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    • “NCIS: Origins” review: Good enough for Gibbs
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    “NCIS: Origins” review: Good enough for Gibbs

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    Considering how many millions of people have watched CBS' massive military crime drama “NCIS” on network television over 21 seasons, you probably know Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

    You know, the special agent team leader who always gets the bad guy is portrayed by Mark Harmon in all his chiseled, salty glory for more than 400 episodes? The one with the penetrating looks, the strong sense of personal morality and fewer words than most mimes?

    Did you know this exists? even more to his story than two decades could tell on television?

    At least that's what CBS is betting on with “NCIS: Origins” (Mondays, 9 EDT/PDT; moving to 10 PDT/EDT on October 21, ★★½ out of four). Set in 1991 with a fresh-faced Austin Stowell as young Leroy (instead of Harmon's real-life son Sean, who played young Gibbs in “NCIS” flashbacks), “Origins” follows the tried-and-tested formula of mixing patriotism, military culture and murders of the week the past. The twist here is a surprisingly good period soundtrack that must have cost a fortune in royalties, and a neo-noir style that suits the melancholy young Gibbs, whose wife and daughter have just been murdered.

    Cast Interviews: Mark Harmon asked new “NCIS: Origins” Gibbs and Austin Stowell, “Are you ready for this?”

    As it worked in Los Angeles, New Orleans and Hawaii, the “NCIS” procedural formula largely fits the old days of 1991. “Origins” is good enough for military work, if a little too self-serious. It also doesn't help that the main cast is the most boring element of the series. But the writers craft a case good enough to solve each episode, and the cast fits into neat, recognizable boxes. If you want more of the same but just different enough, then CBS has done it again.

    Our young US Marine Corps scout turned special agent, Gibbs, shows up on his first day at the NIS offices in San Diego with injured ankles. (Astute viewers will remember that the titular federal agency was formerly called the Naval Investigative Service.) In this office, he is the parole officer nicknamed “Probie” and learns to catalog evidence and trust his gut. As he deals with the grief of losing his family, he helps lock up the bad guys for any crimes even remotely related to the Navy or Marine Corps. As with all “NCIS” series, there are a shockingly large number of them.

    Stowell, who is largely unknown aside from a few TV appearances and a starring role in the Lucy Hale romantic comedy “The Hating Game,” apparently took notes on Harmon's many episodes of “NCIS.” Without much effort, he maintains Gibbs' classic stoicism and prickly demeanor. He glows every time you look at him and has jaws that could cut glass. So it's not hard to understand why CBS cast him. If his Gibbs is impenetrable and superficially defined, then that's a fundamental flaw in the entire concept of creating a show around a character known for being annoyingly mysterious.

    If Gibbs is the least interesting part of Gibbs' origin story, then what? The good people at CBS, including “Origins” series creators Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North, know how to put together a ragtag team of hunky Navy cops in baseball caps and latex gloves. This time it only says “NIS” instead of “NCIS” in all capital letters.

    Rounding out the cast, we have the talented, ambitious woman Lala (Mariel Molino), who is skeptical of Gibbs and his mental state while also being a better investigator than any other man on the team (Ziva, anyone?). There's Randy (Caleb Foote), with McGee-level seriousness and a goofy nickname. Secretary Mary Jo (Tyla Abercrumbie) takes on the role of motherly figure. And don't forget the young versions of “NCIS” favorites: Agents Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) and Vera Strickland (Diany Rodriguez), both of whom are here to help with the nostalgia piece. Franks, now Gibbs' boss, must rein in the young whippersnapper before his impulsive heroism gets them all in trouble. But it's not Frank's to affected. He doesn't follow the rules either.

    There are a lot of clichés and the stories can get a little boring, but “Origins” also has a hard time being the thinking person's “NCIS.” Lala must figure out how to cope with Frank's blatant sexism and office politics. Gibbs is severely traumatized and hasn't processed it. Franks is wracked with guilt for letting the murderer in the Gibbs family case get away. I don't expect any transcendent moments from the series, but hey, it tries to be a little more adult than its predecessors, known for soapy twists and sometimes infantile ideas of good and evil. There are some points for use.

    So go ahead and enjoy the almost as good looking film as Harmon Stowell and his friends solve naval crime in the 90s. Enjoy the sometimes cheesy dialogue and “SNL” alum Bobby Moynihan appearing as a forensics technician. Feel comfortable in the familiar, but a little different.

    And if this “NCIS” spinoff doesn’t work for you, there will always be another one.

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    Kathleen William
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