NCIS: Origins was sold as backstory for Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell), when in reality, it was a stealth love story between Gibbs and Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino). The latter smashed into a car and violently flipped her own vehicle in the season 1 finale, suggesting the reason she didn't appear in later NCIS episodes is because she tragically died. Or did she?
David J. North, the co-showrunner of NCIS: Origins alongside Gina Monreal, spoke to TV Line about the shocking Lala scene. Interestingly enough, he was reluctant to write off the character in relation to season 2. "I won’t officially say that Lala is dead," North asserted. "But certainly we went into this saying that we needed to give ourselves the wiggle room to take these big swings." It's obvious that Lala has proven to be a fan favorite, and the showrunners are wisely keeping their options open when it comes to pursuing future storylines.
Lala never told Gibbs she loved him
While it's certainly an encouraging sign that Lala hasn't officially bought the farm, the comments made by the actress who plays her, Molino, has us skeptical about Lala's possible return. She noted the detail that most upset looking back at the season was that the character ran out of time to tell Gibbs how she really felt. If Lala were actually set to return, we imagine she'd have the time to make things right in season 2.
"Lala never gets to say 'I love you' to Gibbs," she noted. "I don’t think she ever really gets to say how she really feels, and I think that’s what she’s trying to say when she goes over and tries to find him." Molino notes that Lala struggled for most of season 1 to come to terms with how she feels inside, which is why she had such a difficult time verbalizing it to Gibbs.
"I think that finally she’s able to let her walls down because she comes so close to losing this person that she’s now realized she really loves," the actress told TV Line. "And I think that’s so heartbreaking, which seems to be the case with a lot of people who lose people." To make the Gibbs and Lala story even more tragic, the latter nearly spilled the beans in a previous scene when they were in a pool, but Gibbs accidentally interrupts her.
The character's fate remains undetermined
Lala's (presumed) death was on the bingo board of several NCIS fans, but the execution of her arc throughout the first season of Origins, coupled with the heartfelt narration from OG Gibbs star, Mark Harmon, at the tail end of the finale, still hit like a freight train. Especially when the character admits that he loved Lala in return.
The older Gibbs tells us that he's always struggled to share this story because of the pain he still feels over Lala's loss. "I loved her all along," he asserts. It's an absolutely devastating ending, and one that feels authentic to the character we eventually come to know in the flagship NCIS show.