Ryan O’Rourke

Published Oct 20, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Ryan O’Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided’s CubbiesCrib. Whether it’s taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what’s going on. Outside of entertainment, he’s a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor’s in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.

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For the NCIS franchise, this television season has been one full of homecomings. Michael Weatherly returned to the flagship series, where Tony DiNozzo was appointed as the new director of NCIS in Season 24. LL COOL J’s Sam Hanna finally found his own home in the universe once again with the premiere of NCIS: New York. In NCIS: Origins Season 3, meanwhile, Mark Harmon has been back in the flesh as the legend himself, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, for a season-long arc in which the ghosts from his past at Camp Pendleton finally catch up with him in his quiet present life. With the latest episode, though, yet another beloved fixture of the franchise is about to rejoin the fold to help a young Gibbs with a grisly case.

Episode 3, “Return of the Mack,” will see** Austin Stowell**‘s special agent and the rest of the Camp Pendleton team investigating the curious murder of a young Marine on the beach. With strange markings all over his body and a lot of questions, they enlist the help of an expert in the medical examination field that NCIS viewers will be quite familiar with — Donald “Ducky” Mallard. Adam Campbell returns once more to the prequel series to play the NCIS legend after previously reprising his role in Season 2 in an homage to the flagship’s late veteran star David McCallum. This time, though, he’s not alone.

Collider can share an exclusive sneak peek at tonight’s episode that sees Ducky escorting his mother, Victoria (Caroline Lagerfelt), into the office after an “epic” evening. Vera (Diany Rodriguez) took her on a bar crawl, one that Ducky couldn’t even keep up with and that ended with her passed out on the Special Agent’s floor, much to her son’s concern and annoyance. He only gets further embarrassed when Victoria flirts with NIS custodian Richard Kowalski (Michael Harney) on the way to the bathroom. Her loud entrance turns Ducky’s arrival into a family affair, for which he apologizes profusely to Franks (Kyle Schmid), who’s just trying to concentrate on filling out a form. Still, the good doctor can’t help but vent about his mom’s “hedonistic” tendencies, much to the team leader’s annoyance.

Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.

You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.

You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.

You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.

You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.

You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.

Young Ducky isn’t the only NCIS legend in the latest exploration of Gibbs’ life and past. Episode 3 will also be the long-overdue reunion of Gibbs and Tony DiNozzo, marking the first time the two shared the screen since 2016, when Weatherly first departed the flagship show, and so much has changed in both agents’ lives since. Now that his old mentee is NCIS director, Gibbs enlists Tony’s help in tracking down the culprit who shot him in the season premiere. It looks to be a full-circle moment for the pair, with Tony in charge and employing his connections to save his former boss and father figure from his past.

NCIS: Origins Season 3, Episode 3 premieres tonight, October 20, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Check out our exclusive sneak peek in the player above.

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CBS

Niels Arden Oplev, John Terlesky, Diana Valentine, Edward Ornelas, Hanelle M. Culpepper, Lionel Coleman, Loren Yaconelli, Pete Chatmon, Pamela Romanowsky, Ruben Garcia, Jessica Lowrey

Austin Stowell

Special Agent Mike Franks