Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for NCIS: Origins season 2, episode 11, “Feelin’ Alright?”
The March 17 episode of NCIS: Origins introduced a younger version of a famous NCIS face. As part of a murder case, Gibbs (Austin Stowell) met up with NIS New Orleans agent Dwayne Pride (Shea Buckner), the future leader of NCIS: New Orleans (played by Scott Bakula in that series).
It wasn’t a pleasant meeting, to be sure. It seems a few years earlier in New Orleans, Gibbs and his dad, Jackson (Robert Taylor), were at a bar where Jackson argued with a piano player and got decked. The player was Pride, and so he and Gibbs were at odds as they went undercover in an investigation.
It had twists and turns before they busted a drug-running ring and formed what would become known as the “Fed Five.” It also ended with Pride and Gibbs now on friendly rival terms.
"Well, we know how they were when we first met them. So they were pretty close, and there was a lot of trust between them. So it wasn’t necessary to have them come together at the end of this episode, per se, but we wanted to at least plant the seed that, oh, these two, we can see how they become good friends in the future," executive producer Gina Lucita Monreal told TV Insider, discussing the enjoyment of letting fans see these future good friends as top rivals.
The pair bonded with Pride talking about his wife, which encouraged Gibbs to introduce his new bride, Diane, to the crew. There were also nice touches, such as Gibbs first using his alias of “Leland Spears." So does this mean more Pride in the future?
The episode ended with a famous moment for NCIS lore as Gibbs, Pride, Franks (Kyle Schmid), McLane (Mark Deklin), and Betts (Adam Kulbersh) came together to form what will become known as “the Fed Five.” In a twist, it was revealed that Vera (Diany Rodriguez) was the one who brought them together but, sadly, was kept out of the big photo, as the brass preferred the “optics” of the five male agents together.
As fans know, the Five will work together later on what’s known as the Privileged Killer case. That leaves the door open for Pride to return and mix it up with Gibbs again. When asked, David J. North replied, “It was really fun exploring that relationship with Gibbs, and of course, the Fed Five is formed. So, everybody, just stay tuned.”
It would be fun to flip things around with Gibbs heading to New Orleans on a case to meet Pride and maybe a future NCIS: New Orleans face like Loretta Wade. It can build more on NCIS forming in other cities and how Pride and Gibbs built their friendship. It just seems unlikely NCIS would cast a younger Pride and only use him in one episode, so we’ve probably not seen the last of this future NCIS: NOLA hero.
As for when he might appear again? We'll have to do as North said and stay tuned to see just when Pride might roll back into town.
NCIS: Origins airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS.