What happened to Mike Franks in NCIS?

NCIS: Origins takes us back in time in the world of NCIS. We’ll get to see a young Gibbs join a younger Mike Franks’s team. It’s led to fans questioning the events for Mike in the original series.

Franks was a side character in the original series, coming into the show in Season 3. He would stick around, coming into episodes here and there, until Season 8. It was clear that Franks created the Gibbs that we know and love today, making him a fan-favorite character very quickly.

Mike Franks created Gibbs in NCIS

It didn’t take long for us to learn that Mike Franks was the reason Gibbs was the way he was. Franks gave Gibbs the start in NCIS he needed, giving Gibbs an inspiration as to the type of leader he wanted to be. The rules we know Gibbs has were created based on the rules Franks set up.

However, the Franks that we ended up meeting was a disillusioned older man. After resigning from NCIS in 1996, he moved to Mexico, where he lived in isolation. However, he came to see Gibbs now and then to help with the odd case or to offer Gibbs the personal help he needed.

It’s possible that we’ll get to see the steps that happened for Franks to eventually resign from NCIS. After all, NCIS: Origins is going to be set in the early 1990s.

What happened to Mike Franks in NCIS?

Like with many characters, things ended in a tragic way for Mike Franks in NCIS Season 8. Seriall killer Jonas Cobb stabbed Franks, and he died from his injuries.

It turned out that Franks was also suffering from cancer. Going up against Jonas was a way for the character to go out on his own terms, although the death hit Gibbs hard.

We did get to see Franks in between Season 8 and Season 13. He would return as a ghost for Gibbs, helping Gibbs make decisions after his death, making it clear the type of affect Franks had on Gibbs.