NCIS: Origins Showrunners on Lala’s Fate, Gibbs’ Journey, and What’s Ahead

As NCIS: Origins wrapped its powerful first season, co-showrunners David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal sat down with TV Fanatic to discuss the emotional finale, the creative risks they’ve taken, and how they plan to honor the legacy of Leroy Jethro Gibbs moving forward.

The freshman season closed the circle on Gibbs’ early years, culminating in the devastating fallout from his first act of vengeance and the complicated cover-up orchestrated by Mike Franks and Lala Dominguez. 

In the final moments, viewers watched in horror as Lala’s jeep lay overturned, bloodied and broken, as Gibbs pondered the unknowable weight she carried.

“We always wanted to dig deeper into the characters,” Monreal said. “We wanted to show who they were outside of the office… because I think ultimately that’s the best way for somebody to relate to them, to see themselves in these characters.” 

North agreed, adding, “That was one thing we always wanted to do.”

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Interestingly, CBS embraced the vision from the start. “Amy Reisenbach… met with Gina and I and she wanted to do this differently,” North explained. 

Developing the show with studio president David Stout, they found themselves with rare creative freedom. North recalled the approval for “Blue Bayou,” the mid-season episode that aired without a case: “It took all of a very short phone call with Amy to get a green light.”

With NCIS: Origins Season 1 centered on Gibbs’ journey of grief and self-discovery after the death of his wife and daughter, the finale planted seeds for the next phase of his life — including the introduction of his future wife, Diane. 

Yet every step forward comes with the careful balancing act of canon.

“David and I both wrote the mothership,” Monreal said. “And we always want to be really respectful of what that show established.” 

That commitment creates its own unique challenges. North admitted that sometimes the canon tangles even his own memories. 

“We’ll have assistants who… know the show up and down,” he laughed. “And they’ll take me to task and say, ‘David, you wrote it.’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t remember!'”

One fan debate — and even a light-hearted argument among the TV Fanatic staff — is whether Origins belongs more to Gibbs or Franks. 

North finds the idea funny. “Luckily, we’ve got two guys there. Austin Stowell is number one on the call sheet… and Kyle Schmid is a great leader, too. We’ve never discussed that.”

Monreal added, “In some way, I consider them all the leads in their own stories because they’re all such amazing, gifted actors.”

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The writers approach deciding who steps into the spotlight organically. 

“We kind of take it as it comes and see how our overarching story will fit in and who can step forward when,” Monreal said. She teased that Season 2 will continue this trend. “The plan is to continue to let each of our characters in the ensemble shine as much as we can.”

Naturally, much of the audience’s heartbreak lies with Lala’s fate. 

While the finale leaves her future uncertain, Monreal promised that “no matter what happens to Lala, she is such an integral part of this team. It’s going to send shockwaves through the team, through all of them, including Gibbs.” 

North encouraged fans to “come back at the top of Season 2 to see what happened to Lala,” praising actress Mariel Marino as a “powerhouse” and a “team player.”

Asked whether the aftermath could push Gibbs toward the next chapter of his emotional journey — including his relationship with Diane — Monreal didn’t rule it out, simply emphasizing that whatever happens “it’s not going to be a pretty scenario.”

As for the larger future, North and Monreal are cautiously optimistic. “We’ve started dabbling in what we want to do in Season 2,” North said. Though joking that they’d already broken through Season 7, he clarified that the writers’ room will officially ramp up soon.

One thing they don’t yet know? Episode count. “We do not know,” North said. When I suggested a larger episode count would be nice, he added playfully, “You guys come help us make them then!”

Of course, not every fan embraced Origins from the start. Some still protest franchise changes and past cancellations. 

North, however, takes the high road. “We understand people are hurt when a show they love goes away,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we’re doing the best we can. We think we’re making something really special.”

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From their perspective, the heart and soul poured into NCIS: Origins is already paying off. Receiving recognition for “Blue Bayou” as one of the top TV episodes of the season “meant a lot to us,” North shared.

With a strong foundation, an ensemble firing on all cylinders, and a love for the universe they helped build, North and Monreal seem poised to take Origins even deeper in Season 2. 

And if the emotional highs and lows of Season 1 are any indication, fans are in for a journey they won’t soon forget.

Watch NCIS: Origins Online

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