Mariel Molino, Austin Stowell, and creators Gina Lucita Monreal and David J.
North weigh in on that big twist.
The season 1 finale of prequel seriesNCIS: Originsleaves Lalas life (and body) hanging in the balance.
Mariel Molino as Cecilia ‘Lala’ Dominguez in ‘NCIS: Origins’.Credit:Sonja Flemming/CBS
Presumably to tell Gibbs, the man shes realized shes in love with, the good news.
Or might there be some shred of hope that shell survive this accident with major injuries?
When we ask showrunners David J. Molino is also mum about Lalas fate, but she warns fans that anything is possible.
Austin Stowell and Mariel Molino in ‘NCIS: Origins’.CBS
This will have gigantic ramifications on him, says Stowell.
No matter what happens, he just cannot seem to stop hurting people.
Is she in a coma?
Mariel Molino as Cecilia ‘Lala’ Dominguez in ‘NCIS: Origins’.Sonja Flemming/CBS
I don’t know any of these things.
I know this much.
The one thing Molino will say is that she didnt know this was coming.
Mariel Molino and Kyle Schmid in ‘NCIS: Origins’.Sonja Flemming/CBS
This was not discussed in the beginning, she says.
Monreal and North say that they absolutely considered that fact when shaping theOriginsfinale.
I was actually on the writing staff ofNCISway back then when Kate was killed, says North.
Mariel Molino and Claire Berger in ‘NCIS: Origins’.CBS
And that felt real and true in that moment.
“What happens with Lala at the end is real.
We’ve all dealt with this sort of tragedy in our own lives in different ways.
She was going to go and tell him that she loved him, muses Molino.
And that he is free and that he’ll be okay.
That he has nothing to worry about and that she loves him and she’ll do anything for him.
He finds out in that episode.
So, he couldn’t have known about that or about Lala until at least that point.
This is a story I dont tell, he says.
Austin Stowell as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in ‘NCIS: Origins’.Sonja Flemming/CBS
I cant find the words.
But it never stops running through my head.
The story of her.
Gibbs has suffered a lot of trauma in his life, including the murder of his wife and child.
This must be pretty bad, huh?
That’s what I keep joking about with David and Gina.
For this to be something he never talks about, what is this?
For Monreal and North, the answer is just what Gibbs says it is the story of her.
We don’t see his reaction to it yet.
We don’t know all of the intricacies of everything happening around it.
Adds North: The story that older Gibbs is referring to is still being told.
