Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon, may have left NCIS, but he continues to have an impact on the show in unexpected ways.
On March 28, the CBS staple had an epic two-part crossover event with spin-off NCIS Hawai’i, with NCIS Special Agents Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) traveling to Hawaii to investigate an old case.
Meeting with Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey) and her team, the duo looked into a new lead to a case from Torres’ past that others thought was long solved.
Here’s how Harmon’s Gibbs contributed to the crossover.
The Unexpected Influence of Gibbs on NCIS and NCIS Hawai’i Crossover
The crossover between the NCIS shows was split into two episodes, “Starting Over” and “T’N’T,” with the team from the flagship show relocating to Hawaii for the majority of both episodes.
Gibbs appears in the first of two episodes, = in spirit, as his famous list of rules comes into play for Torres and Tennant.
Gibbs’ Rules 45 and 40 are brought up by the team in “Starting Over” and “T’N’T” as they investigate a new lead in the case through witness Kyle Jennings (David Bianchi).
Gibb’s Rule 45 is “left a mess I gotta clean up,” which he first said in Season 7, and it is brought up in the crossover after Jennings is k1ll3d when the agents are att4cked.
After Jennings’ body goes missing, Torres and Tennant decide to canvas the area, and it is in the aftermath of this dramatic event that they mention Rule 45.
Torres had been receiving anonymous tips about the witness’ location for years, and he and Tennant discover that munitions specialist Greg Winslow (Teddy Sears), who had previously been thought d3ad, was the one giving them to him.
The second of Gibbs’ rules mentioned by Torres and Tennant is Rule 40, which states that “if it appears that someone is out to get you, they are.”
Tennant and Torres bring up their former colleagues’ rule while speaking with Winslow at their base, hoping to learn the truth about Jennings’ d3ath and who is after Winslow.
This isn’t the first time Gibbs has had an unexpected connection to the spin-off since his retirement from NCIS, as his legacy lives on in the spin-off.
Tennant crossed Gibbs in the past, and he was one of the main reasons she joined the team, according to an episode of NCIS Hawai’i titled “Spies, Part 2” that aired in January.
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