'NCIS' Fans Can't Get Over Gibbs' Absence in First Episode Since Mark Harmon's Exit

By Daniel S. Levine

The post-Gibbs era of NCIS began Monday night, and fans were still heartbroken about Mark Harmon's exit. The episode, "Face the Strange," saw Gary Cole's new character, Alden Parker, try to take over the team while the other members were grappling with continuing their work without Leroy Gibbs around. Fans were critical of the show within the first few minutes of the episode.

While it was expected that Harmon would leave the series soon, it was surprising that he only made it four episodes into Season 19. In last week's episode, "Great Wide Open," Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) offered Gibbs a chance to return to NCIS. However, Gibbs turned him down. He would rather stay in Alaska instead.

At the beginning of Monday's episode, Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) asked Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) if Gibbs was really happy with leaving NCIS. At first, McGee didn't want to say anything out of respect for Gibbs' privacy, but he eventually relented. "I think he probably hasn't been this OK in a long time," McGee said. Torres wasn't happy that Parker was already offered Gibbs' job when Gibbs' desk wasn't even cold yet. Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) told him they needed the job filled. Torres wanted McGee to say something, but he didn't say anything. They had a case to work on after all, since the dead Navy commander's body they found blew up.

'I'm going to give it a chance'

After last week's episode aired, showrunner Steve Binder offered a tribute to Gibbs and Harmon. "As an executive producer and dear friend, Mark continues to be an integral part of the fabric of the show," Binder said. "Our north star has always been staying true to our characters, and that truth has always guided the stories we tell and where those characters go. So regarding the future of Gibbs, as long-time fans of the show may have noticed over the years... never count Leroy Jethro Gibbs out."

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'Let it die'

While McGee didn't weigh in on Parker taking a big role in the NCIS team, fans at home certainly did. Scroll on to see what fans had to say about Monday's episode. Parker later asked McGee why he didn't want to be team leader. McGee admitted to thinking about it, but he passed on it because it was more demanding than he thought, but Parker felt there was more to be said. As the episode went on, Torres continued pushing McGee to take a stronger leadership role in the team.

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#NoGaryCole

"Already giving Gibbs job to Parker so not cool at all!!!" one fan tweeted.

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'Talk some sense into them Ducky!'

"Oh no he isn't the replacement of Gibbs. I was hoping it would be McGee," one fan wrote.

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'Gary Cole is going to have to step things up a bit'

"'Get yer gear' doesn't sound right not coming from Gibbs," one viewer wrote.

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'NCIS without Gibbs seems really weird'

New episodes of NCIS air Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. Past episodes are available to stream on Paramount+.

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