NCIS: Origins’: Mariel Molino Teases Lala’s Move That Makes Gibbs ‘Who He Becomes’
This is a story I don’t tell. This is the story of…her,” was the intriguing promise made by Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) in the premiere of this NCIS prequel about the life of young Gibbs’ (Austin Stowell) in the ’90s as a rookie agent working for what was then NIS. The NCIS: Origins Season 1 finale will revolve around the “her” we’ve come to know and love, his colleague, the determined Agent Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino) who, to be respected in the boys’ club, “has to be more than capable, to be assumed to be capable,” Molino says.
The trouble starts with the arrival of Lala’s friend, ambitious military police investigator Lara Macy (Claire Berger), an NCIS mothership character (played by Louise Lombard in that series). “They’ve crossed paths at crime scenes, watch each other’s backs, and try to be scrappy and figure out how to get to where they want to go as women,” Molino says. “They are very able but have come across situations where they’re treated differently because they’re women.”
The wrinkle is Macy’s there to investigate suspicions about Pedro Hernandez, the drug dealer Gibbs secretly assassinated for murdering his family. Lala figured that out earlier this season while trying to track down the killer herself. Infuriated, she secretly confronted Gibbs, but later he revealed his vulnerable side to her. “In that moment she realized how much she loves him,” Molino says. “Loves, loves, loves, loves.”
As Gibbs, Lala, and Franks (Kyle Schmid) try to get their stories straight and protect themselves, “There’s a lot of disagreement. They could lose their jobs, go to jail. You see everybody’s worst side. Lala is between this friendship and loyalty to the guys,” Mariel Molino reveals. The actress previews more about the episode including romance with Gibbs, the toughest scene she’s ever shot, bickering with Austin Stowell, and the cliffhanger ending.
