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NCIS: Origins season 3 to reunite beloved characters in new episodes
Muse Watson, Roma Maffia and Joe Spano return to help unravel a mystery.
CBS via Getty Images
- David Craig
Published: Wednesday, 11 November 2026 at 4:32 pm
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Mark Harmon is welcoming three more familiar faces to NCIS: Origins, with Muse Watson, Roma Maffia and Joe Spano set to reprise their roles across the next run.
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The new episodes span two timelines side by side; one following a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell) in the 1990s at Camp Pendleton, and the other with Harmon's present-day Gibbs in a special arc connected to his early years.
Deadline reports that Muse Watson (Mike Franks), Joe Spano (Tobias Fornell) and Roma Maffia (Vera Strickland) will be reprising their fan-favourite roles in NCIS: Origins season 3, over the next three weeks of its US broadcast.
Watson and Maffia both brought their characters back for a 2025 crossover between NCIS: Origins and NCIS, though neither Franks nor Strickland reunited with Gibbs on that occasion. The upcoming episodes rectify that.
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For Watson, the sixth episode of season 3 marks his first scenes with Gibbs since NCIS season 15, almost a decade ago, while Maffia's appearance in the very next episode contains an even longer awaited reunion (going back to season 11 episode 3).
Arguably, Spano is the most intriguing recruit, owing to Fornell and Gibbs' strong chemistry, which turned the pair into a popular frenemy-turned-brotherhood double act.
A young Fornell previously featured in Origins season 1 episode 6, played by Lucas Dixon. In the eighth episode of season 3, present-day Spano and Gibbs team up as the latter follows a dangerous new lead.
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The modern mystery centres on the truth behind the disappearance of Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino) and the events that shaped the young Gibbs and the Origins team decades earlier.
Franks, Vera and Fornell each slot into that present-day thread, with every return offering fresh insight into what really happened to Lala.
The trio join a run of previously announced guest stars. Michael Weatherly has returned as Tony DiNozzo, now installed as NCIS director, appearing in episode 3, while Emily Wickersham is finally back as Eleanor 'Ellie' Bishop.
The latest season is currently airing on CBS in the United States, with the UK release to follow on Paramount+ at an as-yet-unspecified time.
NCIS: Origins is available to watch on Paramount+. You can sign up to Paramount+ for a seven-day free trial.
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Authors
David CraigSenior Drama Writer
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
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