The cliffhanger in the finale episode of NCIS Season 12 saw the might leader of the team, Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), get shot by a young man whom he trusted and tried to protect. The fatal attack, which came as one of the most unexpected plot twists in NCIS history, provoked a frenzied scene of arms and guns, with Gibbs fighting for his life and Anthony DiNozzio (Michael Weatherly) warding off the panic and horror in an effort to secure his boss. Although the final scene tinted the belief of fans and followers on the presence of Gibbs in NCIS Season 13, the spoilers and interviews from the showrunners themselves confirmed that the fearless leader of the group will make it. However, the incident will not leave Gibbs unscathed.
"You're going to see physical changes, you're going to see emotional changes, you're going to see an accessibility in terms of who he is as a person," shared executive producer Gary Glasberg in an interview with FOX411, referring to the effects of the fatal shooting to Gibbs and the rest of the NCIS team. The showrunner added, "It sets up a whole dynamic that will trickle down to the rest of the team for the rest of the season." In relation to the changes in the NCIS team due to Gibbs' shooting, viewers will see DiNozzio stepping up and attempting to lead the group. This will undoubtedly earn the ire of Gibbs as he would be battling with the physical and emotional consequences of the shooting - a feat no man could easily deal with. Hence, DiNozzio and Gibbs will be expected to lock horns which would eventually lead to interesting changes in the show.
Meanwhile, spoilers are surfacing regarding the possibility of Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) and Eleanor Bishop (Emily Kaiser Wickersham) going undercover as a married couple. It could be recalled that the same mission was assigned to DiNozzio and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) in earlier seasons of NCIS.
"There's an undercover story that happens where McGee and Bishop have to portray a married couple, yes, so that was a lot of fun," revealed Glasberg in an interview with TV Line. The executive producer added, "We also do an episode where Vance has to go back into the field as a field agent, so there's a lot of fun "buddy cop" stuff between him and Gibbs in the fourth episode. Then in the fifth episode, we've got this huge "Abby/Die Hard" story which finds Abby alone in a lab and she sort of has to use her wits in order to handle things."
NCIS season 13 will hit the small screen on Tuesday (September 22) at 8:00 pm ET on CBS.
