NCIS: Origins Bosses Promise 'Lighter' Season 2 Tone — Once Lala's Fate Is Dealt With, Of Course!
Get all your Lala-related theories out while you still can: When NCIS: Origins returns for Season 2 on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 9/8c, the character's fate will finally be revealed. (What are we supposed to talk about at the water cooler, now?!)
For those who need a refresher, the Season 1 finale saw Lala on her way to find "probie" Leroy Jethro Gibbs and deliver the news that she had convinced MP investigator Lara Macy to not arrest him for the murder of cartel boss Pedro Hernandez, when a small girl darted out into the road. Lala steered sharply to miss the child, and flipped her Jeep several times 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 — in fact, that'd be the very best version of the powerful finale — but showrunners David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal were unwilling to confirm the character's fate when we post-mortemed Season 1 in April.
But what's the latest intel on Lala? Read on to find out everything the NCIS: Origins bosses are teasing about the spinoff's sophomore run.
TVLINE | All right, NCIS: Origins Season 2 — how much time has passed when the season opens?
DAVID | Two months. Two months have passed.
TVLINE | What is the tenor there at the Camp Pendleton office?
GINA | Well, there are a lot of different kinds of emotions going on. We're still processing [Lala's] accident and what that all entails, but I will say that this season, we're really trying to embrace the lighter side of things, so you will see a lighter tone throughout the season, which we're really excited about. We still have the in-depth characters and the season-long arc and heartfelt moments, but we're sprinkling in a bit more lightness as well.
TVLINE | How long will you leave viewers wondering about Lala's fate in the first episode?
DAVID | Well, we'll just tell you that you will get your answer in the premiere episode. We will not take all 42 minutes.
GINA | It will not take the whole episode.
TVLINE | For preview purposes, what are you saying about the fact that Mariel Molino shared a photo of her being on the lot the day of the Season 2 premiere table read?
GINA | We can confirm that she was on the lot, and you will see the Lala character in some capacity, but whether that means she's in a flashback, she's alive, she's dead, she's a ghost... you will have all of your questions answered in the premiere.
TVLINE | How are things with Franks and his brother, who sort of resurfaced in the finale? What's going on there?
DAVID | Franks obviously has a bit of a tumultuous relationship with his brother Mason, and we'll pick that up where we left off in in the finale, where they're still struggling to reconnect. Early on in the season, we will see that materialize.
TVLINE | Who does Franks turn to during a time like this, with Tish no longer around?
DAVID | Agent Gary Callahan, K-9!
GINA | Gary Callahan, for sure. And we do have that special Gary Callahan episode planned, so we're super excited about that.
DAVID | We joke, Matt, but I don't have kids, and my two dogs mean the world to me, and we have threaded in that Franks says, after the breakup with Tish, that he really has turned to Gary Callahan. Gary sleeps in his bed now and things of that nature, which we think is a really real thing that some people do. It's probably unhealthy, but...
TVLINE | What is going on with Randy, Mary Jo and Vera?
GINA | When we last left Randy, it looked he was getting chained to the desk [after meeting with Regional Director Barrett]. He said that he's thinking maybe he should go for SAC, which is a little bit safer, and Barrett says, "With that attitude, I don't think it's great to have you out in the field!" So we're playing out that storyline for Randy, who is always a ray of sunshine.
DAVID | But even on the desk, you can't kill Randy's sunshine!
GINA | Mary Jo has some great storylines this season, and we have her intersecting with Wheeler in a really interesting way that deepens their working relationship.
DAVID | We have a lot of plans for Vera that I don't really want to talk about too much, because it'd give away too much, but she has a lot coming down the pipeline.
GINA | She will cross with a known character from the mothership. We have a few of those appearances planned for Season 2, so we're really looking at canon and figuring out how to weave those characters into Origins.
DAVID | We have several, big, younger versions of characters that we're planning on meeting this season — and there'll be three of them that the fans are going to be very, very excited about.
TVLINE | Are you going to revisit the Wheeler/Oakley thing at all, or was that just a passing nod to his sexuality?
GINA | For sure, we're revisiting that, filling out that entire storyline, crossing it with our other characters. You will definitely get to know more about Wheeler in Season 2.
DAVID | He's a character that we just absolutely love, and obviously after revealing last year that he's gay... We will revisit Wheeler's sexuality, but also there's a lot more of the story to tell. That's just a small part of what we're doing.
GINA | You'll see him in an unexpected way in the premiere, which I think will be fun.
TVLINE | Beyond the three characters you alluded to a minute ago, are there any plans to touch on any canonical milestones?
GINA | Well, we know that in the finale Gibbs bought some wood, so we are following up with that storyline. We know what the woodworking and building mean to Gibbs' character, so we're taking that part pretty seriously.
DAVID | I feel like Gina and I would be selling ourselves and the fans short if we didn't see the beginnings of Gibbs in his construction work and leading toward what we all know he became, and what he was building in that basement.
TVLINE | To what degree will Diane (Kathleen Kenny) be a part of Gibbs' life, whether he wants it or not?
DAVID | We always told you that the franchise and NCIS means so much to Gina and I, and even though we've done this series a little differently, we always want to honor the canon and stick to it as precisely as we can. Gibbs is going to be getting into a relationship with Diane, but we'll just say it's not going to unfold as expected. It will stick to canon, but it won't be what the audience is expecting.
GINA | We know that one side of her from the mothership, where she's very opinionated and brash, and we've incorporated that into her character here, but we also try to dig a bit deeper into who she is and what she wants and how she interacts with Gibbs.
TVLINE | Do you have any multi-episode arcs in Season 2, or a character in the vein of Sandman?
GINA | Yes, we do. I don't know how much we want to say about that....
DAVID | In the premiere, we will meet someone that's going to be a very interesting character for us. Let's just say he's kind of living "off the grid," and we believe that... what can we say? ... he's an interesting, charismatic character that Franks will take a liking to throughout the season.
Are you looking forward to NCIS: Origins Season 2? Hit the comments with all your Lala-related predictions!