking Phineas in some way, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the end of NCIS Season 17 brings the young boy back in some dangerous situation that only Gibbs can get him out of.

In fact, I could see a storyline play out where Phineas has to use the old computer messaging system to get Gibbs’ attention, share a dangerous situation that he’s in. This would get the team to the young boy, taking down whoever may be hurting him. It could even be a trap for revenge against Sahar/Sarah.

But for now, this is likely the end of the storyline between Gibbs and Phineas. It’s disappointing since watching the two like father and son was so sweet and heartwarming. Gibbs is such a softy at times and his heart opened with this small boy around. Is there anything that can bring that back?

What do you think is next for Gibbs and Phineas? Where do you see this story going? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

NCIS Season 17 returns with new episodes on Jan. 7 at 8/7c on CBS. Catch up on NCIS on CBS All Access with a FREE 7-day trial of Amazon Channels!
NCIS Season 17 returns with new episodes on Jan. 7 at 8/7c on CBS. Catch up on NCIS on CBS All Access with a FREE 7-day trial of Amazon Channels!