NCIS: Origins Stars Pitch a Ghosts Crossover for Dead (?) Lala — WATCH
The following contains spoilers from the Season 1 finale, now streaming on Paramount+.
Whatever the fate of Special Agent Lala Dominguez, NCIS: Origins star Mariel Molino is determined to stay in the CBS family.
More from TVLine
Burning Fire Country Finale Question, Answered: Where Were All the Masks?
Elsbeth's Carrie Preston, EP Talk Finale's 'Crazy,' Star-Studded Musical Number and Filling the Kaya Void
Ghosts EPs Talk Finale's 'Perilous' Jay Cliffhanger, Pete and Alberta's Big Moment - Plus, Grade It!
As NCIS: Origins' freshman run drew to a close on April 28, Lala was on her way to find 'probie' Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell) at the family home he is readying to finally sell — to deliver the news that she convince MP investigator to not arrest him for the murder of cartel boss Pedro Hernandez — when a small girl darted out into the road. Lala steered to miss the child, and flipped her Jeep in the process. Lala was last seen dangling upside down in the driver's seat, bleeding profusely.
It's easy to assume that Lala died on the spot (and I've said a lot on why that'd be the very best version of the powerful and heartbreaking finale), but Origins showrunners David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal are not confirming the character's fate, yet.
Now that Lala's mortality has been called into question, TVLine checked in with Molino again, at Wednesday night's CBS Fest '25 event celebrating the network's recently revealed 2025-26 schedule.
'Oh, man…. I hope she comes back. I hope that she's alive,' Molino said, standing with co-stars Stowell and Kyle Schmid. 'But who knows.
'[The] NCIS [franchise] has taken big swings before with characters and their futures, so it's tough to say, the actress added. 'Turn on those candles and pray, please!'
Schmid noted that Molino has another gig lined up — she'll appear in Season 2 of Max's Vgly, due out this fall — while Stowell said that, worst case for Lala, 'the back-up plan is to move her over to Ghosts,' which of course also airs on CBS.
'Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll be a ghost on Ghosts. I can always be on Ghosts,' Molino nodded. That, or, 'Lala's ghost gets a spinoff,' she quipped.
Want scoop on , or for any other TV show? Shoot an email to , and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line!
Best of TVLine
Yellowjackets' Tawny Cypress Talks Episode 4's Tai/Van Reunion: 'We're All Worried About Taissa'
Vampire Diaries Turns 10: How Real-Life Plot Twists Shaped Everything From the Love Triangle to the Final Death
Vampire Diaries' Biggest Twists Revisited (and Explained)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
The 'haunted' Colchester pub from 1400s that regulars love to visit
TUCKED just off Colchester High Street, The Fox and Fiddler may look unassuming—but step inside and you'll find a pub steeped in centuries of history, ghost stories, and a heart-warming sense of community. Built in 1420, the building has always been a pub. Today, it remains one of Colchester's oldest continuously running watering holes, and a finalist in the Gazette's Pub of the Year competition. The Fox & Fiddler- one of Colchester's oldest pubs (Image: Public) Manager Natalie Beales, 47, has worked at the pub for two decades and now proudly leads its daily operations. 'This place has so many stories within its walls,' said Natalie. 'We have three ghosts actually—Sarah, Jack, and a little boy who runs around. But it's a friendly haunting!' she laughed. With original beams from the 1400s still intact and memories stretching back generations, the pub is a living museum of Colchester's history. Old photos that line the walls (Image: Newsquest Reporter) 'This used to be The Headgate pub and there was a big fire here in the 1980s, but the pub survived,' Natalie added. 'When the old folks come in and share stories about how it used to be, it's just magical.' Natalie started working part-time 20 years ago, becoming manager seven years ago when the owners—former army regulars and pub patrons—bought the place and entrusted her with its care. 'It's very fulfilling,' she said. 'Every day is different. You've got your regulars—some, I know exactly what time they'll arrive—but every day brings something new that makes you chuckle.' The pub serves a wide range of drinks including locally sourced ales, premium beers, and even non-alcoholic options for younger drinkers. 'We've had to cut down a bit due to costs,' Natalie noted, 'but we try to have something for everyone.' And yes, there's a quirky touch too. The feature tree in the corner (Image: Newsquest Reporter) 'We've got a little 'feature tree' in a dead corner. I change themes every month and is always a conversation starter!' With live music, sports, events, and now the beer garden open for summer, The Fox and Fiddler Inn is sure to remain a spirited cornerstone of Colchester life—hauntings and all. Indeed, the sense of community is what keeps people coming back. Jason Ventress, a regular (Image: Newsquest Reporter) Jason Ventress, 29, a regular at the pub said: 'It's like the TV show Cheers. Everyone knows everyone. It's got that family feel.' Ian Smith, 44, another loyal customer, said: 'It doesn't feel like you're in the town centre. It's like a village pub—warm, not super commercial. It's a little community.'
