NCIS: Origins

Nobody tunes in to the sixth incarnation of a long-running procedural for something challenging. They tune in for lovable characters, familiar scenarios, and messaging that confirms what they already believe to be true about crime and law enforcement. In this sense, NCIS: Origins is a success.

With “Origins,” the franchise not only gets to resurrect Franks, but give Gibbs the chance to be part of a buddy drama. The new show looks like it will be more of a two-hander than first imagined… or at least, with any luck, it will be.

NCIS: Origins is a solid NCIS prequel that promises some backstory for Gibbs while introducing us to how the agency operated when even other government agencies had no idea it existed.

"Origins" is good enough for military work, if a little too self-serious. It doesn't help that its leading man is the most boring element of the show. But the writers spin up a good enough case to solve every episode, and the cast fits into neat, recognizable boxes. If you want more of the same but just different enough, well, CBS has done it again.

Solid opener that otherwise oversells the premise.

That the main character is a member of the team rather than its leader, as in other “NCIS” series, can feel a little awkward, given that it’s necessary for Gibbs, fresh behind the ears though he may be, to stand out from the group — that he see what others miss, and can handle a situation in an original way. When he says of a suspect, “He’s not our guy,” it won’t be that guy. It throws the ensemble off balance.