‘We Have A Lot Of Space To Fill’: NCIS: Origins’ Showrunners Opened Up To Us About Delving Into Mike Franks’ Past And How These Flashbacks Will Continue

Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS: Origins episode “Flight of Icarus” are ahead!

Last month, NCIS: Origins spent its midseason finale wrapping up its Gibbs-centric flashback storyline, showing the final sequence of events that led to Austin Stowell’s character joining the Naval Investigative Service. But that doesn’t mean the show is done with flashbacks altogether, as co-showrunner David J. North informed CinemaBlend that Origins Season 1 would give audiences more information on “how Mike Franks became Mike Franks.” That time came tonight with the release of “Flight of Icarus” on the 2025 TV schedule, and North, as well as fellow showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal, opened up to me about delving into Franks’ past and how these flashbacks for Kyle Schmid’s character will continue.

While the “present day” storyline of Origins’ latest episode saw Gibbs, Franks, Lala and Randy looking into the death of infantry officer Cameron Reid, whom they pieced together died by suicide, the flashback storyline wound the clock back to when Franks had recently turned 21 years old and was working on his mother’s ranch in Texas alongside his brother, Mason. When I spoke with Monreal and North ahead of the airing of “Flight of Icarus,” I asked early on into our conversation what was the big goal they wanted to accomplish with this storyline, and here’s what they told me:

Gina Lucita Monreal: “Well, we have a lot of space to fill. We have certain guideposts that we know from the original show about Franks’ past, but a lot of things were wide open. And so we were looking to really just dig into who he is as a human being, getting to see his family and where he came from and how he got to where he is in the show. It’s what we're hoping to delve into on a deeper level, what makes him tick.”

David J. North: “This episode is just really the beginning of this, seeing him go off to Vietnam, and then as those flashbacks continue in future episodes, we're gonna skip ahead in time and see what happened when he gets back from Vietnam. And let's just say like when it comes to Franks to expect the unexpected.”

Initially all the younger Mike Franks had to worry about was his feet bleeding from breaking in the new boots Mason and their mother bought him, as well as some horses and a calf from the ranch running off. But things kicked up a notch when Mike was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. While Mason originally tried to convince his younger brother to go to Mexico so he could dodge the draft, Mike refused. So instead, Mason decided to enlist too on the condition that they both sign up to be Marines.

Since it was left ambiguous at the end of “Flight of Icarus” whether or not this storyline would continue, I was glad to hear from Gina Luctia Monreal and David J. North that it will unfold over multiple episodes, just like what was done with Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the first half of NCIS: Origins Season 1. They elaborated upon this when I asked what the situation was with Mike and Mason’s father, as he was nowhere to be seen:

Monreal: “That's something that we'll explore as well. Like I said, Franks’ story is sort of wide open in many ways, and so that's something we're gonna explore in the future as well. So for instance, we knew that he was a Marine and that he had been in Vietnam. So our task is to fill in all the blanks while still staying true to the character that we know about.”

North: “Which honestly, Adam, is the fun part. I mean, when you have a show like NCIS, it's so beloved and been on for 20 some years, there's a lot of canon that you have to stick to, but Gina and I have really worked so hard to stick to that canon, but then at the same time creating these new, fresh stories that if you've never seen NCIS, you can still sink your teeth into. That's been really important to us.”

While we know from the original NCIS how Mike Franks’ story will end, I’m glad NCIS: Origins is dedicating time to exploring the character outside of the 1991 setting. Gibbs may be Origins’ main character, but Franks is a key component of this series too as the man who recruited Gibbs into NIS. The more we can learn about his life years before meeting Gibbs, the better the character, whether he’s being played by Kyle Schmid or Muse Watson, can be appreciated.

New episodes of NCIS: Origins air Mondays at 10 pm ET on CBS. Afterwards, you can stream them, along with all the NCIS franchise shows, with a Paramount+ subscription.