‘NCIS: Origins’ Bosses Explain Gibbs’ Major Decision About Diane — What’s Next With Lala?

With a job taking Diane to Los Angeles, she wants Gibbs to move with her. At first, he says no. But, after a talk with Lala (Mariel Molino), the couple decides they don’t want to break up — and Gibbs and Diane get married in Vegas! Officiating the ceremony? Co-showrunner David J. North. The episode also shows how Lala and her favorite informant, Twitchy Tony (Travis Hammer), became so close (like siblings) and catches up with Franks (Kyle Schmid) and his brother, Mason (Philip Winchester). But there’s still a lot for the Franks brothers to work through, and the fact that one of the men from the community in which Mason is staying is responsible for blowing up a movie theater is not going to help things.

Below, co-showrunners Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North break down that shocking ending, the latter’s cameo, and more.

It kind of seems like Gibbs was taking the easy way out, breaking up with Diane, and then his reaction to the conversation with Lala in the car — he not only then gets back together with Diane, but he marries her. Why was that how he took Lala’s advice, which is how he put it in the voiceover?

Gina Lucita Monreal: I don’t think that he was necessarily taking the easy way out. When they realized that they had to break up, it was kind of mutual, and I think he was really sad about it. I don’t think he wanted to break up with her. And as far as Lala’s advice, I think that she’s a really significant figure in his life, and her words have weight clearly. He still has feelings for her, and he is trying to work through that. But when she talks, he listens, and he tries to take her advice in his own Gibbsian way, which, we see how that ended up.

Where would you say Gibbs’s heart is when it comes to Diane and Lala at the end of the fall finale?

David J. North: Split. I think that deep down, these feelings that he has for Lala are undeniable, but she’s a coworker, and also it’s difficult. Life is complicated. And Diane came into his life, and those feelings are real, too, and I think he maybe kind of shoves down the feelings for Lala and goes for what’s there and what’s really more possible.

Obviously, there’s canon to follow. Talk about having Gibbs and Diane get married now and in this way.

North: Oh, that was in canon? Is that why we did that? [Both laugh] Yeah.

Monreal: We knew they had to get married and this year. We actually had text for how Gibbs proposed. We didn’t play that actual text here, but we know in canon what he said to propose, and it didn’t feel like our normal Gibbs, and I think that’s kind of where we started and we thought, well, maybe he was drinking. And from there, the idea kind of snowballed into this Vegas thing.

North: One of Gina and I got married in Vegas in a similar fashion. I’ll let the world figure out which one. But I’ll give the world a hint. Gina’s happily married, and I’m not.

Obviously with what we know in canon, this wedding is kind of like the beginning of the end for Gibbs and Diane. We know it’s not going to end well. So what is your approach to their relationship moving forward?

Monreal: Well, we know they don’t stay together, but there is some wiggle room with how long they’re together. There’s some disagreement in canon about when they break up, so we’re trying to, I guess, tell this story in the most interesting way for the characters that we’re seeing on screen right now while still adhering to canon. So I think there will still be some surprises in the Gibbs Diane relationship.

Do you have an idea on the timeline, knowing that it’s something that you kind of had freedom to come up with?

North: Yeah. We definitely have an idea, but we just want people to stay tuned on that.

David, you made a cameo during the wedding.

Monreal: Of course you caught it.

North: I want to say first of all that I know you have an eagle eye, but I’m surprised you noticed that it was me. When I take on a role, I completely disappear in that role, and I was on my Daniel Day-Lewis s**t that day completely disappeared, and it was a phenomenal performance. [Laughs]

How did you decide on being part of the scene?

North: Again, as I mentioned, well, I guess I’ll just give it away. I had some experience with this Vegas wedding thing. The idea was since I was experienced that I was going to be kind of a technical advisor — Gina wrote it — on set, and then Michele Greco, our line producer, mentioned that I should just actually play the wedding officiant that marries them. And what happened was really legendary. I mean, it was —

Monreal: Magic.

North: Magical performance. … I had a mullet.

Monreal: That’s what transformed him completely.

North: Yeah. I went fully in. A mullet. I had the 1991 suit. I had Jordans from 1991. … I think Austin was watching me and figuring out, “Hey, man, I could do this acting thing totally different.”

If Gibbs and Lala hadn’t been interrupted by the casework in the car, what would he have said to her?

Monreal: I am going back to the actual moment where he was interrupted because she says that was an excuse you made about family, about your family being here. And what I think he wanted to say was, it wasn’t an excuse, that was real. I don’t want to leave you guys. You are my family. And I think that was his side of it that we didn’t quite get the end of.

