Note: This story contains spoilers from “NCIS: Origins” Episode 6.
“NCIS: Origins” shared a glimpse inside Lala Dominguez’s armor during an action-packed Episode 6, while adding more layers to her blossoming connection with Gibbs.
The CBS prequel series went undercover with Monday’s new episode, titled “Incognito,” while also putting the spotlight on the female NIS special agent played by Mariel Molino. It’s been established that Lala developed a special bond with Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell) at this time in his life, but this hour focused on her mindset while navigating the toxic boys’ club within her workplace and feeling uneasy at home.
“With what we’ve filmed so far, her feelings toward Gibbs are starting to really get deeper, and that starts to get scarier for her,” Molino told TheWrap about what’s to come. “But it is evolving in a really lovely way because it’s coming from a place of protection and truly wanting to have Gibbs’ back.”
“NCIS: Origins” established from Episode 1 that Lala and Gibbs’ relationship was central for the beloved “NCIS” patriarch as he rose through the ranks for the investigation. Co-creator and co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal called her story “the big question” at the center of the spinoff series, given that present-day Gibbs never mentioned her throughout his run on the flagship series, as played by Mark Harmon.
“What happened to her is the big question, so a lot of the stakes and the mystery is embedded in that question. We talk about it daily in the writers’ room,” Monreal told TheWrap. “We are excited to show all the twists and turns of that story and really deliver on that promise.”
Monreal added that the show will deliver “some answers” to that central mystery by the end of Season 1, which just got extended to 18 episodes after receiving a full season order from CBS.
And Episode 6 delivered on adding layers to Lala’s enigmatic character. “Incognito” saw Lala struggling with keeping her razor-sharp edge at work after a night out with some of her co-workers ended with her kissing another man. This happened as her boyfriend tried to encourage her to make room in her closet for him, as we learned he was shortly planning to move in. The guilt from this rash decision took a toll when Lala was called to examine a new crime scene, and later when the pressure built up to a confrontation with Gibbs about treating her differently than he would his male colleagues.
“We see Lala making a huge mistake, a mistake that is human and that she immediately regrets,” Molino said. “I thought it was a really interesting way to paint this picture of a woman who feels like she’s trapped, and who has to conform to all these different aspects of society with her job, her family and her boyfriend.”
It’s that complexity that Monreal hoped to showcase with the character of Lala on the series — and the writer said Molino’s “fantastic” performance became instrumental in development of the character.
“I wanted to be really careful about embracing her femininity in whatever way the character wanted to do that, and not erasing it,” Monreal said. “There is power in pounding a table and throwing a guy up against the wall. But there’s also power in how Lala approaches someone with empathy in a way that none of our other characters can … I think Mariel plays that edge beautifully.”
Monreal was also excited to showcase in Lala a Latina character whose story went beyond her racial identity, and for fans to “embrace her as a human being first, who also happens to be a strong Latina.”
“NCIS: Origins” airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and streams the next day on Paramount+.
