Mariel Molino is aware NCIS: Origins fans want Lala and Gibbs to get together — but for now, their romantic relationship is on ice.
Warning: Spoilers below from season 2, episode 2 of NCIS: Origins.
“Even though we can’t play out this love, we can play out the subtleties of wanting someone and how that affects you in every aspect of your life, through work, in your career [and] in your personal life,” Molino, 32, exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, October 20, of her character Lala Dominguez and coworker Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ (Austin Stowell) connection throughout season 2. “You just want to prove them wrong or make them proud.”
That being said, Molino said Gibbs has understandably put up walls after Lala’s nearly fatal car accident at the end of season 1.
Austin Stowell as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in ‘NCIS: Origins’. Erik Voake/CBS
“This poor guy, he went through hell and back in season 1. [So] he wants something a little bit more safe,” the actress said, referring to Gibbs’ decision to start dating real estate agent Diane Sterling (Kathleen Kenny) despite his feelings for Lala.
Molino, whose character was revealed during the season 2 premiere to be alive after flipping her car during the season 1 finale, noted that their jobs as NIS agents are already very “life or death.” Therefore, and for the foreseeable future, Gibbs can’t entertain the idea of a romantic relationship with Lala despite their near kiss hours prior to her accident.
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“As much as he has incredible feelings for Lala, he’s trying to protect his heart from the thought of losing her again,” Molino explained of Gibbs’ season 2 mindset. “It’s [him] just not wanting to open up his heart again just to have it ripped out again.”
She told Us the question of, “What does that mean for Gibbs, if you’re not full in?” will be “interesting” to see play out. Molino added that even though Gibbs is in another relationship, viewers — and the characters — will learn “how do his feelings for Lala come into play” each week.
Mariel Molino as Lala and Austin Stowell as Gibbs. Erik Voake/CBS
While Molino made it clear that Lala is focusing on getting back to her old self, and struggling to find her place back at the office, her feelings for Gibbs are still there. Gibbs, meanwhile, has put his walls back up out of fear but can’t get Lala off his mind.
She told Us their current relationship dynamic is most evident during season 2, episode 2, which aired on Tuesday, October 21. Gibbs makes it his mission to do his first interrogation after Lala brings it up upon her return to their office following her medical leave.
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“I think it’s so genius that the reason that he is trying to do it is because Lala has kind of planted the seed in his head. Like, ‘Oh, so how’s your interrogating [going]?’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, I haven’t done it,’” Molino said. “That sets them on this adventure of, like, ‘Now I have to do the best freaking interrogation I’ve ever done, and I have to come in gun blazing.’”
She teased, “I think that’s so true when you like someone, you really want them to be proud of you and you want them to admire you, and you’re seeing that with Gibbs and Lala.”
Lala is also constantly bettering herself because of Gibbs, even though Molino joked she’s “too proud to admit” his influence over her.
Kathleen Kenny as Diane Sterling. Erik Voake/CBS
“She does have him in the back of her head of, ‘What would Gibbs do?’ Or you know, what do you think that this is right or just?” Molino told Us.
Even with the clear chemistry between Lala and Gibbs, he has chosen to move forward with Diane, who NCIS viewers know he eventually marries and divorces. (In the flagship series, Gibbs was married four times, including to his first wife, Shannon, who was killed in 1991, shortly before the stories on NCIS: Origins began.)
“It’s going to be uncomfortable,” Molino teased of Lala’s future interaction with Diane as the season progresses. “It just sucks that Lala probably doesn’t want to have her see her, but yes, you are going to see them [together].”
The TV star noted that Lala and Diane will cross paths because it’s “in cannon” that Diane and Gibbs’ future is set in stone. “The writers are doing the best possible scenario of this and our relationship,” Molino revealed.
NCIS: Origins airs on CBS Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.