'NCIS' Season 17 Episode 5: Fans adore Mark Harmon's Gibbs for surprising us with his father figure role to the kid next door
This article contains spoilers for Season 17 Episode 5
'NCIS' Season 17 Episode 5 very skillfully used two different kinds of mental illnesses to establish the need for special consideration in the military towards recruits suffering from them.
However, what managed to steal fans' hearts was a final shot of Agent Gibbs befriending a nine-year-old kid purely because of how heartwarming that scene was.
The official synopsis for the episode titled 'Wide Awake' reveals that this week, "NCIS investigates Marine Corporal Laney Alimonte after evidence suggests she murdered her neighbor while being treated for insomnia by a hypnotherapist."
It adds, "Also, Gibbs befriends his new neighbors after the 9-year old's baseball crashes through his window."
While much of the episode focuses on Corporal Laney, right at the end, we see Gibbs' plotline unfold, when his neighbor's kid — who has just lost a father figure in what was not a pleasant parting, ends up swinging a ball right through Gibbs' window.
The fact that we haven't really seen Gibbs show fatherly compassion to a kid, let alone a stranger before has touched fans.
Especially with this coming right after it was hinted that Gibbs and Sloane might have some unfinished business of the not-so-platonic kind, fans might be looking at a family man arc to unfold some time after he had led the team effortlessly for 17 years now.
Maybe fans didn't expect Gibbs to react the way he did, or maybe it was Mark Harmon's excellent portrayal of the team lead-turned-compassionate father figure in an instant, but we are all rooting for friendly Gibbs right now!
Taking to Twitter, one user remarked: "Love closing scene: Gibbs being a father figure to the kid next door. Something that was taken away from him. I hope it is the beginning of a story arch with the boy."
Another fan shared: "The Gibbs and little kid learning baseball storyline is one the best things."
And summing it up for everyone else who really enjoyed the episode but was completely won over by the ending, one user gushed: "Yes it was awesome. But my favorite part was Gibbs having fun with his new neighbor."
'NCIS' season 17 airs on Tuesdays at 8 pm only on CBS.