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
TV Ratings: ‘Squid Game' Rules, But Broadcast Series Make Strong Showing in Multiplatform Rankings
With streaming now the platform of choice for the largest share of TV viewers in the U.S., it would seem logical that a streaming show would top the ratings rather than a traditional network show. As it turns out, that's correct: Netflix's Squid Game is, by a sizable margin, the most-watched series of the 2024-25 season. But in Nielsen's multiplatform ratings, which measure viewing over five weeks and across all outlets, a number of broadcast series are still commanding large audiences. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Squid Game' Final Season Trailer Restarts the Games After Failed Rebellion Streaming Ratings: 'White Lotus' Hits No. 1 Ahead of Season 3 Finale Streaming Is Now Just As Crowded With Ads As Old School TV Of the top 20 shows through March 15 (the most recent date for which the 35-day ratings are complete), eight originate on broadcast networks — six from CBS and two from ABC. All of them average at least 11.5 million viewers per episode across their network showings and streaming over five weeks. CBS' Tracker is the top network show and fourth overall with 17.6 million viewers via CBS and Paramount+. Squid Game, whose second season premiered in late December, racked up 27.1 million viewers in the 35-day window. Netflix's Adolescence (19 million) and Prime Video's Reacher (18.1 million) rank second and third, and two other network series, first-year breakouts Matlock (CBS) and High Potential (ABC), are tied for fifth overall at 16.1 million viewers. This season is the first in which Nielsen has released multiplatform data showing how outlets compare. In the broadcast landscape alone, CBS leads the pack (as it does in linear ratings) with 9.1 million viewers in primetime. NBC is second at 7.2 million viewers, followed by ABC (6.9 million) and Fox (4.3 million). ABC has the biggest gain from Nielsen's linear ratings (which are measured over seven days), rising by 61 percent with streaming and the longer window. CBS improves by 59 percent with the longer multiplatform measure, while NBC grows by 41 percent and Fox, whose shows stream on Hulu but which doesn't have its own platform, adds 12 percent. The top 20 shows (including ties) for all platforms and just on broadcast in Nielsen's 35-day multiplatform ratings are below. Sports and specials are excluded. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise 'Yellowstone' and the Sprawling Dutton Family Tree, Explained
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Mission: Impossible' Movies Ranked From Worst to Best
For almost 30 years, Tom Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible' has supplied moviegoers with the most consistent and thrilling spy-themed adventures of any Hollywood franchise outside of the James Bond films. More from Variety Tom Cruise in 'F1' Over Brad Pitt Would've Been 'Scaring Us More,' Says Joseph Kosinski; Action Supervisor Quips: Tom 'Terrifies Me' and 'We'd Have Had a Crash' 'Lilo & Stitch' Outpaces 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning' as Box Office Surges in U.K. and Ireland Tom Cruise Rejoices Over 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning' Box Office Record Amid Speculation the Franchise Is Over: Thank You Paramount for 'Years of Unwavering Support' For the first entry, David Koepp and Robert Towne adapted the 1966 television show of the same name for the big screen with a screenplay that, with a handful of granular exceptions, has become a blueprint for every subsequent installment. Anchored by the indefatigable Ethan Hunt, the Impossible Mission Force is given data about — and the choice of whether or not to try and prevent — a calamity of some significance to the U.S., the intelligence community or even the entire world. Almost always, the team is disavowed and finds themselves being chased — not only by their enemies, but their purported allies too. After eight chapters, Ethan Hunt's tenure with the IMF appears to be coming to an end. To commemorate the occasion, filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie has pulled out all of the stops to deliver 'The Final Reckoning' — a finale that he hopes lives up to, and possible exceeds, the almost endless string of nail-biting scenarios