What does Gibbs and Lala’s dynamic look like going forward?

Monreal: It’s complicated. It’s complicated in the best way, I think, as many of our real-life relationships are.

And then we have Lala and Twitchy Tony’s, as you called it, platonic love story. That was very sweet. Talk about tying that into Lala’s recovery flashbacks.

Monreal: We really wanted to show her journey in getting back to work and show that maybe it wasn’t as simple as we thought it was when we saw her show up in the premiere and Twitchy Tony is the character — how did that guy come about?

North: I had written a line in the original pilot about a criminal informant named Twitchy Tony, and then we talked and Gina wrote this beautiful script really all about him. On this show, we take a lot of pride in having unique characters come in and seeing how they influence our characters’ lives. That happens in real life. Last year we had an episode called “Blue Bayou” with Gibbs’ landlord, where we discovered that why he became an agent was this unlikely character Ruth and that was our midseason finale, and we sort of tried to do it again, and Gina just wrote something, it was really beautiful and that character and actor really was wonderful.

When it comes to Franks and Mason at this point, you’ve left them in a tense place…

Monreal: We know at the end of this episode that Stanley is involved in this explosion that happened. That really complicates things for Franks because now we’ve seen that he is the one who sent his brother to this place. He introduced Abe and the compound, and it really helped turn Mason’s life around. Mason likes it there. He’s thriving there, and now he’s going to be wrapped up in this sort of crazy investigation that happens because of this explosion. And so that will really create a complication for Franks and his relationship with his brother.

Is that going to lead to more conflict in the future?

North: Yes and no. I mean, yeah, Franks putting his brother into that compound obviously really complicates things and their relationship already has been so strained, even though they’ve found their way back to each other, but we haven’t seen the last of Mason. It’s a really fascinating relationship that we want to continue to explore between he and Franks.

What can you tease about Lala’s reaction to Gibbs and Diane’s marriage?

Monreal: She definitely has a reaction. Everybody has a reaction. It’s huge news. As we know, gossip spreads like wildfire in that place. It is because it’s a family. It’s just because everybody cares and loves each other. So there will be a big reaction from our team, including Lala.

North: And including Woody [Bobby Moynihan] and Phil [Ely Henry]. Big reaction.

We also have the young Dwayne Pride (Shea Buckner) and the rest of the Fed five episode coming up. So why is now the right time to tell the story with Gibbs and Pride and what can you preview about that?

North: Canon. Sticking to canon. This is the timing of when this Fed Five would really start. And so yeah, we wanted to stick to canon and we’re really excited about that episode and that character. And we actually are wrapping that episode today, photography on it, so it’s exciting. It’s going great.

Is this story going to kind of set the groundwork for why Gibbs trusts Pride so much in the future?

North: Yeah, the beginnings of that, the beginnings of that relationship, for sure. And let’s just say that their original introduction is not going to be at all what anyone expects.

Wheeler (Patrick Fischler) recommended Oakley (DaJuan Johnson) for the position in D.C. At that point, was he thinking that that’s the end of their relationship?

Monreal: I think he’s scared. I think Wheeler is scared. I think he really loves this man, and I think Noah loves him, too. To me, that’s not the end of their relationship. I think it was a scared move that Wheeler made, and that’s such a fascinating and deep relationship, and we hope to continue to explore it.

North: I think in that — Gina wrote that, but to me, in 1992, that relationship would cost Wheeler everything. It’s already now cost him his wife, which is understandable, but it would cost him his career, which is so important to Wheeler, and he’s proven to himself he can’t stay away from Oakley. The love is that strong. It’s that intense. So, like Gina said, it was a move of fear, but also, to me, of self-preservation.

Is there anything else you can tease about what’s coming up when the show comes back, or what kind of stories you’re really excited to tell in the second half of the season?

Monreal: Well, we’re really excited about the Gary Callahan episode. We get the origin story of everybody’s favorite dog.

North: Yeah, I’m going to spend Christmas break figuring out how ol’ Gary Callahan, the rescue canine, came into our lives. So we’re all excited about that. And the cast is very excited. I was down on set and they were like, “Well, what’s coming up?” And I was just talking about things and I was like, “Oh, over break, I’m going to write the origin story of Gary Callahan.” And the whole set stopped. They love the dog, for sure.

NCIS: Origins, Midseason Return, Tuesday, February 24, 2026, 9/8c, CBS

—Additional reporting by Alyssa Norwin

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