Origins Character Will Finally Answer a Question Fans Have Been Asking for Years

With several episodes of NCIS: Origins currently airing, the mysteries that many fans wanted to learn about are taking shape. The series dives into the checkered past of Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs and how he became the seasoned detective we met in the original show. Narrated by Harmon himself, the prequel premiered on October 14, 2024, featuring Austin Stowell as a younger Gibbs working in the agency at the Camp Pendleton branch. Throughout the episodes, we meet younger versions of cast members from the original, such as Vera Strickland and Mike Franks, and most recently, Tobias Fornell.

Fornell, originally played by Joe Spano, was introduced in “Yankee White” as an FBI agent who challenges Gibbs over jurisdiction. This was seemingly the first time the two characters met. However, it is later revealed in NCIS that they met long ago, when Fornell married Gibbs’s second wife, Diane Sterling. The enigma of their past has left fans puzzled for years, but now, with Lucas Dixon appearing as a younger Fornell in Origins, the show may answer the question of how he and Gibbs really met, and the plot hole may get explained.

Tobias Fornell’s Role So Far

One of the most loved characters of NCIS, Tobias Fornell appears in many episodes and is one of Gibbs’s oldest friends. Like Gibbs, he rose through the ranks from Junior Agent to Special Agent. While he was introduced as an FBI agent, it is revealed in season 15 that he was fired. According to Gibbs, he was found guilty of suppressing vital evidence for a murder case and kicked out of the agency for good. Since then, he has found work as a private investigator, lending aid to Gibbs and the MCRT when a case calls for it. The relationship between Gibbs and Fornell is complex, creating a heavy contrast to their first on-screen interaction where they seem like strangers.

Some time after Gibbs and Diane get divorced, Fornell falls for her, and to Gibbs’s dismay, they marry and have a daughter together. When their daughter Emily is older, Fornell and Diane get a divorce, and Emily begins to struggle with mental health and addiction. Fans adored the dynamic between the family, their friendship with Gibbs, and the love that Tobias shows for his ailing daughter. In Season 18, Emily dies off-screen from an overdose, shocking fans and emotionally wrecking Fornell. In later seasons, he appears less and less, distancing himself from his job.

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‘Origins’s Plan For Gibbs and Fornell

NCIS: Origins touches on lots of established lore, like the grisly murder of Gibbs’s first wife and young daughter, told through flashbacks. It also features plenty of surprises about Gibbs, a notable one being his closeness with Lala Dominguez in episode 6, “Incognito.” While the two of them decide to go undercover to investigate a suicide, their boss gets in touch with the FBI, and a younger Tobias Fornell is one of the agents answering the call. He hasn’t yet interacted with Gibbs, so their relationship remains unknown for now. But Origins is likely going along with the idea that they met long before “Yankee White,” and may be setting the stage to remedy the plot hole and explain the mystery of their first encounter.

Stream NCIS: Origins on Paramount+.