NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 11 ‘Flight of Icarus’ gives us a lot of very welcome backstory on a character that, eleven episodes in, has become a real fan favorite. It’s been a combination of a well-written story, great dynamics with Austin Stowell’s Gibbs, and a great performance by Kyle Schmid, but there’s no denying that this version of Mike Franks has turned out to be as interesting as Young Gibbs.
It’s part of what has made the show work. NCIS: Origins couldn’t really excel as just a story about Gibbs, but it has excelled as a story of the team and the people who made Gibbs the person we will one day know. And Franks is a big part of that.
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THE MAN IN CHARGE
This week’s voiceover is a little less on the nose than on the episodes where the voiceover is about Gibbs, but it’s still very good at setting up the story of Franks—the man in charge. Sure, Franks hasn’t exactly been painted as a perfect man in this show’s first few episodes, but we have never needed our heroes to be perfect. We can take flawed people who are growing and learning, and Franks seems to fit this requirement very well.
In “Flight of Icarus,’ we meet the young Mike Franks, as well as his mother and brother, and end up getting emotional over a pair of boots—all because Franks is. It’s very hard to explain the power items, when we assign sentimental value to them, have over us. Just as it’s very hard to explain the power dates have over us. But they do, and this episode showcases a more human version of Mike Franks than perhaps we have ever seen.
There’s much more we have yet to learn about Franks and the burdens he bears. But we have already seen a great deal of how he fills those boots, as the voiceover tells us. Enough to know that the man we will one day meet in Gibbs, the man who will one day be a great boss, a great friend, and the backbone of this franchise, wouldn’t have become who he was without Mike Franks. At first, that’s what made Mike Franks interesting. Now, we care for his own sake.
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VETERANS SUPPORT GROUP
NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 11 ‘Flight of Icarus’ lingers on a veteran’s support group flyer and Gibbs, and just the fact that it does is important, even if Gibbs doesn’t take that step right away. Because if there’s ever been a character who would benefit from therapy, it’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs. “You can’t throw a rock without hitting something that’s too close to home for me,” he tells Franks at one point in this hour, and he isn’t wrong. He’s gotten through it so far, or he’s survived, but it’s hard to live again, hard to find ways to even thrive, without putting in the work towards healing.
Sure, Gibbs has people now—even if I think Randy should have probably realized it was indeed too soon for a double date—people who care. That’s why Lala makes sure she tells Randy that, when Gibbs is ready, he needs to find someone “good enough for him.” But that’s often not enough. It’s important, yes, because it at least gives him a reason. It cannot be his only crutch, though, and even just seeing Gibbs holding onto that flyer showcases the fact that he knows he needs more help, professional help. The path to healing might be long and hard, but he’s getting there, one step at a time. And it’s really, really good to see.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 11 ‘Flight of Icarus’? Share with us in the comments below!
NCIS: Origins airs on Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.
Here are our NCIS: Origins reviews:
