Let’s Face It, Mark Harmon Isn’t Coming Back To NCIS
There is always hope for a surprise, though.
Summary:
- NCIS is a CBS procedural drama focusing on a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
- Mark Harmon played Agent Gibbs for 19 seasons, but left the show in 2021.
- The show continues, as do the spinoffs, but fans can't let go of the character and hope for a return soon, which the actor denies.
It's not always the case that the long-running show is associated with one particular actor. While everyone in the industry, as well as viewers, has great respect for Mariska Hargitay or Ellen Pompeo, who have been the faces of their respective shows, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Grey's Anatomy for decades now, it's not a career every actor wants.
For the sake of the show itself and for the sake of the viewers' hearts, it is much better if there are a lot of main characters to follow. Then there won't be as much drama surrounding their exits.
The best possible solution is the scheme suggested by Doctor Who, True Detective, or Bridgerton: every now and then you mix things up and get a new lead. Everyone gets their turn, and everyone expects the actors to change at the same time. In the end, the damage is minimized by the premise of the show itself. But not every project can afford that luxury.
NCIS fans, for example, had to deal with the unexpected departure of one of the leading faces of the franchise. Although the show has successfully survived and continues production without the beloved Gibbs, viewers are still wishing for his return.
Will Mark Harmon Return To NCIS?
There are plenty of opportunities for Gibbs to reappear, as he took a graceful exit and retired rather than being tragically killed.
On the one hand, this decision made fans incredibly happy, as the character deserved a happy ending, which is rare in procedural dramas. On the other hand, this exit left the door open for a comeback, and viewers can't give up on the idea that some spinoff of the NCIS franchise could use it.
Could Gibbs be brought back as a consultant on one of the cases that some of the teams will face in the future? Absolutely. Could we see the return of a criminal who either hasn't been caught or has managed to escape justice? Of course, these are the tropes that procedural dramas use all the time. But will it happen on NCIS? No one knows.
As Mark Harmon admits in his latest Q&A session with Entertainment Tonight, he is as much in the dark about his character's future as the rest of us. Here's what he had to say about a possible return to work for Gibbs:
“He’s probably sitting in a stream up in Alaska fishing. Is he going to get out of the stream? I don’t know. But if he is, I don’t know about it.”
The only thing that is clear is that if the actor hasn’t been contacted about it at all, it is very unlikely to be the case just yet. But who knows what the future of the NCIS franchise will bring as the new seasons arrive. Make sure to stay tuned to not miss any important news and behind-the-scenes updates.
Source: Entertainment Tonight