that he and his predecessors conceived over the last three decades. Did he succeed? Each viewer's mission, should they accept it, is to determine that for themselves. In the meantime, Variety takes a look back at the eight 'Mission: Impossible' films and ranks them — let's say, from 'I wouldn't watch it without wearing a mask to disguise my identity' to 'I'm willing to HALO jump out of a plane to see it again.'Rightly the chapter in this series with the lowest Tomatometer score (a generous 57% fresh), this follow-up to the original 'Mission: Impossible' overcompensated for criticisms that its predecessor was too complicated by telling a story that is just plain dumb. Perhaps emboldened by the silliness of his (fun) previous Hollywood movies 'Broken Arrow' and 'Face/Off,' director John Woo leans heavily into his visual playbook to create a film full of balletic imagery trying to disguise absolutely preposterous storytelling and action choreography. But most of the story boils down to a fight over a girl (a hard-working Thandiwe Newton). Villain Dougray Scott, looking like an artist's rendering of a genetic splicing of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, isn't up to the task of intimidating Tom Cruise — an insult added to the injury of losing out on playing Wolverine in 'X-Men' as a result of taking the a set up to what's meant to be the coup de grace for the series, 'Dead Reckoning' is unfortunately a bit of a slog, even if it replicates with great energy and dexterity the elements that have made earlier chapters so entertaining. Particularly because the film only ever addresses Ethan Hunt's origin story obliquely but also because of the villain's penchant for tiresome self-seriousness, Gabriel (Esai Morales) is a fairly underwhelming final boss, necessary though he may be since his counterpart — the Entity, a rogue AI — is an oscillating electronic eyeball. Putting new recruit Grace (Hayley Atwell) through her own reluctant hero's journey takes too long — almost to the point of exasperation. But then again the whole film is kind of like that: the Rome car chase, the Venice fight, the build to Ethan's mountain jump, even the number of cars they have to climb through after stopping a runaway train — each sequence takes one or two more beats than feels necessary. Also, revealing the Sevastapol in the first scene (rather than where it belongs, in the first scene of 'The Final Reckoning') means that Ethan spends the whole movie chasing after something viewers already know about, marking the first time in franchise history where it feels like the audience is ahead of the assessments that characterize this J.J. Abrams film as a glorified episode of his TV series 'Alias' aren't completely off base, but the future 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars' fan-disappointer manages something more sly and nuanced with this franchise's mythology than he does later in his career: Abrams dismantles and deconstructs its core iconography, from a malfunctioning mask-maker to the multiple times Ethan Hunt fails to do his job or save the lives of those closest to him. An absolutely ruthless Philip Seymour Hoffman remains one of the best adversaries Cruise faces in the series, and as much as Abrams likes to cute-ify Ethan Hunt's life in between missions, he creates the super spy's purest civilian relationship with Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan), which elevates every subsequent film from (basically) a James Bond riff to a saga with meaningful emotional connections — and conclusion to Ethan Hunt's story is already dividing audiences — a debate that undoubtedly will continue as the world moves forward without his essential but frequently disavowed brand of heroism. In the years to come, what will carry more weight with viewers? The first half of this film, chock-full of endless, wildly overserious exposition? Or the back half, featuring two of the most thrilling set pieces in the history of the franchise (and arguably cinema itself)? The film's derring-do is enough that the tedium of the build-up to it kind of washes away. Certainly, the entire ensemble's relentless determination to characterize Ethan Hunt as the only man on Earth with the right moral compass to defeat the Entity fails to yield new insights about him, them or the world they inhabit. It feels especially repetitive since