She lives! Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez (Mariel Molino) is alive. And while not exactly doing well, she’s working on restoring her health after the car crash that resulted in a collapsed lung, traumatic brain injury, and her left thigh muscle crushed. So, she’s been rehabilitating in the four-month time jump when NCIS: Origins returns for its Season 2 premiere tonight.
“I think most people that go through that couldn’t have recovered. But we’ve built that character as such a strong-willed character, and she refused to have that be her last day at NIS, and she refused to abandon her team,” co-showrunner David J. North tells Parade. “And so, she gets herself back into the office.”
But until she does, the team definitely feels her loss and doesn’t perform as cohesively as they did when she was a part of the squad. Now, Cliff Wheeler (Patrick Fischler), who was demoted from his SAC position, is filling her spot, and Randy Randolph (Caleb Foote) has been assigned to desk duty.
Kyle Schmid, Austin Stowell and Caleb Foote in ‘NCIS: Origiins’Photo: Warrick Page/CBS
“I think that they all have a special place on that team,” co-showrunner Gina Lucita Monreal tells Parade. “And part of what the episode is about is when any one piece is not in the right place, it doesn’t feel right. So, it was also Randy on that desk and Wheeler on the team. None of that was gelling the way it should. So, Lala definitely has a huge impact on the show and on the team. And we’re so thrilled to have her back, but we’re also just thrilled to have the team back together as a cohesive unit [by the end of the episode].”
Related: NCIS: Origins Showrunners Answer The Biggest Questions from That Shocking Finale Death (Exclusive)
That said, it’s very awkward between Gibbs (Austin Stowell) and Lala. They had that intimate moment in the pool, which Lala later used as part of her rehab, where they expressed their feelings for each other, but now, when Lala returns to work, she learns that Gibbs is dating his real estate agent, Diane Sterling (Kathleen Kenny).
Austin Stowell as Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Mariel Molino as Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez in ‘NCIS: Origins’Photo: Robert Voets/CBS
“It’s tough that Lala and Gibbs got really close, then Lala nearly dies, and he can’t handle that,” Monreal continues. “And so he chooses this safer option [Diane] to avoid having his heart completely broken again. We’ll see the trajectory of that relationship with Diane. And yes, it starts out as this safer option, but we will see their feelings develop and grow and how that bounces off the Lala character.”
We know from an episode of NCIS that in the future, Diane confesses to Gibbs that he was her Shannon, meaning the love of her life, which she knew she wasn’t for him. And the prequel stays true to that, with Diane initially being the pursuer.
Related: NCIS: Origins Stars Look Almost Unrecognizable During Their Summer Hiatus
“We saw in the end of the finale that she says, ‘Oh, my God, look at your eyes,’ and Diane is such a blunt person,” North says. “So, she definitely made the first move because we see that in that episode. And I think for Gibbs, he’s so torn in this moment of thinking he may lose this person in Lala, another person that’s so important to him, that Diane was a welcome distraction. But like all relationships, just because she started as an appealing distraction, that doesn’t mean she stays in that box.”
Kyle Schmid as Mike Franks in ‘NCIS: Origins’Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS
As for the other cliffhanger from the Season 1 finale, as to why Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) doesn’t speak with his brother Mason, that has yet to be dealt with.
“Pretty early on, we get an episode where Franks and his brother interact,” Monreal says. “We’ll see that dynamic, we’ll understand what caused this riff between them and really dig into that relationship. So, we’re excited for fans to see that.
“For us, it’s such a privilege to come back to get to write these characters and to keep telling the story that we love,” Monreal wraps it up. “But it was a bit daunting to try to figure out how to pick everybody up and to help the audience understand what had happened in between while not dwelling in that in between place and sort of gather everybody up together and push them off in a way that the audience could connect with and hopefully root for.”
NCIS: Origins premieres its second season tonight in its new timeslot at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Streams next day on Paramount+
Next, Prequel Series NCIS: Origins Reveals New Casting For Season 2 Return This Fall
This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 15, 2025, where it first appeared in the TV section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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