NCIS season 21 spoilers: EP on possible Mark Harmon return

We recognize that there was a large contingent of people understandably hoping to see Mark Harmon back on this past NCIS episode. It was, after all, the tribute to David McCallum, and Ducky and Gibbs had such a lengthy history.

So not have the character there? There are claims already that scheduling conflicts played the role and in the end, the producers went with a small cameo from Michael Weatherly as Tony DiNozzo, his first appearance on the show in several years. This does not rule out Harmon, who remains an executive producer on the show. It really is about finding the right time.

Speaking (per TVLine) recently, executive producer Steven D. Binder made it clear that there has to be a particular reason to have Gibbs back, and for longer than a brief cameo:

“Of course the door is always open … When we bring him back, we’re not going to bring him back for two minutes … It’s got to be something special.”

So what is the perfect time to make this happen?

While of course a lot of this can be filed under “wait and see,” our personal sentiment is that an optimal time could be at the end of the season. For promotional purposes, it makes a lot of sense when you consider that there is a Gibbs prequel series in the worlds. Why wouldn’t the powers-that-be do everything in their power to try to drive some more attention on the character leading up to that?

For now, though, just remember that a new episode of NCIS is poised to arrive Monday night on CBS. There is a lot of story to dive into here still, and plenty of time to revisit Gibbs.

Related – Be sure to get some more sneak peeks for the next NCIS — what sort of great stuff is coming?

Do you think there is any chance that Mark Harmon does return as Gibbs during NCIS season 21?

Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! Once you do just that, remember to keep coming back — there are other updates ahead.

This article was written by Jessica BunBun.