There are only a few scripted TV shows that have 450 episodes, and even fewer are procedural cop shows, with NCIS being the only one that isn’t named Law & Order.
While NCIS joins Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in the 450-episode club, fans are hoping for a surprise guest for the occasion.
Unfortunately for them, the NCIS crew is back to business as normal, and fans will have to wait for the return of Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who will not appear, according to Yahoo! News.
Landmark episodes are typically celebration events with several flashbacks, highlights, and reunions in which actors or characters from the past appear to delight viewers.
While fans are hopeful that Mark Harmon will be among the stars to make a triumphant return, showrunner Steven D. Binder stated to TV Guide that the 450th episode would be a standard episode, but he did offer some optimism for the future.
He went on to explain that he doesn’t imagine a scenario in which NCIS Special Agent Gibbs does not appear.
Binder went on to state that he wants to be cautious about bringing the character back since he lives on a higher plain and they don’t want to spoil that. When we last saw Mark Harmon in 2021, he had retired from NCIS permanently after being suspended, and he was smiling on a river.
Binder stated that he does not want to show him in some Anchorage apartment, just waiting for NCIS to need his assistance; instead, they want a perfect excuse to blast his bliss out of the sea.
When it comes to cop shows and the detectives that lead them, few have more beloved and powerful characters than Mark Harmon’s NCIS Special Agent Gibbs. Some of the possibilities include Donnie Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan from Blue Bloods, Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Michael Chiklis’ Vic Mackey from The Shield.
With the kind of clout that puts him in the same sentence as those listed, it’s only natural for fans to be anticipating the next time they see him.
Mark Harmon debuted as NCIS Special Agent Gibbs in the Season 8 episode “Ice Queen,” which functioned as a backdoor pilot for NCIS.
He is a harsh agent who uses his look as his most powerful weapon to compel suspects or subordinates to start talking without further enticement. Harmon appeared in 435 episodes of the series, from Season 1 to Season 19, before leaving the role.
NCIS Supervisory Special Agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole) and his team of Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) will investigate the d3ath of a rideshare driver in the 450th episode.
Even if fans are sad that Mark Harmon will not appear in the 450th episode of the series, the showrunner’s words offer us hope that Leroy Gibbs will return soon.
