NCIS fans finally learned of Gibbs’ fate in the Season 19 premiere after waiting months to see how the boat explosion cliffhanger from the Season 18 finale worked out. Although Gibbs survived, he was in dire need of help from two strangers. Warning: Major spoilers lie ahead for the premiere episode of NCIS Season 30.
Shortly after the explosion in May’s finale, the premiere picked up, showing that Gibbs made it to shore — only to reveal that a massive piece of wood impaled his torso. Gibbs, stumbling into the lake on his back, bled out and floated back to safety, worried viewers. While McGee and Torres learned of and investigated the explosion, Gibbs came to inside a locked barn — and patched up at that. Finding himself confronted with a woman standing over him with a rifle, viewers learned that the woman was Thelma, who — with her husband Virgil — found Gibbs and patched him up.
Thelma and Virgil were wary of Gibbs, who insisted, “No cops” and made them wonder if he was part of a gang from the lake’s north shore. He gained their trust after realizing that the sheriff’s deputy who had asked Thelma about her reaction to the explosion was a fake and not a police officer. He was allowed to make a telephone call to the couple, asking McGee to inform Tim about his friend.
Gibbs rode a motorbike from the barn to the abandoned ranger station on North Shore, armed with Thelma’s rife as well as Virgil’s warning about agitating Gibbs’ wound. The gang members he found were not Special Agent Jessica Knight, McGree, and Torres. They were led to the location by the pattern from one of the serial killers’ victims. Soon enough, three gang members arrived but were no match for Knight, McGee, and Torres, who — with Gibbs’ sharp-shooter skills — convinced the gang members to surrender.
Later, McGee told Gibbs that “Rule 91 sucks, because it is in direct violation of Rule No. 1 — ‘Never screw over your partner.'” When Gibbs countered with, “I’m not your partner,” and also noted that the team “doesn’t need” him, McGee agreed but said, “We’re better together.”
“We’ve got a serial killer to catch,” McGee said, “but to do that, we need to be a team. We need to be your team.” Gibbs had a wry grin on his face, telling Tim, “I’m proud of you” for constantly “pushing.” “Does that mean you’re in?” McGee asked. Gibbs replied, “Whaddya got?”
What did you think of the Season 19 premiere of NCIS? Gibbs replied, What did you think of the Season 19 premiere of NCIS? NCIS airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.Disclosure: ViacomCBS Streaming is the owner of PopCulture, a division ViacomCBS.