NCIS: Origins has viewers wondering whether they actually killed off a main character — or if the death will be walked back in season 2.
Eagle-eyed fans noticed on Monday, July 28, that Mariel Molino shared an Instagram photo of her dog on the same Paramount lot where NCIS: Origins is currently filming new episodes. The social media upload showed the same view as Molino’s costar Kyle Schmid‘s snap from the same lot after returning to film his scenes as Mike Franks.
Molino’s return to the NCIS: Origins set comes three months after the season 1 finale showed her character, Lala, seemingly dead after a fatal car accident. In the episode, Lala was on her way to Gibbs’ (Austin Stowell) house when she swerved to avoid hitting a girl in the street. Lala’s car flipped over multiple times, and she seemingly died on the spot.
The potential death didn’t come as a surprise to original NCIS fans who know Gibbs had a total of four wives: Shannon, Diane, Rebecca and Stephanie. But while the finale kept Lala’s fate just ambiguous enough, Molino, 32, was more direct about saying goodbye to the show.
Is NCIS: Origins’ Lala Actually Dead? What Cast Said About Season 2 Return
“[I am going to miss] just our crew. Our crew and our cast, we get along so well. I miss seeing all the familiar faces every morning, joking around, doing this show that we love to do so much,” she told TVLine in April. “I feel really lucky. I really like these guys, I like my team, I really like my character. So, I do miss them, but it’s definitely nice to have a little break as well.”
Molino went on to share some of the other projects she has in the works after her apparent exit from NCIS: Origins, including Die Like a Man and Vgly.
Creators Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North — and Molino’s costar Stowell — were much more tight-lipped when it came to officially confirming Lala’s death.
“We can’t promise that [Lala is alive], but we can promise that you’ll get an answer if you come back in season 2,” North exclusively told Us Weekly at the time. “Going into this, we wanted to take big swings. Mariel knew going into this that we were going to take big swings and she was on board for whatever was the best way to make the audience feel something in a truthful way. That’s what we’re doing.”
North guaranteed that season 2 would give an “answer” about Lala’s fate. Monreal, meanwhile, hinted that it was always the plan to end the season with Lala’s life in the balance.
‘NCIS: Origins’ Burning Questions Answered After [Spoiler]’s Potential Death
“That was really our ultimate goal from the start was to make a show that the fans of the original show loved and felt satisfied by. But [it is] also [a show] that new viewers can come in from the beginning of NCIS: Origins,” Monreal explained. “Viewers can jump in and not be confused and really get on board with our characters and their stories. We’ve always approached it from that point of view. I feel like we’ve succeeded.”
She continued: “We’re really keen on sticking to canon [events]. We’re strict about that. We want to pay respect to the mothership. We both have written [for] the mothership and do love that show. But we also love branching out into our new characters and digging into their emotional lives.”
NCIS: Origins returns to CBS Tuesday, October 14, at 9 p.m. ET.
