How a Dead Original NCIS Character’s Return Rewrites History for Gibbs and Lala

Franks Returns in Season Three

Muse Watson will appear as older Mike Franks in “Shot Through The Heart,” the sixth episode of NCIS: Origins season 3. Franks died in the NCIS season 8 episode “Swan Song,” but Watson has returned to the franchise before, often as a figure offering Gibbs advice.

Showrunner David J. North told TV Insider the return grew from the story’s focus on time. North said the episode would show Kyle Schmid’s Franks “turn into Muse.”

A Reunion During Gibbs’s Collapse

The episode’s promo shows Gibbs collapsing as Bishop rushes to him and calls his name. Older Gibbs then faces younger Gibbs, while Franks and Lala appear to be part of an experience in Gibbs’s mind. Gibbs tells Franks, “This isn’t real,” but still asks whether Lala had been dead all along. Franks answers, “We had a funeral.” Gibbs and Franks previously met in a similar life-or-death moment in NCIS’s 200th episode, “Life Before His Eyes.”

Friends May Clarify Lala’s Fate

The season 3 synopsis says Franks, Fornell and Vera can offer insight into what happened when Lala disappeared. Joe Spano plays Fornell, and Roma Maffia plays Vera; Franks may have the closest knowledge of Lala’s past.

Lala was Franks’ right-hand woman, so she could have turned to him if she needed to disappear. If he helped her, he might know why she left or where she went. But the Franks Gibbs encounters is imagined, meaning any answers would come from Gibbs’s own conscious or subconscious understanding.

Other Returns Shape the Season

Earlier in the season, older Gibbs reunited with Ducky and Director Vance through memories, a note and a voiceover. He also reunited with DiNozzo and Bishop, bringing several figures from his past back into the story.

Episode 5, “Baila Esta Cumbia,” revealed that Lala is still alive. That discovery sets up the remaining season and could lead to a reunion as older Gibbs tries to understand her disappearance.