•   Leroy Jethro Gibbs will come back as a totally different person in "NCIS" season 13.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs will come back as a totally different person in "NCIS" season 13. (Photo : Twitter/NCIS/CBS)

Many viewers who saw the finale episode of "NCIS" Season 12 a week ago are asking: Is Gibbs dead? On the other hand, many fans of the show believe Mark Harmon is not leaving "NCIS." Show boss Gary Glasberg explained the story development and cliffhangers in "Neverland."

Spoiler alert: This update contains "NCIS" Season 12 finale spoilers. Read on at your own risk.

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"We will pick up right where we left off for the ["NCIS" Season 13] opener. We will wrap that storyline up early on," show boss Gary Glasberg told FOX News. The executive producer added the big cliffhanger in "Neverland" is his way of showing something different from the previous year's finale.

"Last season, we didn't have a cliffhanger. This season I wanted to do something more significant. It was really a decision to do something big and significant with both characters and do some action," Glasberg added.

Instead of giving teasers on what happens next to Gibbs, Glasberg told FOX News the viewers should look forward to seeing what Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) would do next. Meanwhile, Mark Harmon scared some fans when he remarked in a late night U.S. talk show that anyone is "replaceable" on "NCIS."

In teasing the "NCIS" Season 12 finale on "The Late Late Show with James Corden," Harmon said the show has a history of killing off characters. (Case in point: Agent Todd, Mike Franks and Jenny Shepard, among others.) This interview was done before the penultimate episode was aired.

Ned Dorneget (Matt Jones) dies in "The Lost Boys," the pre-finale episode, which explores the nature of "The Calling." Gibbs gets shot at in the finale episode; he sustains two gunshot wounds, one of which could be fatal.