Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the NCIS: Origins season 2 premiere.NCIS: Origins showrunners Gina Lucita Monreal and David J. North break down the season 2 premiere’s Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino) reveal and what it means for Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell). The NCIS: Origins season 1 finale saw Lala getting in a car crash, which left her fate ambiguous heading into the next season 2.

Season 2 reveals that Lala did survive the crash, although she suffered a traumatic brain injury, a collapsed lung, and had her left thigh muscle crushed. During her four-month recovery period, the NIS team struggles without her, until she rejoins them in the season 2 premiere.

Meanwhile, Gibbs is now in a romantic relationship with Diane Sterling (Kathleen Kenny), and it is known from the original NCIS series that she will become his wife. This creates a challenging situation for Gibbs and Lala after their history of romantic sparks.

While speaking with Parade, Monreal explains that it is Gibbs nearly losing Lala that leads him to be in a relationship with Diane, as Diane feels like a safer option to him. She explains that Gibbs could not handle Lala almost dying after getting so close to her, and he does not want to have his heart broken again. Monreal also teases that this dynamic between Gibbs, Diane, and Lala will gradually shift. Check out her comments below:

It’s tough that Lala and Gibbs got really close, then Lala nearly dies, and he can’t handle that. And so he chooses this safer option [Diane] to avoid having his heart completely broken again. We’ll see the trajectory of that relationship with Diane. And yes, it starts out as this safer option, but we will see their feelings develop and grow and how that bounces off the Lala character.

North describes Diane as “a welcome distraction” for Gibbs, but hints at how she will become more than that as season 2 progresses. Read his comments below:

We saw in the end of the finale that she says, “Oh, my God, look at your eyes,” and Diane is such a blunt person. So, she definitely made the first move because we see that in that episode. And I think for Gibbs, he’s so torn in this moment of thinking he may lose this person in Lala, another person that’s so important to him, that Diane was a welcome distraction. But like all relationships, just because she started as an appealing distraction, that doesn’t mean she stays in that box.

Lala’s NCIS: Origins season 2 fate is a relief for the characters and for fans after the potentially fatal car crash. Now that she is confirmed to be alive and is working with Gibbs again, there are new complications, especially when it comes to his relationship with Diane.

Monreal and North’s comments and the previously established NCIS canon all indicate that Gibbs’ romantic future is with Diane, and their relationship will become more serious as NCIS: Origins season 2 continues. This cannot erase the history and lingering feelings between Gibbs and Lala, though, particularly now that they’re working together again.

Navigating what makes sense for the current story without undermining the existing NCIS canon will be a delicate balancing act. With NCIS: Origins being a spinoff that has so far honored the franchise’s past while also creating an exciting new future, all signs point to the show delivering satisfying results where the Gibbs, Lala, and Diane dynamics are concerned.