Tonight on CBS NCIS: ORIGINS returns with an all-new Tuesday, April 28, 2026, season 2 episode 17 called, “Rule 13,” and we have your weekly NCIS: ORIGINS recap below.
In tonight’s NCIS: ORIGINS season 2 episode 17 called “Rule 13,” as per the CBS synopsis, “Wheeler takes command when a car bomb goes off outside NIS headquarters; the truth about Franks’ distaste for lawyers is revealed.”
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In tonight’s NCIS: ORIGINS episode, Wheeler’s son was fired from his internship in the FBI mailroom. He also got arrested for shooting a paint gun at passing cars.
It was highly dangerous. Yet, it explained Jason. The kid was dangerous himself. He was unsafe to be around and his parents weren’t willing to admit it.
Either to the authorities or themselves. They just kept hiring Jason lawyers. Wheeler even hired Doug Westmont to represent Jason. He got him down to community service and nothing serious on his record. He also suggested that Wheeler take Jason to the firing range to let out all the aggression.
Wheeler thought that was a horrible idea. He quickly escorted Doug to the parking lot. He even tried to get Jason a new internship at Doug’s office and Doug said that was never going to happen.
He didn’t want kids. It’s why he never had them. He got snip years ago. He had just gotten back into his car when it blew up.
It killed Doug. It nearly killed Wheeler and Lala who were nearby. No one else was hurt and Wheeler quickly took charge. He made sure his son got somewhere safe. He evacuated the buildings. He had the whole cleared of any more bombs.
It seems the intended target all along was Doug. The only bomb was in his car. There was some panic in the direct aftermath when they heard gunshots. It was actually loose ammo in Doug’s car going off. It didn’t accidentally hurt anyone so it allowed them to enter the building sooner than expected.
Gail barely waited a second to tell everyone that Gibbs broke up with Diane. It was a rushed marriage in the first place. They all wanted to be the one to tell Lala because they worried she might make a wrong comment.
Lala was actually better at hearing the news than the others. Randy wanted to sympathize with Gibbs. Franks said it will be alright. Lala reminded them all that they were working a case.
They had to know what Doug was supposed to be doing that morning. He stopped by Wheeler’s office because of the good news about Jason.
He wasn’t actually planning on being there that morning. He was working on Abe Pruitt’s appeal. Abe Pruitt was the cultist/con-artist who was responsible for a theater bombing. And they caught him on bigamy charges.
They visited Pruitt in jail. He said he didn’t want to fight the charges. He wanted to serve his time. He created a new cult in prison about self-healing and he was doing well for himself. He also claimed he never hired Doug.
Doug came around when the cameras came around. There was a persistent journalist that wanted to write a story about the bombing. Something that Pruitt still denies planning. He was fine with the bigamy charge because he knew he’d get out in a few years so there’s no way he was behind the appeal with Doug.
Doug was being paid to do it when he wasn’t doing it. The journalist was looking into it when he died of a heart attack. He was born with a heart condition. The heart attack wasn’t suspicious at all.
It just happened at the worst time. They needed to know about the story he was writing. His family demanded a warrant before they turned over his files. Cliff went all Commando Cliff on them. He eventually got them to turn over everything and it really was everything. There was a truck full of boxes with the journalist’s notes inside.
The journalist had poor penmanship. It’s a good thing they found someone who could read it – Jason. Jason trained himself to read penmanship to help cheat in social studies class.
He only came back to the office because he snuck out of his mom’s house. Wheeler went look for it and he found him at the gun range that Doug was telling him about earlier.
Jason used his father’s ID to get inside. NIS was already there interviewing Doug’s new buddies to find out if Doug was worried. Doug’s wife said he recently joined up because something had spooked him.
It turns out someone was following Doug. The guys at the gun range were giving Randy and Gibbs crap when Wheeler came in all hot. Wheeler threw the first punch. It started a small brawl.
No charges were faced. Franks later called that same range and he got answers. Doug was being followed by a tall bald man in a red pinto. Randy was following that when they deciphered the bad handwriting thanks to Jason. Jason said that Doug was sleeping with the Assistant US Attorney during the fake Pruitt’s appeals. They’ve been having an affair for years.
She tried to kill herself when she realized she was supposed to die with Doug.
From there, they found out their bomber was Linus Eckles. He was in prison the same time as Pruitt. He went to Pruitt’s chapel group and so the team suspected that Pruitt was behind the bombing. He wanted to reveal the affair between his lawyer and the AUSA because it would grant him a mistrial.
Which it did. The mistrial happened even after Linus took the blame for everything. He didn’t betray his leader. Puritt was released. His plan worked, but there was one good thing that came out of this. Jason now wants to be an agent like his dad. He agreed to be good for two months so they could plan it.
Jason wanted to show his dad that he’s capable of change.
THE END!
