Gibbs may be facing the aftermath of a drunken-mistake marriage, but Lala is leaping into an even more salacious entanglement — and our girl is sober as can be!
The “NCIS: Origins” midseason premiere picks up right after the events of the fall finale, which saw an incredibly inebriated Gibbs and Diane elope in Vegas. When a still-drunk Diane wakes up from inside a bathtub wearing Gibbs’ boots the next morning, she immmediately proposes an annulment — they haven’t even said “I love you” yet!
But the two are simply too hungover to deal with untying the knot. Plus, Gibbs finds out about the theater explosion — Stanley was seen setting the place ablaze in the last episode — and heads into work. (Hopefully he grabbed a bottle of Pedialyte on the way — the man is in poor shape.) As he works the case — which turns out to have been orchestrated by compound leader Abe Pruitt; Stanley was merely a pawn — Gibbs insists he and Diane will get an annulment.
But by the end of the hour, the probie finds relationship clarity in an unexpected place: the interrogation room. He finally nails his technique, discovering that less can be more, which oddly translates to his marriage with Diane. (Sorry to all the Gibbs and Diane ‘shippers out there.) He realizes that he does love Diane — though it isn’t the kind of all-consuming love that one might hope to have, the kind of love Gibbs may have even already had for Lala. No, this is a relationship born of convenience — and that’s OK!
“Sometimes, a person shows up — right place, right time,” Mark Harmon explains in voiceover as the episode concludes. “It’s easy. It’s simple. It’s exactly what you need.”
Lala hooks up with Manny!
Elsewhere in Tuesday’s episode, Lala confirms what we already suspected: She and Flaco’s henchman Manny do, in fact, share real romantic chemistry.
When the NIS receives a tip that the theater attack is related to Flaco, Lala and Gibbs track down the gang leader to get some answers. But turns out, the tip was fake. It was just a ruse to get Lala in front of Flaco so he could once again try to convince her to take down Luna.
When Flaco makes his formal proposition to the NIS agent, Manny interjects, answering on behalf of Lala: “Flaco, she doesn’t have any new thoughts on Luna.”
The conversation takes an awkward turn when all present parties pick up on the clear chemistry between these two — are they crossing a line? Is this unprofessional? Will Flaco make Manny pay for his crush? Those are all later problems! For now, all we see is Gibbs confronting Lala, accusing her of dating the gang member, but she denies it; they just spend time together at church.
By the end of the episode, everything changes: Lala receives a knock at the door. It’s Manny, and he’s come to make out?! (Whoa!)
Who are you ‘shipping more: Gibbs and Diane? Or Lala and Manny? Grade the “NCIS: Origins” midseason premiere in the poll below, then hit the comments with your thoughts!