{"id":3964,"date":"2025-12-09T15:12:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T15:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=3964"},"modified":"2025-12-09T15:12:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T15:12:55","slug":"ncis-origins-season-2-is-making-the-same-mistake-the-original-show-made-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=3964","title":{"rendered":"\u2018NCIS: Origins\u2019 Season 2 Is Making the Same Mistake the Original Show Made Years Ago"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"w-quick-action-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"quick-action-sidebar\" data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<div class=\"qa-action-list base-action\">\n<div class=\"qa-action-item ai-feature action-btn circle small no-label follow-container\" title=\"Follow\" data-id=\"2147033\" data-title=\"\u2018NCIS: Origins\u2019 Season 2 Is Making the Same Mistake the Original Show Made Years Ago\" data-permalink=\"\/ncis-origins-season-2-tone-problems-funny-serious\/\" data-type=\"article\" data-value=\"1\" data-preference=\"Notifications\" data-is-follow-choice-button=\"true\" data-is-followed-choice-button=\"false\" data-is-follow-container=\"true\">\n<div class=\"qa-icon icon-xlarge icon i-follow unfollowed\" data-stnl=\"%7B%22category%22%3A%22Click%20Interactions%22%2C%22name%22%3A%22Quick%20Action%20Sidebar%22%2C%22action%22%3A%22Follow%20Article%22%7D\"><em><strong>NCIS\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>has had 22 years to perfect its formula, and considering it is still one of the most-watched network shows, it\u2019s clearly doing something right. However, in recent years, the show has fallen prey to the mistake of imbalance:\u00a0<strong>it occasionally loses itself to levity and comedy, despite some of the cases\u2019 heavy subject matter<\/strong>. While Season 23 is making steps to improve this imbalance,\u00a0especially with Parker\u2019s (<strong>Gary Cole<\/strong>) grief and vengeance storyline kicking off the season, it seems that another one of the franchise\u2019s spin-offs is about to make the same mistakes.<\/div>\n<div data-stnl=\"%7B%22category%22%3A%22Click%20Interactions%22%2C%22name%22%3A%22Quick%20Action%20Sidebar%22%2C%22action%22%3A%22Follow%20Article%22%7D\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3965\" src=\"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FB_IMG_1765293058329-243x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"243\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FB_IMG_1765293058329-243x300.jpg 243w, https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FB_IMG_1765293058329-828x1024.jpg 828w, https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FB_IMG_1765293058329-768x949.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FB_IMG_1765293058329.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 243px) 100vw, 243px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<section id=\"article-body\" class=\"article-body valnet-segment-Tv\">\n<div class=\"content-block-regular\">\n<p>When\u00a0<em><strong>NCIS: Origins<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0first premiered, it felt unlike anything we had seen in the franchise. It confidently dragged fans into Gibbs\u2019 (<strong>Mark Harmon<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Austin Stowell<\/strong>) past and held us there with a dark, gritty and serious tone. The closest thing we can liken the prequel spin-off to is the early seasons of the flagship show, but even then,\u00a0<em>Origins\u00a0<\/em>had its own noirish flair. But\u00a0<strong>Season 2 is struggling to tread that line between darkness and levity<\/strong>, where it has started to frequently opt for the latter in recent episodes, making the same mistake as its predecessor.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"39-ncis-origins-39-season-2-episodes-struggle-with-balance\">\u2018NCIS: Origins\u2019 Season 2 Episodes Struggle With Balance<\/h2>\n<p>Throughout\u00a0<em>Origins\u00a0<\/em>Season 2 so far, we\u2019ve had fairly provocative storylines like Franks (<strong>Kyle Schmid<\/strong>) reuniting with his brother or Lala (<strong>Mariel Molino<\/strong>) dealing with her PTSD, but surrounding these central conceits are comedic subplots. Now, the subplots themselves are not an issue, but<strong>\u00a0when they interrupt the pacing of the major story or overpower them, it\u2019s distracting<\/strong>. The comedy of these subplots has also increased in absurdity. The miscommunication about going on a date between Franks and Vera (<strong>Diany Rodriguez<\/strong>) was amusing but awkwardly fitted in, while the secretary competition\u00a0between Mary Jo (<strong>Tyla Abercrumbie<\/strong>) and the FBI was paced strangely, even if it ended up being meaningful.