NCIS And NCIS: Origins Are Crossing Over This Fall, And I’m Excited By The Premise For This Decades-Spanning Event

Did you think there was never going to be a way for NCIS and NCIS: Origins to cross over because one show is set in the present day and the other takes place in the early ‘90s. Well, you’d be wrong. It’s just been announced that these two series from the popular procedural franchise will cross over on the 2025 TV schedule this fall, and I’m excited by the premise that brings them together.

No, time travel doesn’t suddenly exist in the NCIS-verse, allowing Austin Stowell’s younger Leroy Jethro Gibbs to leap forward to 2025 and meet the people he’ll one day work alongside in Washington DC. Instead, this crossover, which will happen Tuesday, November 11, will see the Origins team in 1992 investigating the small-town death of a naval officer, and then that case will be reopened more than 30 years later for the NCIS team to look into. Watch Stowell and Wilder Valderrama, who plays Nick Torres on NCIS, announce the big news:

This news legitimately took me by surprise, though it’s certainly not unwelcome. Because Mark Harmon made his last appearance on NCIS early into Season 19, I figured that nixed the chances of it directly overlapping with NCIS: Origins since Gibbs was no longer around. Clearly I was mistaken, as the writers behind both shows have come up with this murder case connect them. Also, it’s important to note that in order to properly tell this story, NCIS and Origins will switch time slots, with the prequel coming before the main show instead of afterwards.

So evidently this case won’t be neatly wrapped up by the time the NCIS: Origins part is over, although I’ll be curious to see if Gibbs, Mike Franks and the others are aware there are loose ends or if they’ll believe the case is open and shut. Regardless, it’ll be up to the NCIS investigators to bring closure to this case after it’s reopened for whatever reason. I’m also now wondering if the NCIS portion of the crossover could include special flashbacks of Origins characters as a way to further emphasize the special nature of this episode.

As far as what fans can expect from these two shows individually in the 2025-2026 broadcast TV season, NCIS: Origins Season 2 will follow up on Lala’s status after she was caught in a car crash in the Season 1 finale. Adam Campbell will also reprise Donald “Ducky” Mallard in an episode titled “The Edge” after having previously played the younger version of the late David McCallum’s character in several NCIS episodes. Over on the main show, Alden Parker will hunt down mob boss Carla Marino in the two-part premiere for murdering his father in the Season 22 finale. Nancy Travis has also been cast as Parker’s sister, Harriet.

The NCIS fun doesn’t stop there this fall. NCIS: Sydney is also returning for its third season, which will air Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. ET. Then there’s NCIS: Tony & Ziva, the Paramount+ subscription-exclusive spinoff that premiered its first three episodes today.