NCIS: Origins Season 2 Episode 5: Gibbs' Mysterious New Companion, Explained

Contains spoilers for "NCIS: Origins" Season 2, Episode 5 – "Funny How Time Slips Away"

Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) has returned and is at the forefront of the mothership's first major crossover with "NCIS: Origins." Though he only appears in the first few minutes of "Funny How Time Slips Away," fans quickly learn he has a new friend — a dog, whom he addresses as if it were a human companion. Gibbs feeds the canine scraps from his dinner, and admits that he doesn't know what his buddy's name is — it's wandered in from the woods and doesn't seem to have any other owner. Ultimately, he narrates a tale from his past aloud to the pet, who watches with wide, interested eyes. 

While fans don't know if Gibbs keeps the pet, his fondness for pooches isn't a huge surprise. Leroy Jethro Gibbs has always been a huge fan of dogs — as is his portrayer, Mark Harmon — and even temporarily had one of his own while he worked as an NCIS member.

Longtime "NCIS" fans will remember that Gibbs is such a huge fan of dogs that he once got himself suspended over the welfare of an animal. In the second part of Season 3's "Kill Ari," for instance, he shelters a pooch from a rainstorm in a gazebo, then sits out in the rain himself to prevent it from getting soaked. Notoriously, in "Dog Tags," Abby (Pauley Perrette) names a dog Jethro after McGee (Sean Murray) injures it by accidentally shooting it. 

One of the most prominent dog-related Gibbs storylines occurs in Season 18's "Watchdog." An injured pup is found in the back of a transport vehicle. Gibbs ends up uncovering a dog fighting ring, and gets into a brawl with a suspect accused of drowning dogs. Gibbs is suspended, and the team has to bring in the perps without him. But Gibbs is ultimately rewarded when the injured dog, Lucy, becomes his new pet for the next few episodes.

Perhaps because some fans thought this was the worst storyline in Season 18, Lucy's time on the show proves to be short-lived. Four episodes later, in "Unseen Improvements," Gibbs gives his dog to a young ex-neighbor, Phineas (Jack Fisher), who's in the middle of helping him out with an investigation. While Phineas helps them retrieve a laptop the team needs that is in his uncle's posession, Gibbs tells him that it's clear Lucy should be his animal. "Dogs pick their people. The minute you got here, she picked you," he says, demonstrating one of his best skills — his ability to connect with kids on a one-on-one basis. Hopefully his new pal will have a longer shelf life at Casa Gibbs.