We would love to see Gibbs back in NCIS Season 22. Mark Harmon left the series in Season 19, and he’s only been mentioned since. We don’t expect to see him return to the flagship series.
The last we saw of Gibbs, he was on the run while figuring out who the murderer actually was. Parker had chased him and McGee to Alaska, where Parker eventually allowed Gibbs to stay. For the first time since the murders of Shannon and Kelly, Gibbs had found a sense of peace in the state, and that was where he stayed.
Fans have hoped to see him return to HQ since his exit. That’s not been the case, though. While Harmon is still involved as an EP on the series, he has shown no signs of coming back to the series.
Gibbs didn’t return for Ducky’s funeral in NCIS
There was one event that should have brought Gibbs back home. It was all about the death of his close friend, Ducky. David McCallum died before filming of NCIS Season 21 started, and the series wrote that death in. We got a beautiful memorial episode, which ended with Ducky’s funeral. DiNozzo was the one to make a return in that episode.
As for Gibbs, he did send his condolences to the team. He just didn’t turn up. If he was going to turn up, that would have been the event to have him return.
We will see Mark Harmon return to the NCIS universe, though
There is some good news for those looking to at least hear Mark Harmon’s voice in the series. He will be part of the prequel series NCIS: Origins. When this series was announced, we learned that Harmon would narrate the show, bringing us a feeling of Young Sheldon to the NCIS universe.
He likely won’t appear on the screen, though. This is a prequel series about Gibbs joining NCIS for the first time. We’ll get to see him interact with a young Mike Franks as he deals with the grief of losing his wife and daughter. It’s set in the 1990s, which means we shouldn’t see an older Gibbs on the screen.
So, as much as we would love to see Gibbs back in NCIS Season 22, I wouldn’t expect it to happen.