When "NCIS" returns this week after taking a break due to the Sochi Winter Olympics, it will go on without Gibbs' father, Jackson Gibbs.

Ralph Waite, the actor who played Jackson Gibbs, passed away on Feb. 13 at the age of 85. Waite was best known for his role on "The Waltons," but appeared on current series like "Bones," in addition to "NCIS".

TVLine shared that "NCIS" will most likely acknowledge Waite's death, and therefore Jackson's, with an on-screen storyline.

Yet, the showrunners are already sketching out this season's finale episode, meaning a Jackson-centric episode may have to wait until Season 12.

However, it is safe to assume that Bishop's lack of experience as a new probationary agent will be addressed this season.

Matt Roush of TVGuide said Bishop's (Emily Wickersham) lack of experience and FLETC training will be addressed. "Bishop's lack of field experience will be a recurring element in her and the team's evolution for the foreseeable future," Roush said.

Yet, he added that "nothing she faces on the job will be nearly as poisonous as the hostility she's getting from much of the fan base, seems to me."

On the last episode of the series, Bishop encountered some big obstacles before officially becoming a part of the team.

In "Monsters and Men," it becomes clear that Bishop is hiding information about the Parsa case from the team. It turns out that she doesn't want anyone knowing that she is an expert on the renowned terrorist. She says that her failure to tell Gibbs (Mark Harmon) about her knowledge of him was simply omitting information, not lying.

Gibbs is angry when he finds out, and puts her on the sidelines, believing she cannot be trusted with the case. He is also warned by one of her former superiors that she was taken off the Parsa case because of her tendency to be obsessive.

Bishop is confused as to why she was taken off the case, and decides to ask Tony (Michael Weatherly) why Gibbs benched her. Tony tells Bishop that Gibbs believes in trust and full disclosure.

Bishop wants to earn his trust back, so she confesses everything to him. She tells him about being previously taken off the case, as well as about the direct contact she had with Parsa. Gibbs then begins to understand why she is so invested in the case. He decides to put her back on the case so she can be finished with it for good.

Once they were able to track down Parsa, a series of events leads to Bishop almost being killed after Parsa traps her in a room with him. But Gibbs is able to rescue Bishop by exposing Parsa's weakness: his family.

Gibbs uses voice recordings of conversations Parsa had with his sister to fake a version of Parsa's sister's voice. They use it to convince him that she is telling him to surrender.

Gibbs is then able to get a shot at Parsa, finally taking him down.

At episode's end, Gibbs learns that he can trust Bishop, so he offers her a spot on the team as a probationary agent.

On the next episode, "Bulletproof," the team investigates faulty bulletproof vests.

The synopsis for the episode reads: "After uncovering faulty bulletproof vests in a truck filled with stolen U.S.M.C. merchandise, the NCIS team attempts to locate both the source and any vests that had been shipped to military personnel overseas."

Check out the promo for "Bulletproof" below, which airs Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. on CBS.