The NCIS: Origins season 1 finale delves further into the relationship between young Naval Investigative Service (NIS) agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and fellow agent Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez. Throughout the freshman season of the NCIS prequel, Gibbs and Lala have worked well together as budding agents, along with powerful chemistry that hints at a potential romance between them. Both agents like and respect each other’s work ethic, strength, and humanity. Lala provides emotional support for Gibbs, who continues to mourn the loss of his first wife, Shannon, and their daughter Kelly.
Lala is also a persistent NIS agent determined to mark her place in a male-dominated organization. As things heat up between Gibbs and Lala, factors come into play, impacting their potential romance. First, Lala’s fate is unknown after being in a car accident, ending NCIS: Origins season 1 on a cliffhanger. Second, Gibbs encounters Diane Sterling, a real estate agent looking to sell Gibbs’ family house, and who would later become Gibbs’ wife. Gibbs’s eventual relationship with Diane raises questions regarding whether he’ll have a relationship with Lala at all, or if Diane and Gibbs develop their bond after Lala’s accident.
NCIS: Origins Season 1, Episode 18 Brings Gibbs & Lala Closer Together
Gibbs And Lala’s Potential Romance Grows But Faces Major Hurdles
Gibbs and Lala finally share an intimate moment together in the pool after episodes of anticipation and build-up between them, including a near-kiss. During Gibbs’s narration, he mentions how Lala is the woman he has always loved because they have supported each other as fellow agents who have gone through tremendous experiences in their military careers. And as much as Gibbs wants to fall in love with Lala, especially after suffering through the loss of his wife and daughter, he is still, first and foremost, an agent who tells the truth.
Before nearly kissing Lala, Gibbs admits that he turned over the sniper rifle he used to kill drug cartel leader Pedro Hernandez (the perpetrator responsible for murdering Gibbs’s wife and daughter) to NCIS: Origins investigator Lara Macy. This upsets Lala, considering how much she and their NIS team sacrificed to help cover for Gibbs regarding his vendetta against Hernandez. However, Lala still proves her commitment to Gibbs by successfully convincing Macy to drop the case against Gibbs by stating that Hernandez’s takedown was justified with her assistance.
Diane’s Introduction Makes Gibbs & Lala’s Romance More Difficult Than Ever
Diane Can Cause A Love Triangle Interfering With Gibbs And Lala’s Relationship
Gibbs and Lala’s NCIS: Origins romance is not only complicated by Lala’s sudden car accident, which will possibly leave her near death, but the inclusion of Diane Sterling may also stir a potential love triangle. Diane is introduced as a real estate agent in Origins, who first meets Gibbs to help him sell his old family house. Diane would go on to be recognized on NCIS as Gibbs’s second wife, who is also unfortunately killed in season 12 of the original CBS show. While Gibbs also loved Diane, she believed that he primarily married her to get over the loss of Shannon.
After working as a real estate agent, Diane would go on to become an auditor for the IRS and marry FBI Special Agent Tobias Fornell after divorcing Gibbs. Diane’s initial appearance in Origins foreshadows Gibbs’s challenges in female relationships. No matter how close Gibbs gets with a woman, she either ends up dead or in danger due to his dangerous profession or unforeseen circumstances like Lala. This is why Gibbs’s potential love with Lala is in jeopardy. Gibbs chose to care about Lala’s safety over romance by admitting to handing over the rifle to Macy.
How NCIS: Origins Can Still Make Lala & Gibbs’ Romance Come To Fruition
Gibbs And Lala’s Romance Is Still Possible Depending On Lala’s Condition
Depending on the severity of Lala’s condition after her car crash, she could still make a full recovery and continue her bond with Gibbs after all she did to protect him from being investigated for Hernandez’s murder. Lala’s unfortunate incident may also bring Gibbs closer to her, but it would take time since Gibbs’s main concern would be for Lala to get better first before starting a romance. Lala’s accident will traumatize Gibbs after their intimate moment in the pool, along with the thought of possibly losing someone close to him again after the deaths of Shannon and Kelly.
The second season of the hit prequel series has a lot to look forward to, surrounding the women in Gibbs’s life and the character’s intriguing combination of toughness and vulnerability as an NIS agent.
Now that Diane is in the picture and may return for NCIS: Origins season 2, she could form a relationship with Gibbs while Lala is in recovery, creating a love triangle that would complicate Gibbs’s love life. However, while Diane’s history with Gibbs is already written, the prequel may be intent on developing Gibbs’s relationship with Lala first before his bond with Diane. Nonetheless, the second season of NCIS: Origins has a lot to look forward to, surrounding the women in Gibbs’s life and the character’s intriguing combination of toughness and vulnerability as an NIS agent.
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