NCIS: Origins Season 3 Brings Gibbs Back Together With Franks, Strickland and Fornell

The key move in NCIS: Origins season 3 is bringing Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ past and present into the same story. Mike Franks, Vera Strickland and Tobias Fornell are set to return over three weeks of the US broadcast, with their appearances tied to a mystery surrounding Lala Dominguez. That structure gives the season a way to connect familiar faces to a case that reaches back into Gibbs’ earlier life, rather than treating the guest appearances as isolated callbacks.

The series runs two timelines in parallel: Austin Stowell plays the young Gibbs at Camp Pendleton in the 1990s, while Mark Harmon appears as present-day Gibbs. The modern-day thread follows Gibbs as he investigates what happened to Lala, whose disappearance connects to events that shaped him and the Origins team decades earlier. The split gives the show two versions of its central character to work with: one still being formed by events, and another trying to understand their lasting consequences.

Three reunions with different histories

Muse Watson’s return as Franks comes in season 3’s sixth episode. It marks his first scenes with Gibbs since NCIS season 15. For viewers who know Franks chiefly through the original series, that gap makes the reunion a measure of how the relationship has changed across the franchise’s timeline, even as the new mystery gives the characters a present-day reason to meet again.

Roma Maffia appears as Strickland in the following episode, reuniting with Gibbs after a longer gap: their last on-screen meeting was in season 11, episode 3. The return also gives the Lala investigation another connection to the history surrounding Gibbs. The setup points toward a story in which old relationships may supply context, though the available details don’t say what Strickland knows or how much she’ll affect the case.

Both actors reprised their roles in a 2025 crossover between NCIS: Origins and NCIS, but Franks and Strickland didn’t meet Gibbs then. These new episodes bring those characters together and fold them into the Lala investigation. That distinction matters: a crossover can put characters in the same event without giving them meaningful time together, while a story built around a shared mystery can make the reunion part of the plot’s engine.

Joe Spano’s return as Fornell may carry the most weight for longtime viewers. Gibbs and Fornell’s friendship has thrived on friction, evolving into a close bond that made them one of the franchise’s most enduring double acts. Their dynamic has room for both practical cooperation and familiar disagreement, a useful counterpoint to a case whose emotional stakes are tied to Gibbs’ past.

A younger Fornell, played by Lucas Dixon, appeared in the first season of Origins. In season 3’s eighth episode, Spano’s present-day Fornell teams up with Gibbs as Gibbs pursues a dangerous lead. Pairing the younger and older versions across the series’ timelines gives the show a clear way to connect its origin story to the characters’ later relationships. This is more significant than it looks: Fornell’s return can serve as a reminder that the past is not only a collection of formative events, but also the beginning of friendships that persist.

More familiar faces join the season

The returning trio joins other previously announced guest appearances. Michael Weatherly is back as Tony DiNozzo, now the director of NCIS, in episode 3. Emily Wickersham also returns as Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop. Their appearances broaden the season’s present-day connections to the wider franchise, though the details available here don’t specify how either character fits into the Lala case.

That restraint leaves the central mystery doing most of the work. A large group of returning characters can create anticipation, but it also puts pressure on the story to give each visit a clear purpose. If you're watching for the character history, the timing of Franks, Strickland and Fornell’s appearances offers a reason to follow the investigation across several episodes; if you’re coming for the mystery, their roles will matter only if they change what Gibbs can learn or do.

What the two timelines can reveal

Each reunion gives the present-day story another connection to Gibbs’ earlier life. The season’s central question is what happened to Lala—and how those events shaped the young agent and his colleagues. By placing the investigation alongside the Camp Pendleton story, Origins can let viewers compare what Gibbs experienced with what he understands now, a structure that can add tension when the two accounts reveal different parts of the same history.

Here's the thing: the format also carries a risk. If the present-day case exists mainly to summon familiar characters, it may feel like franchise bookkeeping; if the returning figures alter the investigation or complicate Gibbs’ understanding, the dual timeline has a stronger reason to exist (and this is the part most people overlook). The available information establishes the connections, but doesn’t yet show how the mystery resolves. A lot depends on execution.

NCIS: Origins is airing on CBS in the United States; its UK release on Paramount+ has not yet been announced. For viewers outside the US, that leaves the timing of access unclear. A fragment of a release picture, then: the story is taking shape, but its international availability isn’t.

Deadline reported the three actors’ returns.