You’d think a character ending a season upside down, bleeding in a wrecked Jeep, would not be coming back to the show. And yet, it seems like we might have said a premature goodbye to Lala Dominguez, played by Mariel Molino.
The Season 1 finale of CBS’s prequel spin-off ended devastatingly, with Lala veering off the road to avoid a little girl, all while racing to tell Gibbs (Austin Stowell) she had saved him. Like, literally saved his career and likely his life by making sure the investigation into his murder of Pedro Hernandez would be dropped. The final shot of Lala, bloodied and silent, is even accompanied by Mark Harmon’s voice, reflecting, “This is a story I don’t tell. I can’t find the words.”
But does it mean Lala is gone? Apparently not. Though how she’ll return is something no one seems ready to divulge yet.
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Mariel Molino (Lala’s) final scene
In an interview with TVLine after the finale, Molino stopped short of confirming Lala’s death. “I really left it all on the Paramount lot,” she did say. Despite the finality of the visuals, however, fans always felt this might not be the end of the story.
For Molino, the entire thing was very hard. “The whole episode felt like an enormous challenge,” she also told the outlet. “I think I was most nervous about… three scenes, specifically. The pool scene with Gibbs. The moment where I try to convince Lara that I was there when Gibbs killed Pedro Hernandez. And then the scene where I finally confront Franks.”
She doesn’t mention the “death scene,” if that’s even what it is.
In fact, when discussing the stunt, Molino just said, “That was one of the most exciting and challenging stunts I’ve done,” adding that “I’m so proud of that last shot. To end on that was really special.”
Sounds like there’s a possibility for Lala to either haunt Gibbs’ memory in Season 2 or return in flashbacks or hallucinations. Or hey, she could make a full recovery. Who knows?
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NCIS: Origins might not be done with Lala just yet
NCIS is no stranger to faking out audiences or playing the long game. We are watching NCIS: Tony & Ziva a decade later, so never say never. Plus, there’s the fact that showrunners have not officially confirmed Lala’s death, and the finale carefully avoids showing her being declared dead.
And there’s more. Molino uploaded a picture of her dog on the Paramount lot, where Origins films, in exactly the same place Kyle Schmidt, who plays Mike Franks, uploaded a picture earlier. Is she just on set to say hi? We don’t think so.
Lala is too important, not just to Gibbs but to the overall story. Not to die, she could end up dying. But maybe not right now? Or maybe Molino will come back in flashbacks. Or she’ll be in a coma? She could even just rise from the ashes. Then there’s the fact that Gina Lucita Monreal, the show’s co-showrunner, confirmed in another interview with the same outlet that Molino is indeed coming back, but stopped short of confirming how. Hallucination? Ghost? Miraculous recovery? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Either way, it seems fans aren’t ready to say goodbye. And neither is NCIS: Origins.
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