‘NCIS: Origins’: Mariel Molino Talks Season 2 Finale’s Biggest Moments and Her Hopes Following Long-Awaited Lala and Gibbs Scene (Exclusive)

The NCIS: Origins Season 2 finale aired on Tuesday, and Mariel Molino talked to PopCulture.com all about it.

In “Hollywood Ending,” the Camp Pendleton office was threatening to shut down, leading the team to confront uncertain futures.

At the same time, they were dealing with a pretty intense case that was connected to criminal Abe Pruitt and one of their own. The series also throws another cliffhanger in the mix by putting a major character in danger, while two other team members get their long-awaited kiss. See what Molino, who plays NIS Special Agent Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez, had to say about it all. (Interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

PopCulture: The case for the episode involves two missing boys who are murdered seemingly by Flaco’s guys, and there’s a connection to stolen wine and even Franks’ brother who was ultimately taken hostage by Abe Pruitt who, as we just saw, was released from prison. There is quite a lot going on with it. What was your favorite part about the storyline, especially since the case wasn’t all that the team had to deal with for the finale?

Mariel Molino: I like the way they were able to connect the Chacales with Abe Pruitt. I think that was an interesting way of tying up the big bad of the season, Abe Pruitt, and also the Chacales and the connection that Lala has with Manny and Flaco. I also think that something that they did that was really nice was the way that it was these two brothers, which, again, is just an echo for Franks and the relationship with his brother, and trying to protect his brother. So I think it all kinda comes into fruition in a really poetic and dynamic kind of way.

I think it’s a huge curveball when we find out that Randy is kidnapped and has been followed. I think it’s also funny because Lala really has this kind of main character moment because she thinks they’re following her. And then really it’s Randy. And then, obviously, the kiss.

PC: There’s another big storyline where Cliff makes the announcement that Camp Pendleton is shutting down, with cases moving to San Diego, and everyone else transferring to different divisions. Even though everything turns out fine in the end, were you ever worried that the show would go the route of splitting up the team and then later bringing them back together like NCIS has done on a few occasions?

Molino: Honestly, no. I wasn’t too worried because I have the hope that we work so well together as a team because we are a team, and we’ve worked together enough for a bit. I think, like Lala and Wheeler, I had faith in the brain trust, in figuring something out. I didn’t know that it would be such a kind of ingenious little fix. But I think as an actor, I was like, “No. No. No. We got this. We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

But for Lala, yes. I think she was very worried and also just kind of at her wits’ end and didn’t feel like it was worth it to even stick around and wait to see what happened. I think that, combined with the fact that Gibbs made it very clear to her that he was not going to try and find love again, that was kind of the push she needed to be like, “You know what? Then I’m done, and I’m gonna pursue another life.”

Which is why she fully decides to go and be with Manny and go to this other town. And then I think in my mind, when she’s on the road, packed up, ready to go, she has this gut feeling that she’s leaving something very important behind.

PC: Going off of that, Lala has to talk to Manny about the case, and it’s clear that they still care for one another so much so that Lala is thinking about moving to where he is now that the shutdown is happening. It’s been really interesting this season to see her relationship with him, with his connection to gang life. What did you love most about exploring their relationship?

Molino: I think we got to see a side of Lala that we’ve never seen before with Manny. There’s a playfulness when they’re together. And in a way, I think she brought out this loving, bright side. And same with her for him. I think he was able to kind of imagine a life outside of Flaco and outside of maybe what he’s been predisposed to. And so there’s a kind of childlike energy when they’re together, and, obviously, it’s very passionate. And I think they really do love each other. Obviously, she is blinded to other things, and I think that becomes very apparent in Episode 15.

And she’s willing to do anything to get him out of that life, and it’s dangerous for her, her life, but also her career. And so I thought it was really, really, really cool to explore that and that relationship with Lala and Manny. But, ultimately, I think some things are too complicated, and love isn’t enough.

PC: Speaking of complicated, Gibbs finds out that Lala is thinking about leaving. Of course, he doesn’t want her to leave, but he doesn’t really tell her. He tries to talk to everyone else about not wanting her to leave and trying to get her to stay. Their relationship has been complicated over these first two seasons. What have you enjoyed most about playing off this dynamic with Austin [Stowell]?

