Note: This story contains spoilers from Episode 10 of “NCIS: Origins.”

“NCIS: Origins” traveled back in time once again to explain Gibbs’ revenge on his family’s killer and revealed another heartbreaking loss for the beloved agent. The hour also marks a first for the franchise, giving fans a non-case-of-the-week episode.

Last week’s thrilling cliffhanger revealed that Gibbs killed Pedro Hernandez, the cartel leader responsible for the deaths of his wife and daughter, months before he even joined the NIS. In episode 10, titled “Blue Bayou,” Gibbs (Austin Stowell) struggled with Lala (Mariel Molino) threatening to leave the team after learning the truth and feeling like she didn’t trust Gibbs because of his secrets could trust.

The conversation between Gibbs and Lala was interrupted by a phone call. Gibbs answered and learned something that really upset him and caused him to quit his job. He returned later that evening, since it was his first holiday night shift – and his first Christmas away from his family – and focused on putting up some shelves in one of the rooms at headquarters.

The show then recalled how he found Pedro and traveled to Mexico to kill him, after which he battled the demons of his actions back home. One difficult night in particular led him to a tense conversation with his landlady, Ruth (London Garcia). Although she initially throws him out, she later lets him back into the building and the two develop a strong friendship, with Gibbs calling her his sister at one point.

The episode revealed that it was Ruth who helped Gibbs get out of the darkness caused by Pedro’s murder. Additionally, she also confronted Franks (Kyle Schmid) and encouraged him to take Gibbs under his wing and hire him as part of his team in the NUS. Then, before the end of the episode, she revealed to Gibbs that she was dying of cancer. So the call Gibbs received at the beginning of the hour was the news of her death.

Later, Lala saw Gibbs upset and the couple made amends. She said she wouldn’t leave the team, knowing things would probably get worse with a new boss, and Gibbs started telling her all about Pedro and Ruth.

Below, co-creator David J. North breaks down the best moments from the winter finale and explains what comes next in the remaining eight episodes of NCIS: Origins.

TheWrap: Episode 10 shows us the immediate aftermath of the revelation of the Gibbs killer, and then we go back in flashbacks as we see the months after Gibbs killed Pedro and bond with his landlady, Ruth, who is such a thing for him like a sister becomes. How did this idea come about?

North: As someone who wrote for “NCIS” for years and was there when the original creator, Don Bellisario, invented a lot of it with Gibbs and (his family) Shannon and Kelly, I always felt like there was a big part of it missing , which happened after Gibbs killed Pedro. In “NCIS” canon, all we know is that Gibbs killed Pedro and then he was an NIS agent. What happened in these months? Gina (Lucita Monreal) and I knew we wanted to answer that before the show started.

We had actress London Garcia who plays Ruth. She played a small role in episode 7, showing Gibbs his apartment. And when Gina and I were really trying to figure out what happened after Gibbs killed Pedro, we put our heads together and Gina came up with this idea. Ruth and him developed this friendship when he didn’t have anyone and it really took off from there.

We’re really proud of the episode and how it turned out. To our knowledge, this is the first episode of over 1,000 episodes where there is no case. And we are really proud of it.

It’s about the core of “NCIS: Origins,” which is supposed to be more of a character-driven spin-off.

Even before we really understood the story, I liked the idea that Gibb – this legendary character that we’ve known for over 20 years – was really rescued and became an agent through this woman, Ruth, his apartment manager. It really motivated us to tell a great, emotional story that stayed true to the canon.

What else can this man go through? Why kill Ruth on top of everything else?

Well, she’s someone we never knew about. To tell the story honestly, Gibbs is loyal and if Ruth had still been around we would have heard about her and met her. I’ve always found it fascinating how the most unexpected people can come into our lives at the most interesting times. And some of them can end up being the most inspiring, even if they’re only there for a fleeting moment. That really motivated me to want to tell this story.

Episode 10 ends with a huge cliffhanger, with the shredded documents revealing that Bugs was assisted by a second sniper. Where does this leave us?

At the end of our two-hour pilot, Gibbs tells us in voiceover that his gut feeling had told him from the start that there was more to the Bugs story. The revelation that Bugs actually had a partner in the late 10s shows us that this person really is our big bad. This player can be expected for the rest of the season.

We still have eight episodes of Season 1 left. What can you say about where we go next?

We still have a lot ahead of us. Gibbs and Lala are still working through the problems. Lala has an on-again, off-again boyfriend, Eddie (who will be back). And in the second part we will learn that Franks is struggling with a serious personal problem that runs through his life.

So there’s a lot more to deal with as we head into our season finale in Episode 18.

“NCIS: Origins” returns with new episodes on Monday, January 27 on CBS.

The post ‘NCIS: Origins’ Boss Unpacks the Heartbreaking Winter Finale, the Franchise’s First Non-Fall Episode appeared first on TheWrap.