NCIS: Origins made sure to show how Agent Gibbs got the chance to be the leader he would one day become. The episode showed what happened when the team was separated during what was thought to be a bioweapon attack and how it led Gibbs to become the boss for the evening.
The team was planning on going out for Kowalski Cocktail Nights, which Kowalski put together when he thought the team needed to go out and relax. He wanted Gibbs to inform everyone, but he wasn’t in the mood to do that. Kowalski thought this meant Gibbs didn’t want to take charge and be a leader one day, which confused him.
The team goes through a lock down while some are separated
However, everyone was excited to go out, especially Mike Franks. However, after going home and seeing an interview with Abe Pruitt’s wife, the one from the compound, he hurt his back and had to be laid out on the floor. He called Randy to tell him he wouldn’t be going out, but Vera, determined to help Mike out, went to see him.
As the rest of the team were leaving, a marine came in coughing and showing signs of being drunk. Just as Mary Jo, Randy, Kowalski, Lala, and other members of NIS left to go to the bar, Gibbs noticed Captain Brian Polanco really wasn’t doing good and claimed someone sprayed a substance in his face.
After calling paramedics, they discovered he was ill with something, and it was possibly contagious. Gibbs immediately called the bar to let Lala know they had to lockdown the bar. At first, everyone genuinely thought it was a deadly virus known as the Lenkha virus, which had claimed someone’s life already.
Vera and Franks tried to get back in the office, but Gibbs refused to let them in. They instead went to the hospital to speak with a disease specialist. The only way they could find out what it was involved getting a sample from his lung, but the paramedic began showing symptoms of the same illness.
With Gail running point at the office and Mary Jo and Kowalski at the bar fearing she and Herm would need help doing their jobs, there was a dichotomy between what the veterans of NIS thought about how things were running versus how they were capable of handling things at the office. While Gail could appear flighty and forgetful, she did help keep things running smoothly and made sure everyone could eat what was available.
Who was the actual culprit and what was the motive?
Plus, Herm had their case evidence organized so the chain of custody was safe, although at one point when Gary Callahan got sick, it appeared he also had the virus. Instead, the pup just got into some evidence that included an onion, which is toxic to dogs. Luckily, Gibbs remembered an incident involving a former family dog and was able to rescue the pooch.
So once the dog was safe, Gibbs continued to step up, encouraging his team in the office to work together, even though once he and Herm had to get the lung sample, they both got nervous. Vera was able to walk them through it, and they would later find out the toxin was actually botulism.
Thankfully this meant no one else was in danger of dying, and the paramedic only got paranoid due to listening to conspiracy theorists over the radio. They also determined he had leaked information to the press, who had found out things about the case that weren’t supposed to be known.
Now knowing they were safe, the team at the bar came back, finding out just how well things had gone despite the danger. They were able to get names in their investigation, with one leading to a man Vera had spoken with in the hospital. His name was Elliott Thorpe, and he had begged Vera to let his wife know he loved her.
Elliott, as it would turn out, had discovered his wife was sleeping with Polanco and attacked him out of revenge. Scorned husband, a tale as old as time, and kind of a letdown after all the assignments, at least according to Lala.
This episode was a fun one to watch and showed us how Gibbs would eventually go from being a probie to the team leader we know him to be. We got to see the bonds between all of the members of the team, and it showed us a side of Mike Franks outside of work and when he let his guard down.
NCIS: Origins airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS .