NCIS

Channel: CBS
Episode 7x16 - “Mother's Day"
Original Airdate: March 2nd, 2010
Leann Hunley as Young Joann Fielding
Director: Tony Wharmby
Cast: Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly,
Cote de Pablo, Gena Rowlands, Sean Harmon
Genre: Crime/Drama
Runtime: 60 min 

Synopsis [taken from imdb.com]:
Secrets arise when Gibbs' former mother-in-law
surfaces as a witness in a murder investigation.

The murder of Navy Captain James Norton reveals that Joann Fielding was his fiancée.
Abby and Ducky discover that a random robber couldn't have killed Norton, as Joann claims.
It was likely her.
Gibbs learns Joann hired a P.I. to help track down anyone related with the Mexican drug cartel that murdered Gibbs' wife Shannon and daughter Kelly - Joann's daughter and granddaughter. Norton’s name came up. She decided to get close to him and seek revenge.
Later, Gibbs gets Joann to confess and arrests her. But her statement is inadmissible because it was coerced. Thus, Gibbs' arrest of Joann was thwarted. She walks.
Questionable as it was for Gibbs to protect Joann and let her off the hook for murder, he justified it by saying Shannon would have wanted it.

Leann's Role:
Leann portrays a younger version of
Gena Rowlands character, Joann Fielding.
Joann is Gibbs' former mother-in-law.
Leann is seen in a flashback montage set during the 1980s. The retro scenes explain the bad blood between Joann and Gibbs.
Leann: “You see that Joann is very angry at Gibbs for taking her daughter and grandchild away from her when his job is relocated.”
That move led to the murder of Gibbs’ family
(wife Shannon and daughter Kelly) by a Mexican drug dealer.

Gena Rowlands on "NCIS"

Trivia & Facts:
The flashback scenes feature Mark Harmon’s own son, Sean, as younger Gibbs.

Leann has often been likened to Lauren Bacall but always saw herself as more of a Rowlands type.
Leann: "When I first saw her back in the ’70s in "A Woman Under the Influence", I thought,
‘That woman looks like me! She has my eyes!’
Ever since, it’s been my secret little wish that I might play her some day. But, seriously, what were the chances? To have it actually happen is just wild!”

"NCIS" is set in the Washington, D.C. area but is filmed in Santa Clarita, California. 
The series is shot throughout Southern California.

Soap Opera Digest
(May 4, 2010)