09-05-2025
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.
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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.
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