Okay, I know that the last two episodes of NCIS: Origins were about two of Gibbs’s rules: " Never go anywhere without a knife," and “Best way to keep a secret: Keep it to yourself. Second best: Tell one other person—if you must. There is no third best.” Do all the other episodes correspond to his list of rules, too?
No. The rules pop up occasionally but not in every episode.
Well, a recent episode seemed to end with him realizing why he should never go anywhere without a knife (Rule 9). The season closer, I thought was going to be about why you should never date a co-worker (Rule 12) but was actually about the consequences of sharing a secret with too many people (Rule 4).
The most endearing thing about this series is that it’s not as rigidly formulaic as its parent series, which has gotten really by-the-numbers lately. But what if this is the formula? Each episode shows the genesis of a particular rule in Gibbs’s handbook? I can’t remember if other episodes specifically hinged on why you should always wear gloves at a crime scene, never involve a lawyer, etc., but figure someone who notices these things might be keeping better track of it than I am.