NCIS: Origins Season 2 Finally Revealed How NIS Became NCIS

Contains spoilers for "NCIS: Origins" Season 2, Episode 18 — "Hollywood Ending"

Longtime "NCIS" devotees have been debating the whys of how the original NIS team became known as the NCIS we all know and love. Wonder no more, as "Hollywood Ending" explains just how the change came to be.

The idea bursts to life thanks to an emergency, with the Camp Pendleton department under threat of closure thanks to the introduction of new department head, the timeline-mystery solving Tom Morrow, a civilian added to the team thanks to his predecessor's 'handsy scandal.' Ironically, the team are victims of their own success; the idea is to scatter the agents about for maximum effectiveness due to the fact that the division solves cases at such a high rate. 

But no one wants to be separated, and Vera Strickland (Diany Rodriguez) spearheads the search for a solution with Cliff Wheeler's (Patrick Fischler) encouragement. Mary Jo (Tyla Abercrumbie), Kowalski (Michael Harney), Herm (Daniel Bellomy), Dalton (Jeffrey Boehm), Woody (Bobby Moynihan), and Lenora (Lori Petty) join together with her to save the office. The plan they pitch to Morrow through Wheeler — after solving the case that's been bedeviling Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) — is to convince the public that the military isn't made of corrupt people by keeping the division on-base.

That shows they're serious about self-policing — as does the team's rebranding from "Naval Investigative Service" to "Naval Criminal Investigative Service." All of this has its effect on Morrow, who believes the team is rough and ready enough to take on crime and that the idea is good enough to keep the division going. But that's not the only blast from Leroy Jethro Gibbs' (Austin Stowell) future that fans are treated to in the Season 2 finale.

During the party Wheeler throws to celebrate the team's victory, new jackets and caps bearing the official NCIS logo are distributed. This is the exact logo that the current team of agents and investigators wear on "NCIS" to this day. 

And there's one more audio-based easter egg in "Hollywood Ending." When Gibbs dons his jacket for the very first time, the background music sounds like the iconic "NCIS" theme song. It's a lovely nod to the future, and a hint to where Gibbs will be headed someday.

But a little bit of narration from Gibbs (Mark Harmon) towards the end of the episode suggests that there might not be much of a future ahead for him and Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino), whom he kisses during the final minutes of the episode. While they get their happy ending, Gibbs says it won't last forever — something "NCIS" fans know all too well, since she's not one of his ex-wives and was never seen on that show. But for now she, Gibbs — and the whole newly-minted "NCIS" team — have earned their winning moment.