Rewatching the first season of NCIS over two decades after its 2003 debut is both nostalgic and unexpectedly revealing. What once felt fresh and thrilling now exposes outdated tropes, early-2000s quirks, and clear storytelling growing pains. Although the show’s immense success launched a long-running franchise that is still airing today, revisiting these early episodes can catch modern viewers off guard.
From awkward pacing to clunky tech, Season 1 often struggles to meet contemporary standards. While longtime fans may still appreciate the charisma of Gibbs and his team, uneven character development and tonal inconsistencies make it clear: the first season hasn’t aged as gracefully as its legacy suggests.
10. Cutting-Edge Tech in NCIS Season 1 Is Now Ancient History
Back in 2003, NCIS’s tech sequences may have seemed cutting-edge and essential to the show’s modern crime-fighting appeal. Now, giant CRT monitors, clunky flip phones, and overly dramatized hacking sequences feel more like a parody than suspense. Watching Abby (Pauley Perrette) and McGee (Sean Murray) “enhance” blurry images or trace IP addresses in seconds with absurd sound effects and neon graphics highlights just how far digital forensics has come.
The show’s attempts to visualize tech for a general audience led to ridiculous moments, like two people typing on the same keyboard to “fight a virus.” While once innovative, these scenes now pull viewers out of the story, showcasing how poorly early 2000s TV understood the internet age. Rewatching in an era of high-definition cyber-thrillers, NCIS’s digital world feels as fictional as its crimes.
9. Character Development Was Still a Work in Progress in NCIS Season 1
Season 1 introduced beloved characters like Gibbs (Mark Harmon), Tony (Michael Weatherly), Abby, and Kate (Sasha Alexander), but their personalities were far from fully formed. Gibbs is already the Stoic leader, but his demeanor swings inconsistently. He is cold and commanding, but at other times, he is overly sentimental. Tony leans hard into his immature frat-boy persona, offering comic relief with little emotional depth or growth.
Abby, while undeniably unique, often comes across more as a quirky lab mascot than a well-rounded character. Kate brings intelligence and strength, but she’s frequently sidelined or reduced to a foil for Tony’s antics, lacking the layered development she deserved. The chemistry between the team is tentative; their interactions sometimes feel forced or disconnected, as if the writers hadn’t quite figured out how they all fit together.
8. NCIS Season 1’s Story Lacks the Complexity of Later Seasons
One-and-Done Plots With Minimal Nuance
The procedural formula in NCIS Season 1 is easy to follow, but it often falls into overly simplistic territory. Each episode follows a familiar pace: a crime is introduced, a few suspects are questioned, a clue is misleading, and the real culprit is revealed just in time for the credits. This season’s structure makes casual viewing easy, but it can make a rewatch feel repetitive and shallow.
There’s little room for emotional nuance or moral complexity, and motivations often lack depth. This reduces the first season’s ability to portray a fully realized story for viewers used to today’s layered storytelling and long-running arcs. Season 1 was not trying to be ground-breaking; it was still finding its footing. In the era of streaming and binge-watching, that simplicity now feels like a missed opportunity for richer, more resonant storytelling.
7. Some Episodes of NCIS Season 1 Haven’t Aged Well Thematically
Social Attitudes and Questionable Themes Feel Outdated Today
Beyond tech and visuals, certain episode themes and plotlines now feel outdated. Some storylines treat mental illness, foreign cultures, or sexual orientation with a lack of sensitivity or nuance that stands out more starkly today. Characters with PTSD are often incorrectly portrayed as dangerous, while non-American characters are sometimes painted with broad strokes that border on stereotypes.
These portrayals were not uncommon for early 2000s television, but in 2025, they were and are uncomfortable to watch. What may have once passed as standard procedural fare now demands a critical lens. It is not just the small stuff. These themes reflect broader blind spots in media from the era. While NCIS has improved in handling sensitive topics over time, Season 1’s themes serve as a reminder of how far storytelling standards have evolved.
6. Science in NCIS Season 1 Often Defies Reality
Flashy Jargon Trades Accuracy for Spectacle
Abby’s lab is iconic, but early on, it’s also pure TV fantasy. One person simultaneously handles ballistics, DNA analysis, toxicology, and cybersecurity. Tests that should take days or weeks are completed in minutes, and results are always clear-cut and never ambiguous. While this keeps the story moving, it drastically misrepresents real forensic science.
