Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS: Origins episode “Cecilia” are ahead!
When NCIS: Origins premiered last October, Mark Harmon’s older Leroy Jethro Gibbs informed viewers that the story he was telling in the prequel was about “her,” i.e. Mariel Molino’s Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez. Considering Lala wasn’t mentioned once during Gibbs’ time on the original NCIS, there must have been a pretty good reason why he didn’t feel comfortable telling this story until now.
Now we finally have context for this thanks to the NCIS: Origins Season 1 finale having just finished airing on the 2025 TV schedule. After watching the episode early, though, I had to know what this devastating twist for Lala means for Origins Season 2, which is officially on the way. Fortunately, showrunners David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal were able to shed light shortly thereafter on this shocking moment.
How The NCIS: Showrunners Came Up With What Happened To Lala
In the final minutes of “Cecilia,” Lala Dominguez crashed her car to avoid hitting a little girl who ran out onto the street to chase after her dog. It was unclear if Lala was still alive in the overturned car or if the crash had killer her, and North and Monreal were unwilling to clear things up with me when I interviewed them. What they did tell me was why they decided to go in this direction rather than have Lala get hurt while out in the field, with Monreal saying:
I think we knew that we could have put her in a dangerous situation with the job, and that would have been more expected. So we did know early on if we were going to do the story that we wanted it to be more of an everyday accident. Because it's something that could have happened to anybody, and I think it's relatable to anybody.
Lala’s car crash happened as she was on her way to tell Austin Stowell’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs that he was no longer being investigated by Lara Macy. Claire Berger’s younger version of the character previously played by Louise Lobard in NCIS was getting to have Gibbs arrested after he turned over the sniper rifle he used to kill Hernandez. But Lala, who had been working with Mike Franks and Randy to help cover for Gibbs, showed up at her good friend’s house to take the rifle away. Macy pulled her gun on Lala, who proceeded to plead that Gibbs not be taken in, even falsely claiming that she helped him plan Hernandez’s murder. That’s how far she was willing to go to protect him.
Lara Macy relented, both because she was swayed into agreeing that true justice had been dispensed against Hernandez, and also possibly because Lala also said she’d advocate for Macy to be recruited into NCIS, which we know is where she ultimately ends up. Sadly, Lala never got to share this good news with Gibbs. Gina Lucita Monreal continued:
We have these tragedies or events in our life that happen in a split second and it just changes everything. think that's sort of a universal thing that we all deal with, and so we thought that would be not only surprising, but also very relatable.
Since Leroy Jethro Gibbs never learned that Lara Macy had protected him until nearly two decades later in the NCIS Season 6 two-parter “Legend,” that also means Lala Dominguez never got to tell him what she did for him. Does that strengthen the possibility that she’s dead? Maybe, but don’t go placing any bets just yet.
How Lala’s Accident Will Affect NCIS: Origins Season 2
One thing is clear, though: wherever things stand with Lala Dominguez in NCIS: Origins Season 2, what happened to her is going have a major impact on the prequel’s other main characters. When I inquired about this with David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal, the former started off saying:
Well, it's gonna affect everything, right? No matter what Lala's fate ends up being, it is a huge moment that's going to send shock waves through the entire team. So we have our work cut out for us, especially with Diane looming.
As Lala was driving to reach Gibbs at the house where he used to live with his wife and daughter, Gibbs was meeting the real estate agent his father had hired to sell the house. She complimented his eyes and introduced herself as Diane. That’s right, we just met the younger version of the woman who will become Gibbs’ second wife. This would also explain why, aside from the almost kiss Gibbs and Lala shared in the Season 1 finale, things never progressed romantically between the two even if Lala is still alive. North continued:
We plan on honoring canon, but we want to come back and just keep telling these characters’ stories and keep having fun. Despite the way Season 1 ended, I know when we come back, we'll find a way to find some lightness and some humor and just do what we keep doing what we've been doing.
The older Gibbs narrated at the end of “Cecilia” that he didn’t learn what Lala had done for him “until later,” presumably not long after the Lara Macy reveal in 2009. But the fact that Lala had “saved” Gibbs wasn’t what made him love her, with the older version of the character saying that he always loved her and still does. So while we know that these two aren’t destined to be together, my fingers are crossed that they at least get to speak to each other again, and that Lala will go on to live a much longer life.
Although NCIS: Origins Season 2 doesn’t have a specific premiere date set yet, count on it to air on CBS alongside NCIS Season 23 sometime this fall. That’s also when we can expect the arrival of the Paramount+-exclusive series NCIS: Tony & Ziva, and NCIS: Sydney Season 3 is also on the way.
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