Molino: It’s been fun to just always play that tension. No matter what situation we are in, whether it’s light or at the brink of death, there’s always this tension between us where it’s like a rubber band that no matter how hard you pull it, it just keeps coming back. So that’s always been fun. I feel like, as an actor, it’s been really challenging, too, because you kind of always wanna make it fresh, different, and fun.

But also, when I’m acting with Austin, it’s just we’re two people in the moment, and that’s really all you can ask for. So I think we’ve been lucky in what we’ve done. We have had kind of the whole spectrum of emotions and situations.

PC: Luckily, Camp Pendleton is not shutting down after the brain trust brilliantly came up with NCIS. It was such a fun way to incorporate how NIS became NCIS, of course, even if it’s not entirely accurate. What did you think about this surprising twist?

Molino: I think sometimes, especially in the corporate world, things can be so complicated and yet so simple. So it didn’t surprise me too much. A lot of things are how you market it. And, I mean, I see it so much every day with a world of streaming and who’s on top. It’s like so much so how you market things. And so, for the brain trust to come up with this solution kind of seems perfect because the writers actually kind of tried to incorporate this thing that did happen within the Navy, this scandal. It’s not the Handsy scandal, it was another scandal.

And so it’s kind of alluding to that and the way that they were able to kind of shift and try to deal with it in that time period. And so it kind of seems pretty on point, I would say. And for those characters to be the ones that kind of work with it, it’s just pretty perfect. The B-Team.

PC: You were talking about this already a little bit, but throughout the episode, Lala spots a van following her to multiple locations. While her instincts were right to be suspicious, she was wrong about who the van was following. And we find out that the van was following Randy, and he’s been kidnapped. What are your thoughts on the cliffhanger, especially since Lala was the center of the cliffhanger in the Season 1 finale?

Molino: Well, thankfully, my life is not on the line, which is nice. But I mean, Randy is Lala’s number one. I mean, Gibbs, get out of here. Move away. I’m very worried about what that means for the team in Season 3, and I’m very worried for Randy and what that means for him, even if he does come out of this alive. Because I mean, protect him at all costs. That’s our Randy. That’s our baby.

So, for him to have a life-threatening situation like this, what it means for him is scary because he is already someone who was contemplating not coming back to the field after coming face-to-face with that really terrible situation in Season 1. So I’m scared about what that means for the team come Season 3 and what that means for him and his family and how we get together and solve this.

PC: The ending is not all bad. The episode also ends on a pretty exciting note with Gibbs and Lala finally kissing after Gibbs tries to stop her from leaving, and they share a sweet moment. What was your reaction when you found out that this was finally going to happen?

Molino: Nerves. Very nervous. It’s just like when you know something is going to happen, it’s been forever building up. It’s like a thought that’s simmering, and it’s finally reaching a boil, but, like, freaking out. I think it was a really lovely, lovely ending. And it was just kind of like a perfect romantic movie from the ‘90s, to kind of be a mirror of The Bodyguard seems perfect. It’s a very similar situation, leaving, not wanting to, feeling that thing that’s bubbling in your stomach, so you come back.

And then you finally just are admitting these feelings that you’ve had for two seasons, and you kind of just forget about everything else and the noise and the what ifs and how terribly tragic this could go, and you just kind of fall into each other. It was great.

PC: I was talking to Caleb on Thursday, and he was so excited about the kiss. He thought it would be fun if Gibbs and Lala tried to hide their relationship from everyone next season and even compared them to Jim and Pam from The Office.

Molino: Totally. Totally. That’s what I wanna see. I spoke to another journalist as well, where I was just like, I mean, it would just be so fun to have a secret relationship and to explore that moment or the time when you’re in a relationship with someone, and you can’t keep your hands off of them. And it’s almost like a drug that you wanna take over and over again, even though you know this is not gonna end well. But I wanna feel that. I wanna explore that, and I think Lala does too.

PC: What are your other hopes for Season 3?

Molino: I hope that we get to see more of Lala’s past, more of her family, more of her teenage adolescent years, and what made her wanna become a marine and what that time in her life was like. I think there’s some dark stuff that we haven’t really explored that could be interesting. And I, as an actor, really wanna explore that, but also I’m curious to see what that means in the future. And what if someone from her life comes back? And what does that mean for her, for Gibbs, for her work? So I’m excited to explore that.

All episodes of NCIS: Origins are streaming on Paramount+. Season 3 will be premiering this fall on CBS.