The shortcuts are hard to ignore for viewers with even a basic understanding of criminal investigations. Forensic analysis is reduced to cool-sounding jargon and flashy visuals, not actual science. It is part of a broader issue where NCIS prioritizes drama over realism. It is not just inaccurate, but it misrepresents how justice is actually served in real-world investigations. Rewatching now, especially in a post-true crime era, makes it clear how much suspension of disbelief the show demands.
5. NCIS Season 1’s Visual Style Feels Dated & Distracting
As a product of its time, the look and feel of NCIS Season 1 are unmistakably early-2000s. The show’s direction often feels amateurish, from the washed-out lighting to strange camera angles and abrupt zooms. Overly dramatic music cues try to build suspense but often become distracting. The lighting can be overly harsh, sets look noticeably artificial, and some camera angles seem more experimental than effective.
Likewise, the wardrobe choices lock characters into clichés: Gibbs in his nondescript suits, Tony’s ill-fitting jackets, and Abby’s Hot Topic lab wear. The budget and production values were not what they would become in later seasons. For first-time viewers or fans returning with fresh eyes, it reminds them how much TV production has evolved since the show’s early days.
4. Plot Holes & Logic Leaps Are Everywhere in NCIS Season 1
Rewatching closely, it is shocking how often this season sacrifices logic for convenience. Evidence is found too quickly, suspects crack under minimal pressure, and jurisdictional boundaries are blurred or ignored. NCIS agents wander into foreign investigations with little resistance. Gibbs frequently disobeys orders or protocols and faces no consequences. Some episodes rely on coincidences or nonsensical reveals to wrap things up in 42 minutes.
While fast-paced storytelling keeps the show moving, it doesn’t always hold up under scrutiny. Fans may remember the drama, not the details, but those details matter on rewatch. Today, viewers accustomed to tighter plotting and procedural realism may find early NCIS’s logic frustrating. It’s a reminder that early NCIS relied heavily on momentum to carry the story forward rather than tightly crafted narratives. The drama holds up, but the logic does not.
3. NCIS Season 1’s Humor Is A Product of Its Era
Outdated Jokes & Cringey Banter Overshadow Real Chemistry
NCIS – Abby is standing infront of Gibbs in the labImage via CBS
NCIS has always blended crime-solving with light banter, but the humor often misses the mark earlier on. Tony’s jokes are frequently juvenile, bordering on inappropriate. Cultural references to The Matrix and the Y2K panic are no longer relevant. Similarly, some punchlines rely on stereotypes or tired sitcom-style setups that clash with the seriousness of the subject matter. Not only is the subject of the jokes outdated, but the delivery is as well.
The tonal balance between humor and crime never fully clicks in these early episodes, making some scenes jarringly awkward. While fans grew to love the banter, especially once the characters matured, the first season’s attempts often fell flat. This brand of humor elicits groans more than laughs, especially as modern audiences expect sharper, smarter, and more respectful comedy, even in a procedural.
2. The Chemistry in NCIS Season 1 Isn’t Quite There Yet
The Characters Didn’t Know How to Interact With Each Other
One of the show’s biggest strengths in later seasons is the camaraderie between the team, but in Season 1, that chemistry is still simmering. Interactions can feel stiff, especially between Gibbs and Kate, whose relationship fluctuates between mentorship and condescension. Tony’s one-liners often land flat without the playful pushback he would later get from Ziva (Cote de Pablo) or McGee.
Even Abby, who becomes the emotional heart of the team, is a bit isolated in the early episodes. She is portrayed as a lab mascot rather than a team member. These characters eventually develop into a tight-knit family, but rewatching Season 1 shows just how far they had to go. For fans used to seeing positive team dynamics, these early episodes feel like strangers forced into cooperation rather than colleagues bonded by trust and history.
Although NCIS launched a decades-spanning franchise, the writing, tone, and character arcs feel tentative, as if the creators were not sure what the show would become. The storytelling feels self-contained, almost disposable. There are inconsistencies in backstories, minor characters who vanish, and major tonal shifts from episode to episode.
The series was still chasing a formula, trying to stand out in a crowded genre without knowing it was about to define and shape it. Rewatching NCIS Season 1 now, with knowledge of where the show eventually goes, fans can see just how much it was still experimenting. These episodes play more like a procedural trial run. They are still entertaining, but the lack of foresight shows. NCIS did not yet realize it was laying the foundation for one of TV’s longest-running franchises.
