A few small NCIS spoilers have been provided by showrunner Steven D. Binder ahead of the Season 19 premiere. Binder touched a bit on what we can expect from Gibbs, Mark Harmon’s involvement in future NCIS episodes, and how they dealt with that boat explosion during the Season 18 finale.
As previously reported by Monsters & Critics, Harmon is set to star in fewer episodes this season than in the past. Exactly how that will all play out has been kept under wraps by the producers and writers of the show – which is a good thing because it means episode plots could largely remain a secret for a while.
NCIS Season 19, Episode 1 is coming up very quickly and it appears that the show will jump right back into the story that led to Gibbs’ boat blowing up. There are definitely a lot of questions that fans need to have answered, not just that boat explosion, but also what Gibbs will be doing on the show.
There are also two new full-time characters on the NCIS cast that need to be worked into the mix, so it could take a few episodes for everything to get settled down again.
NCIS spoilers about Gibbs in Season 19
“We shot a lot of different things for that [sequence], and there were a lot of different ways to cut it,” showrunner Steven D. Binder told TVLine about that memorable Season 18 event. “And what we left with was something that we felt left all possibilities open. We know he’s not dead right there, and we know he’s able to swim well enough…. All things are still possible with Gibbs.”
It’s very good to hear that the door is open for a lot of different storylines involving Gibbs. It means almost nothing is set in stone yet and fans don’t need to be too worried about Gibbs heading into retirement from NCIS or the team having to work on all of its cases without the familiar leader.
It appears that there is also some great news about Gibbs working with his team on the case that involves the serial killer. During the final few episodes of Season 18, Gibbs was suspended and carrying out an investigation with reporter Marcie Warren (played by Pam Dawber, who is also Harmon’s wife).
“Gibbs has been hunting down this serial killer and he’s doing it alone,” stated Binder before explaining how the first few episodes of Season 19 should play out.
“He’s cut off from his team… but in the beginning episodes, that’s going to change,” Binder added.
Mark Harmon’s future involvement on NCIS
When speaking more in-depth about what fans can expect to see from Mark Harmon’s involvement in Season 19 episodes, Binder also provided a ray of sunshine for long-time fans who never want to see the star of the show leave it.
“What we’re trying to focus on right now is telling the best stories we can with the characters we have — and Gibbs is a part of that world. And I think we’re doing a pretty good job with that,” Binder concluded.
Maybe we will hear some breaking news about Harmon signing on for more episodes in the near future because it definitely sounds like the writers and showrunner want him to stay involved. Or maybe Binder is giving us a red herring so that we can enjoy NCIS Season 19 without constantly worrying if we have seen Leroy Jethro Gibbs for the last time.
NCIS airs Mondays at 9/8c on CBS.