<\/p>\n<p class=\"adsninja-injected-repeatable-ad-beforebegin\">But it is in\u00a0Season 2, Episode 7, that the absurd comedic subplot is detrimental to\u00a0<em>Origins<\/em>. Here, the show shoves in their go-to comedic relief Carl (<strong>Matthew Henerson<\/strong>), and gives him a random, confusing, and absolutely ludicrous subplot about finding a hidden passion for hunting down a cougar. A literal cougar. It\u2019s not only a jarring addition to the episode, but also harms the central storyline around Wheeler (<strong>Patrick Fischler<\/strong>).\u00a0<strong>It takes away screen time for the episode to fully explore Wheeler\u2019s divorce, affair and sexuality<\/strong>, leaving the arc underdeveloped. The reasons behind his divorce and how he navigated it with his wife felt particularly truncated, as we only really got one scene of them interacting. Considering Wheeler is a character we barely saw in Season 1, he definitely needed more screen time during this episode, so viewers could properly empathize with the usually pedantic and antagonistic character.<\/p>\n<p>Treading the line between levity and darkness is something\u00a0<em>NCIS\u00a0<\/em>has struggled with in recent years\u00a0and these\u00a0<em>Origins\u2019\u00a0<\/em>episodes are slowly indicating that it may be going down this path \u2014 it shouldn\u2019t. In Episode 7\u2019s case,\u00a0<strong>the comedy stole the potential of Wheeler\u2019s backstory and character development<\/strong>, but if the series continues this trajectory, the price will be heavier.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"39-ncis-origins-39-needs-to-maintain-its-own-style-in-the-franchise\">\u2018NCIS: Origins\u2019 Needs To Maintain Its Own Style in the Franchise<\/h2>\n<p class=\"adsninja-injected-repeatable-ad-beforebegin\"><em>NCIS\u00a0<\/em>is managing somewhat to recover from its misstep in balance, but the stakes are higher for\u00a0<em>Origins<\/em>. The prequel was built upon darkness and grit; this tone is what defines and differentiates the spin-off from its peers in the franchise. So,\u00a0<strong>the potential tonal shift away from darkness threatens the very foundations of\u00a0<em>Origins\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>and is not as easy to recover from. It\u2019s especially damning as Harmon\u2019s voice kicks off every episode, reminding us that this is a story he has never told anyone until now. With a proclamation that has that much gravity, it would be amiss to distract from the shadows and secrecy associated with the story. The atmosphere needs to reflect this sentiment and not be muddied by too much absurdity.<\/p>\n<p>On top of this, the grittier edge is exactly what Origins needs to maintain to remain distinct within an ever-expanding universe. Previous spin-offs, like\u00a0<em><strong>NCIS: Los Angeles<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em><strong>NCIS: Hawai\u2019i<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0retained the same cop procedural feel of the flagship show, while\u00a0<em>Origins\u00a0<\/em>was the first to dare to stray away from the formula, and give us an entirely new atmosphere made up of a new time period and even new coloring.\u00a0<em><strong>NCIS: Tony &amp; Ziva<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0manages to do the same through a genre shift, but\u00a0<strong>it was\u00a0<em>Origins\u00a0<\/em>that pioneered how the franchise would expand by not creating carbon copies in different locations<\/strong>. So, maintaining tonal autonomy and not following its predecessor\u2019s footsteps is more vital than ever.<\/p>\n<p class=\"adsninja-injected-repeatable-ad-beforebegin\">Even though the comedic subplots are entertaining in their own right,\u00a0<strong><em>Origins\u00a0<\/em>needs to strike a better balance between them and its foundational darkness<\/strong>. If the latest episode is anything to go by, then the trajectory the show is going down is concerning.\u00a0Please\u00a0<em>Origins<\/em>, leave the levity for\u00a0<em>NCIS\u00a0<\/em>and return to the hard-boiled edge that enthralled us in the first place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NCIS\u00a0has had 22 years to perfect its formula, and considering it is still one of the most-watched network shows, it\u2019s clearly doing something right. However, in recent&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3966,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3964\/revisions\/3966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}