The following contains major spoilers from the April 28 Season 1 finale of CBS‘ NCIS: Origins.
Oh, Cecilia… you’ve broken our heart.
NCIS: Origins wrapped Season 1 by putting Gibbs (played by Austin Stowell), Franks (Kyle Schmid) and the aforementioned Lala (Mariel Molino) on notice that Military Police investigator Lara Macy (The Midnight Club‘s Claire Berger) was in town to look into the murder of cartel boss Pedro Hernandez. Macy liked Gibbs for the shooting, especially since she had been tipped off by a “source”… that turned out to Gibbs, whom she overheard drunkenly blab to apartment manager Ruth that night he landed in the stockade after a bar fight.
In a bid to protect the team members who had protected him, Gibbs dug up the rifle he used to avenge his wife and daughter, and delivered it to Macy. But when he disclosed said sacrifice to Lala just as they were on the cusp of a steamy swimming pool smooch, Lala clambered out of the pool and made a beeline for Macy, to claim that not only did she help Gibbs plan his vengeance, she was with him when he pulled the trigger. So, to jam up Gibbs for the just shooting would be to condemn Lala’s fate, as well.
Moved by her friend’s plea, Macy agreed to look the other way. Lala hopped in her Jeep and headed to see Gibbs with the news. But along the way, a little girl darted out into the road, and Lala’s vehicle veered into a parked car and violently flipped.
Narrator Gibbs said that he would later learn that Lala was on her way to report that she had “saved” him. And though the prequel series’ showrunners stop short of confirming that Lala died on the scene (read their full Q&A), this chain of events reveals why Gibbs never shared this story before.
“This is a story I don’t tell. I can’t find the words,” he said as the camera panned Lala’s bleeding, lifeless head. “But it never stops running through my head — the story of her.”
Go grab another Kleenex, and then read my Q&A with NCIS: Origins star Mariel Molino about Lala’s fate, her character’s unspoken love for Gibbs, and what it was like to film that (seeming) death scene.
TVLINE | I am once again not well, Mariel. I just rewatched the last five minutes before you called….
Isn’t it insane?
TVLINE | Have you seen a rough cut of everything put together with the music and the narration?
I haven’t!
TVLINE | Oh my God, with the music and Mark Harmon’s narration and the things that his Gibbs says…. Holy s–t.
Oh my God, that makes me so excited.
TVLINE | First of all, what did you know and when did you know it?
[Co-showrunner] Gina [Lucita Monreal, who wrote the finale] had a conversation with me about a month-and-a-half before we started shooting the finale, where she talked to me about what she wanted to do — even with connecting the little girl and talking about all these lives colliding in the same way that, as fans will come to know, Lala’s life came to collide with Gibbs’ in a really important way. And then of course she told me about the ending, which was crazy, and the connection with [Military Police investigator] Lara [Macy], which I think was a really, really interesting and exciting way to connect Lala to Lara and to Gibbs.
TVLINE | Lala and Lara’s friendship proved very important as the episode plays out. Did you and Claire Berger do anything to quickly bond before shooting all those scenes?
Well, funny you should ask that because–
TVLINE | You were college roommates!
[Laughs] No, no, no, we weren’t, but we actually went to the same acting studio, so I’ve known her for a couple years. And it’s funny because about two months before we shot the finale, she came to visit me on set. I hadn’t caught up with her in a while, and she’s also a really great writer and director, and she was telling me, “You know, I think I’m not gonna pursue this acting thing, at least for now. I need to focus on writing.” I remember being really bummed because she’s such a great actress, but I was like, “OK, well, I’m here to support you however I can.” And then two months later she books this phenomenal role on our show, and she did such a good job.
TVLINE | Did you by chance go back and watch the NCIS episode where we met an older Lara Macy? Because this finale ends up tracking well with that episode. It connects a lot of dots.
I did! And yeah, she even looks like [Louise Lombard’s Lara]. I think they did a really good job with with casting overall.
TVLINE | What did you find most heartbreaking about the finale?
[Deeply sighs] That Lala never gets to say “I love you” to Gibbs. I don’t think she ever really gets to say how she really feels, and I think that’s what she’s trying to say when she goes over and tries to find him. I think that finally she’s able to let her walls down because she comes so close to losing this person that she’s now realized she really loves. And I think that’s so heartbreaking, which seems to be the case with a lot of people who lose people. I’ve lost people in my life, I know people who have lost people in their life, and their biggest regret is not saying the things they wish they could have said, those last I love yous. We get so close to that in the pool, and of course it’s ruined by Gibbs. [Laughs]
TVLINE | Lala’s all, “What?”
