What NCIS's Producer Really Thinks About Gibbs

"NCIS" has officially returned for its 19th season. The wait for the season premiere may have seemed more torturous for fans than usual, thanks to questions over whether we'd seen the last of Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon). The good news is that so far, Gibbs appears to be working with his "NCIS" team again. However, it's not on an official basis. Following his boat exploding in Season 18's finale, Gibbs is presumed dead by the rest of the world in the second episode of the latest season, "Nearly Departed." The only people who know that he's alive are his former NCIS team.

We also don't know what Gibbs will do when the team finally does capture the serial killer. While Gibbs has his own unique set of 10 rules to abide by, he is also a mysterious guy who has shown he isn't above getting some revenge. Gibbs clearly has some personal hang-ups, and as one of the series' executive producers, Steven Binder, pointed out in an interview with TV Insider, those demons could put his future with NCIS in question.

We can probably forget about Gibbs having any type of easy resolution when it comes to Season 19, at least according to "NCIS" Executive Producer Steven Binder, who gave some insight into the state of Gibbs in a recent interview. Binder told TV Insider that some significant personal issues still weigh down the former NCIS head.

"Even if he were to go back to his former life at NCIS, his deeper issues don't just go away," Binder said. "And if he officially moves on, what happens to a guy like Gibbs without the job? We know his heart is pure, but Gibbs has been a troubled soul for a long time."

Binder's words may have just chipped off a tiny piece of a massive glacier when it comes to Gibbs. His backstory before "NCIS" began with grief as he lost his mother at 14, and his attempt at a happy life with a wife and child was shattered when a drug lord murdered them. This resulted in the darkest thing Gibbs has ever done: avenging his family's death by murdering the drug lord. Gibbs is working with the team currently in some capacity, but he could go rogue and hunt down the person who tried to kill him last season.