‘NCIS: Origins’: Mariel Molino Teases Lala ‘Puts It All on the Line’ With Gibbs in Finale

Everything will shift after the NCIS: Origins Season 2 finale, warns Mariel Molino, who plays Special Agent Lala Dominguez.

That may include both relationships and the workplace. After all, in the May 5 episode, the agents learn that the Camp Pendleton office may be shut down. But that’s not all that Lala has to contend with as the season comes to an end. This season, Lala became involved with Manny (Miguel Gomez), who works for gang leader Flaco (Scotty Tovar); he’s now in witness protection. But she can’t quite let go of her teammate, Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell), despite the fact that he’s married and the two have trouble locking lips…even in her dreams!

Below, Mariel Molino teases the Season 2 finale and where it leaves the team.

The Camp Pendleton office is in danger of being shut down. What’s going on there? How do Lala and the rest of the team handle it? Who’s having the toughest time with it? 

Mariel Molino: We are all at risk of losing NIS, of losing the family we’ve built. I think Gibbs has the most to lose — we are his chosen family. For Lala, this isn’t just about losing an office, it makes her question everything she’s worked for. If she’s reassigned, she’s back to square one, having to prove herself all over again in rooms that already doubt her. And she’s tired of that fight. Between Manny, someone she still loves, and her complicated feelings for Gibbs, she’s pulled in two directions. So, for the first time, she really starts to ask herself, “Is it worth it… or is it time to walk away from it all?”

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What can you preview about the case in the finale? With it tying back to Abe Pruitt (Christopher Backus), how is Franks (Kyle Schmid) in particular dealing with that, and then the rest of the team dealing with Franks?

This case gets very personal, especially for Franks. It ties back to Abe Pruitt in a way that forces him to confront a lot of unresolved emotions, particularly around his own brother, so it hits close to home.

What’s so true to Franks is that, even with everything going on around him, he puts the case first. He personalizes it, maybe to a fault. Because of how much this one affects him, he starts to take risks and put himself in danger in ways that aren’t entirely rational. For the team, that’s difficult to watch. They’re trying to support him, but also rein him in at the same time. It creates a real tension between loyalty and concern.

There is, of course, the will-they-won’t-they saga of Gibbs and Lala. We saw Lala’s dream earlier in the season, and even in that, a potential kiss was interrupted. How does she feel about him, and what can you say about what we’ll see between them in the finale, and how it leaves them for next season?

I can’t give too much away… but I will say Lala reaches a point where she can’t keep holding back. She’s always been someone who leads with her heart, even when it costs her, and that’s very true in the finale.

Her feelings for Gibbs are real, and they’ve been building all season. But loving someone like Gibbs isn’t simple. He carries a lot, and sometimes that means Lala has to make choices that protect herself even if it breaks her heart.

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She puts it all on the line. What he does with that… you’ll have to watch. But it definitely leaves them in a complicated place going into next season.

What can you tease about how the finale ends to set up Season 3? How would you describe the cliffhanger?

It’s intense. There are real consequences, real sacrifices, and not everyone comes out of it the same. There’s a lot of action, but what makes the cliffhanger land is the emotional impact. It involves someone we deeply care about, and it leaves the team in a very uncertain, very vulnerable place. It’s the kind of ending that shifts everything.

NCIS: Origins, Season 2 Finale, Tuesday, May 5, 9/8c, CBS