The NCIS: Origins season 1 finale left us glad that the investigation into Agent Gibbs was dropped, but wondering what happened to Lala after that ugly car crash. It also introduced Diane, Gibbs's future wife, and a call Mike Franks received from his brother, promising the new season will feature both extensively.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from the NCIS: Origins season 2 premiere
NCIS: Origins is back with the season 2 premiere, "The Funky Bunch," which answers the question about what happened to Lala, why Wheeler is working in the field and how things will go from now.
Where is Lala in NCIS: Origins season 2
The episode starts rather gloomily, with older Gibbs's voiceover recounting how hard it is without Lala on the team and Cliff Wheeler taking her place, including her desk. And the changes don't stop there—Randy is on desk duty, after his own request during the season 1 finale.
But they don't grill us for long. We learn that Lala survived, but is still in recovery. And soon enough, she's back on the team, working the case. The tension between her and Gibbs is palpable: he's trying to look out for Lala, which only results in making her angry and stubborn.
She's clearly not made a full recovery, and her leg is giving her a hard time chasing after suspects, but she's headstrong. She won't admit Gibbs is right. And Franks has had enough of their tension and disputes by the end of the episode.
How is Gibbs dealing with his feelings
Gibbs's mind is still on that night in the pool, when they almost kissed. He tries to keep his mind off her by burying himself in work. As if that ever helped anyone.
Another coping mechanism, it seems, is his budding relationship with Diane, who'll eventually become his wife. Does it mean no hope of seeing him and Lala ever together? Maybe not, as they both just seem to be in denial.
Mary Jo tells Lala that Gibbs is with Diane only because he couldn't bear the thought of losing her.
Yet so far, Lala seems not to want to bother. Even though they obviously still have feelings for each other.
The team keeps dealing with odd cases on NCIS: Origins
Gibbs begs Mary Jo for cases, and that's how they take the one of a missing 19-year-old Marine, Thomas Meyers. Gibbs seems to see himself in that boy, and that's why he makes it personal. All this while they are trying to deal with Wheeler's blunt style, to put it mildly.
They learn that the marine went to a place called The Range, rumoured to be a spot for human hunting and killing. They get on location, but are stopped by the man in charge, Abe Pruitt. That is, until Gibbs wanders off into the woods and finds the body.
Apparently, the marine died after getting caught in a snare that Pruitt and the people living in the compound—where they grow Californian plants, not kill people—set to catch coyotes.
But as the investigation progresses, they learn he had been shot in the leg and had a mercury poisoning rash. Mercury that seeped out from his very expensive shoes with movement-activated lights. He was killed for the shoes by a Lee Fabian.
Abe Pruitt offers to help with the fugitive situation in exchange for giving them the compound so they won't lose their home. But Gibbs manages to appeal to his sympathy for the marine, and so Fabian is brought to justice, and Meyers's mother finds closure.
The episode ends with Randy and Wheeler teaming up to get reinstated in their respective former positions. The team is finally back to what it used to be, and maybe Gibbs and Lala will be able to put that tension away.
We'll find out if that's where things are headed in the coming episodes. NCIS: Origins season 2 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS.
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