the previous chapter already overexplained the challenges the IMF faces, and the stakes if they fail. But with its climactic piggybacking of a (literally) slow-rolling hunt through a wrecked submarine back-to-back with an aerial fight so urgent and visceral that it feels, well, impossible to believe it's real, 'The Final Reckoning' sticks the landing and then his own live-action feature debut, Pixar stalwart Brad Bird translates Abrams' snarky wit as an ironic counterpoint to tension-relieving humanity, with the series' biggest action canvas yet. Introducing Jeremy Renner as a 'no, we promise he was never supposed to be a replacement' co-star for Tom Cruise, the film's success revitalized 'Mission: Impossible' at the time, eliminating the need to even consider swapping out (or letting free) its tireless star. But as a high-stakes tentpole film with a well-modulated sense of humor about itself ('Mission accomplished!' triumphantly — if mistakenly — shouts Ethan at one point), 'Ghost Protocol' firmly and permanently roots the series in the realm of adult entertainment by finding a perfect balance between briskness and nail-biting intensity — something that the best subsequent installments not only carried forward, but further it looks almost quaint in comparison to the ambitious, muscular chapters that followed, O.G. auteur-turned-crowd pleaser Brian De Palma delivers a franchise-starter that codifies all of the essential ingredients needed for a 'Mission: Impossible' film (with proportions to be determined by each subsequent director). The vault heist remains an all-time gold standard for action set pieces (here or elsewhere), and it's where Cruise first really began to hone the smoldering, delicately-cheeky intensity that has made him an A-list mainstay for decades. Those old enough may remember David Koepp and Robert Towne's script absolutely bewildering audiences at the time of its release, but in retrospect not only was it deceptively — and delightfully — complex, but ultimately a template for intriguing misdirection that, like so many other elements in the film, has become a franchise oversized version of its predecessor 'Rogue Nation,' 'Fallout' gives you the sense that Christopher McQuarrie had not only gotten his sea legs beneath him, but started running with the speed of Ethan Hunt. Bringing back Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) as a frenemy yet again feels just a bit like the filmmaker walking back what he previously accomplished just to keep her around as a simultaneous screen magnet and plot device, not that anyone minds because Ferguson is just as good here as before. But Henry Cavill absolutely lights up the film as August Walker, a double operative who thrillingly — and unambiguously — hates Ethan on sight, resulting in a friction that overshadows the elaborate machinations of the terrorist groups he leads. Meanwhile, the set pieces are unilaterally great here, from the HALO jump to the nightclub fight to the breakout of Solomon Lane to the helicopter chase that wraps the film. But after the tightly-plotted perfection of 'Rogue Nation,' the freedom the filmmakers indulge here leaves audiences feeling like they've just eaten an especially rich meal: satisfying but just a tiny bit apotheosis of Tom Cruise's collaboration on the franchise with any of its directors, Christopher McQuarrie's 'Rogue Nation' delivers massive (and in one case literally) operatic set pieces in a story that operates with Swiss-clock precision. Introduced unforgettably in this film, Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust remains the second-best character ever created for 'Mission: Impossible,' and her role creates a thrilling dynamic that gives Ethan an adversary who's also a friend, both to complicate the plot and enhance its emotionality. In an 'embarrassment of riches' quandary, it's a toss-up whether the opening plane sequence, the opera assassination, the underwater vault or the motorcycle chase is the best sequence in the film. But McQuarrie's seemingly inexhaustible creativity strengthens all of the characters and supercharges the world they operate in, turning a film series into a bona fide saga. Best of Variety All 23 Best Picture Nominees Directed by Women in Oscars History 'The Last of Us' Season 2 Cast Guide: Who's Who From the Video Game? The 15 Best 'Black Mirror' Episodes, Ranked