Exactly. And so I think that’s what’s so heartbreaking, is she saves him, she saves the team, and she really wants to say that she loves him and she wants to be with him — and maybe in a weird way they all end up together and this could be a fairy tale. And then of course, you know, lives collide.
TVLINE | Because Mark Harmon says that in the narration at the end, “I loved her all along.”
[Through tears] Awwww…. Really? I just got chills.
TVLINE | It’s more eloquent than what I just said, but the gist is “I loved her all along, and that’s why I’ve never been able to tell the story. I could never find the words.”
Oh my gosh….
TVLINE | What scene were you most nervous to tackle?
The whole episode felt like an enormous challenge. I was very, very nervous from the moment I received it, it was obviously a lot of work. I think I was most nervous about… three scenes, specifically. The pool scene with Gibbs. The moment where I try to convince Lara that I was there when Gibbs killed Pedro Hernandez. And then the scene where I finally confront Franks, which was shot as a oner, so it was like we were in a boxing ring every time we shot it. You never really know what you’re going to get when you’re acting with Kyle [Schmid], he’s so explosive and it’s so exciting as an actor, and we really got to go head to head and I finally got to just give it to him, so that was exciting.
TVLINE | You were phenomenal in that scene.
Oh, thank you. I really left it all on the Paramount lot. I gave it my all. I felt like I really took swings. I don’t know if they’ll all work, but I really, really just put my heart in this one, and I did that because I felt like it was such a great episode that Gina wrote…. I loved it.
TVLINE | In the end, why do you think Lala put it all on the line by lying to Lara that she was with Gibbs when he shot Pedro and even helped him plan it?
Because I feel like even though that’s not true in a literal sense, she’s so tied to Gibbs now that she feels like she’ll go down with him. That’s her loyalty. That’s one of the core values that Lala has, that is engrained in who she is, who she was trained to be as a marine, as a soldier, to protect the ones that she loves. Even though she physically wasn’t there, she’s done everything afterwards to find and track and protect Gibbs, protect Franks, protect Randy, so I think it’s just about protecting your own.
TVLINE | That’s what I found most heartbreaking. She did all these things for the right reasons — she saved Gibbs, she saved the team, she’s in her Jeep drumming on the steering wheel, getting ready to see Gibbs and tell him everything — and who knows what will happen between them beyond that. And then this little girl who we’ve been led all episode to think was “Flashback Cecilia” is just a random child that sets in motion events ending Lala’s life.
[Deeply sighs] Yup.
TVLINE | What was it like filming that actual Jeep scene, dangling there?
That was one of the most exciting and challenging stunts I’ve done. The stunt coordinator Buddy [Sosthand] and his team were great because they just let me do it and, and walked me through the whole thing–
TVLINE | Hold on, they let you do what exactly?
Not the flipping of the car — that was my dummy, who did survive — but, no, the moment where you see Lala upside down. I was attached to a harness that was attached to the Jeep that was upside down, I had a rig on the back of my neck with blood, I had blood capsules in my mouth. And there’s only so long you can be upside down before you start feeling really faint. And we had one shot to get that, [director] Niels [Arden Oplev] was really specific about that. He wanted the crane to come in slowly, very eerily, and then turn so that we are able to see Lala’s face — while I had to remain calm. The first time I did it, the practice round, it was very dire. I remember doing it and David, one of our showrunners, was like, “You’re not claustrophobic?” I remember thinking, like, “Well, I don’t think I was, but I am now!”
TVLINE | Don’t ask her that now, David!
Going into the second practice I was like, “Well, f–k, now I’m kind of claustrophobic.” [Laughs] But it was really kind of solemn and peaceful because you really have to stay calm, lower your breath as much as you can — because of course I couldn’t be breathing or blinking or anything — and then slowly push out blood. But I’m so proud because it took a village. It had special effects, there was fire burning in the background, there was the effects with the blood, the makeup, the stunt team, camera, our operator, our dolly grip…. I’m so proud of that last shot. To end on that was really special.
TVLINE | What are you going to miss most about being on this show?
Awwww, 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 — and cracking up with Caleb [Foote, who plays Randy], who always makes me break in every scene that I do with him!
I mean, 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.
Mariel Molino with Miguel Angel Garcia in ‘Die Like a Man’
TVLINE | Lastly, where can people see you beyond Monday’s finale? It looks like you have a movie out that you’ve been talking about on Instagram…
I do. My movie Die Like a Man will be available on Apple TV+ [April 25], so stream that, please. I have a show for Max coming out in September, [Season 2 of] Vgly, which I shot in Mexico City. And then, you know, I’m always doing stuff on Instagram — I’m @marielmolino — so just look out for my crazy self!
Want scoop on NCIS: Origins Season 2, or for any other TV show? Shoot an email to [email protected], and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
