NCIS: Origins episode 3 ending explained: Why were Prado's men stealing guns?

NCIS: Origins is the prequel of NCIS, set in 1991. The show, created by Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North, stars Austin Stowell, Mariel Molino, and Kyle Schmid in prominent roles.

The ending of NCIS: Origins episode 3, which aired on October 21, 2024, reveals that Gibbs was right about Prado's involvement in the theft of guns. However, the NIS had nothing on him to hold him for interrogation, so Leroy took matters into his own hands and trapped the security guard, Prado, in the elevator of the suburban mall where he worked.

It turned out that Prado was part of a smuggling ring that was smuggling guns to a third-world country to fight a dictatorship that was killing innocent civilians.

Leroy didn't just hold Prado but also defied Frank's order, who benched him after Jackson Gibbs confronted him for hiring Leroy to NIS despite his condition.

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Leroy Gibbs traps Prado in the elevator in NCIS: Origins episode 3

NCIS: Origins episode 3 saw the agents at the NIS dealing with two interconnected cases. One is the death of a young drug dealer named Emmett Sawyer, and the second is the multiple store robberies in the local mall. The agents capture Emmett's partner-in-crime, Dougie, in the mall with the help of the security chief, Prado.

However, after the robbery in the mall, Leroy suspected Prado's involvement in the case. But they didn't have enough evidence to hold him in custody for interrogation. So he decides to go rogue and trap the man in the elevator. As it turns out, Leroy's intuition was right, and Prado was indeed involved in both cases.

He was part of a smuggling ring that used to smuggle guns out of America to a third-world country to fight a brutal dictatorship. They used to put guns inside the toys. However, one of the smugglers accidentally ran over Emmett and tried to cover it up.

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Jackson thinks Leroy joined NIS to catch Pedro Hernandez

NCIS: Origins episode 3 was quite heavy on the drama between Leroy and his father, Jackson Gibbs. Jackson confronted Mike Franks for letting Pedro Hernandez, the drug boss who killed Leroy's wife and daughter, escape to Mexico. He also expressed his anger for Franks' decision to hire Leroy as a NIS agent and told him that Leroy 'has got a death wish.'

Franks came to the judgment that he was putting Leroy's life in danger by putting him in the field, so he decided to bench him. This angered Leroy, who rushed to confront his father. However, Jackson said that he knows why Leroy has joined the NIS.

He said,

"That sonuvab*tch killed Shannon and Kelly and ran to Mexico, and you’re just gonna let that go? No. You didn’t join NIS to become a cop, you joined to hunt him down — and not just to cuff him and walk away."

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Jackson retrieves the tin of rules that Leroy threw in trash

After the heated confrontation between Leroy and Jackson, the former told his father to get out of his place. From the NIS lore, we know that Jackson and Leroy had an unusual relationship and that Jackson abandoned him after his wife and daughter's deaths.

But NCIS: Origins is providing a more nuanced perspective on their relationship. Before leaving town, Jackson visited Leroy's place and retrieved the 'tin of rules', which was put together by Shannon, from the trash can. He knows that Leroy is going to need a code to live his life as a lawman, and vengeance is not the right path to take.

During his argument with Leroy, Jackson says,

“I’m not going to let you throw your life away just to put that b*stard down” in the name of “vengeance. It’s not worth it.”

The episode has set up the clash between Leroy and Pedro Hernandez, which is a big part of the NCIS lore.

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NCIS: Origins episode 3 is available on CBS and Paramount+.