‘NCIS: Origins’ Star Mariel Molino Previews How Lala Will Move Forward After Car Accident (Exclusive)

After the NCIS: Origins Season 2 premiere revealed that Lala is not dead, Mariel Molino spoke to PopCulture.com about what’s next for the NIS Special Agent.

The Season 1 finale left fans on a cliffhanger when Molino’s Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez got into a car accident, and the episode ended without viewers knowing her condition.

Although fans were left wondering for months whether Lala was dead or alive, Molino shared that showrunner Gina Monreal told her what she had planned before she read the script. “And after she laid out the scene for me, I remember asking her, ‘So am I dead?’ She was like, ‘No. You’re not dead. Don’t worry.’ And so thankfully, I had that information even before filming the episode, which is good because I probably would have been very upset had I thought that I was going to actually die,” Molino admitted. “So it’s been hard to keep that secret, but very exciting to be back. And finally, the secret is out, and we can just go on our jolly way.”

When Lala got into the car accident, many fans were as worried as ever, and rightfully so. Molino reflected on the love and support that viewers have been giving her character, saying it’s “been mostly shocking to see just how much viewers really cared about Lala.” She continued, “The outcries when people thought I was dead was kind of just really surprising and heartwarming to see. I didn’t realize that fans really loved this character as much as they did, so I think that was really, really touching to see that.”

Last week’s Season 2 premiere, “The Funky Bunch,” revealed that Lala is not dead, but she has been out of commission as she recovers and undergoes rehab. When she does eventually come back to the team, everyone wants to make sure she’s up to it. But she’s still continuing rehab, and even using the pool for therapy, and her recovery will continue as the season goes on, both physically and mentally.

“We’ll see if she will be confronting a lot of her own commitments and having to challenge herself in a lot of different ways, both physically but also emotionally,” Molino explained. “She suffered a traumatic brain injury, and she’s starting to realize just how much that influences her and how that plays into her everyday life in the smallest ways. And I think overall, it’s very frustrating because she wants to be who she was, but she’s not.”

Lala is tough, but what she went through is traumatic, and she did not come out of it unscathed. Since the season did just start, there is no telling what will happen and how it will continue to impact her. Fans will want to tune in on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS to see how it all goes down.