There’s something comforting about living in the past. We know where this story is going—at least in broad strokes, so that means we can get invested in characters. We can get attached. Well, we can get attached to Gibbs.
But the thing about NCIS: Origins is that, two seasons in, the show has given us so many more characters to love. So many more reasons to tune in. And one of those is Tyla Abercumbie’s Mary Jo, who gets a new love interest and the team rallies behind her on the show’s latest episode, ‘The Gambler’.
Fangirlish sat down with Abercrumbie to discuss Mary Jo’s big episode, how much she knows about what’s coming for the character, and yes, those wardrobe choices!
Back when we first learned about Mary Jo’s past in ‘To Have and To Hold’, Abercrumbie told us that she’d known about the storyline since the beginning. In this case, however, she didn’t know. “I did not find out until probably… I think we were maybe shooting the second episode, and I met with Gina and David, just a phone conversation about the character and what the season had for her, and then I found out.”
Which means, if you saw crumbs before, no, you didn’t.
Abercrumbie, like us, was very pleased to see this storyline for Mary Jo. “I think it’s a great progression for Mary Jo, because we saw that her divorce became final in Season 1, and that she had kind of lived holding on to, not in the marriage, but still being married. I think that that storyline indicated that this was a person kind of stuck, you know?”
Not anymore. “Her dating now, it’s an example of Mary Jo as a woman getting back out there, right? Because sometimes when you’ve been married for a long time, and you’re now divorced, and you are a woman of a certain age, it’s harder. And it’s like ‘I’m not giving up, and I still feel beautiful’, so I feel very good about the fact that she is back out there and willing to even push her own comfort zone by dating someone at work.”
It’s not the kind of romance we usually see on TV these days, but an adult romance. A second chance. “When you’ve lived some, and you are more self-assured because of that, you want different things from your partners,” Abercrumbie shared. “It’s nice to see, you know, an adult relationship where a woman makes a decision, and you see where that decision goes.”
How did we get to a Mary Jo and Dalton romance? Well, it was a little bit like a kid pulling a girl’s pigtails because he likes her, we’re not gonna lie. “We don’t believe this about ourselves, because we’re all grown and mature, but that childhood way of being attracted to someone and pushing them and tapping them or moving their stuff on their desk, it really stays with us as adults when we just don’t know how to make that straight line. So, I didn’t expect it, but I do feel like when I finally got it, I was like, oh, this is how it’s happening.”
We learned more about Mary Jo this episode than just the fact that she and Dalton are seeing each other; we also learned that she used to be a dealer in Atlantic City. And she still has connections there. “Who would think that about Mary Jo, you know what I’m saying? It gives her some kind of an edge that she’s not just this woman trying to maintain an office. That’s who you become. And that’s what I love about giving parts of the story, is you see who people become, and then we allow you into how they got there.”
But does Abercrumbie know what Mary Jo’s future is? “I haven’t asked that question for two reasons. One selfish and one just artistic, right? Artistically, the surprise is always great. And I come from the stage, right? From the theater. And in the theater, you always know the ending of a play. You always know. In television, you don’t because episodes are brand new every season. So, I like that element of not knowing.”
“And the selfish reason is I want her to live all the way up to… give me, let us have 10, 11, 12, 15 seasons until we get to Gibbs being Gibbs in NCIS. So, Mary Jo can be along the ride for a long time before we get to, you know, Mark Harmon.”
Mariel Molino recently said in the Partners & Probies podcast that, perhaps, Lala doesn’t make it out of NCIS: Origins alive. But Abercrumbie wasn’t so sure. “I think that if you want to make the stakes as high as possible, you say, OK, she dies at some point. But I personally don’t think that she necessarily dies. I think that their relationship was the one, you know. The idea of the one that got away, right? That they never could get past whatever it was about them professionally, personally, to really give it the chance it needed. And I think people have that in real life, a relationship where they will never love someone the way they love that person.”
“And that’ll be their secret. You’re not going to tell the person you married that the person you really, really, really loved was 10 years before you. So, I look at it like that. I think she maintains that position of the one. They never could make it work. And part of it was a great learning experience, because we learn so much from the relationships that we were too young to understand or too selfish to understand.”
Lala has a great moment with Mary Jo in ‘The Gambler’, where she tells her that she won’t cry about Mary Jo possibly leaving because if a woman cries at work, it takes her 2-5 years to recover from the backlash. And Abrcrumbie agreed that, sadly, we’re still there. “I think that’s true for women today. I think it was true in the past. I think it’s women and their vulnerability has always been used against them.”
But Mary Jo does get to be a bit emotional this episode, and her moment comes with Cliff Wheeler, who manages to find a way to save Mary Jo from being transferred. “I appreciate how they [the writers] are consistently showing that Mary Jo has a very personal relationship with the very people whom you think she would not. In Season 1, we saw that with Franks. In Season 2, you see that with Wheeler. These people go way back. And sometimes they’re barking at each other because that’s what you do at work. But there’s friendship there.”
We couldn’t end an interview focused on Mary Jo without asking about her wardrobe, which might be one of our favorite things in the show. Does Abercrumbie have a say in what Mary Jo wears? “I definitely have a say. I think you have a relationship with the wardrobe department, and they talk to you about who this character is for you. And then, of course, you’re forever vetoing like things,” she laughed.
“But we definitely are in communication with what I wanted for Mary Jo. And you might have noticed that this season, Mary Jo’s clothes have changed somewhat. And I really appreciate that because this is the Mary Jo that I see, right? Like she’s dressing as I see her in the 90s,” Abercrumbie explained, adding, “It’s a good collaboration. It’s very collaborative.”
And hey, if Mary Jo looks a little too nice for the office? “Well, she has no kids. It’s just her. And we shop! Like, what am I going to spend my money on… my retirement and me?”
Here’s to Mary Jo, to her new romance, and to looking like she belongs in the NCIS: Origins office, no matter what.
What did you think of NCIS: Origins Season 2, Episode 12 ‘The Gambler’ Share with us in the comments below! And if you have any thoughts about the show, share them with us in our NCIS: Origins hub!
NCIS: Origins airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS.
