Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs was known for keeping his front door open, marking a unique quirk for the character. The reason for this has been explained by one of Harmon’s former NCIS co-stars.
These days, Ziva David actor Cote de Pablo is co-hosting Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch podcast alongside Tony DiNozzo actor Michael Weatherly. During the latest edition of the series, joined by Sean Murray, it was discussed why Gibbs prefers to keep the door unlocked. Per Screen Rant, de Pablo offered an explanation, sharing that it ties back to Gibbs suffering the devastating loss of his family. As de Pablo explained, this left Gibbs without a care about locking his door, given his feelings that there was nothing worse that could happen to him from then on.
“The answer is because he has already lost what was most important to him, so he actually doesn’t care,” de Pablo said.
More of Gibbs’ Story Will Be Explored in a New NCIS Series
The NCIS franchise will be exploring more of Gibbs’ past in a new show, providing more answers about the character. Called NCIS: Origins, a prequel series is in the works for a release this fall. Austin Stowell is playing the younger version of Gibbs, though Harmon is still returning to reprise the role through voiceover work, serving as the narrator. Primarily, the show will follow Gibbs as he joins the NIS Camp Pendleton office team led by Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid). Harmon and his son, Sean Harmon, are both serving as executive producers on the show.
Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly are reuniting their NCIS characters as well. They’ll be leading their own separate spinoff series, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which is in the works for a streaming release on Paramount+. The show will follow the two in Europe, and it’s not yet clear if there will be other familiar characters from the NCIS franchise that will be joining them.
The main NCIS series continues, even after Harmon left as a series regular. The show was renewed for a 22nd season that’s now in development. Meanwhile, the Australian spinoff, NCIS: Sydney, is continuing as well, having been renewed for a second season following its 2023 debut. The bad news that comes for the franchise is that NCIS: Hawai’i was canceled after running for three seasons, unable to join the other continuing franchise shows.