SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for NCIS: Origins Season 2, Episode 18.
NCIS: Origins Season 2, Episode 18 being called “Hollywood Ending” is a very on the nose choice. It’s also perfect for the Season 2 finale on so many levels. This is the NCIS prequel stylized like a Hollywood blockbuster, especially for Gibbs and Lala shippers. And it’s also a big farewell to one of the talented folks who made the CBS show as good as it is.
The plot of the episode was patently obvious after Episode 17 ended with Abe Pruitt being released from prison. Viewers knew that there was no way the show would keep talking about Pruitt and not circle back around to a final grudge match between him and Mike Franks. It’s also not a shock that said showdown involves Franks’ brother Mason, because that’s the easiest way to make that story personal. However, kudos to Origins co-creator Gina Lucita Monreal for not also taking the easy route of killing Mason off for dramatic effect. “Hollywood Ending” doesn’t need it, and when you have one of the best actors in the business in Philip Winchester, you don’t let him go just for a quick thrill.
But the story unfolds with scope befitting a movie—which makes the whole “going to the movies” introduction all the more fitting. The NIS team, along with Jo Swanson from the FBI and some SWAT reinforcements, raid Pruitt’s new compound. There’s then a struggle between Franks and Pruitt to settle that score, plus Leroy Jethro Gibbs takes a bullet intended for Mason. It’s as big as a TV season finale is expected to be, and one of the biggest action sequences that NCIS: Origins has ever done.
This is played out against the idea of the Camp Pendleton office being closed down by the new director of NIS (apparently fans won’t be seeing more of Brian Letscher as Admiral Cane). This prompts an argument between Gibbs and Franks, as the former thinks that Franks isn’t doing enough to help his team, while the latter explicitly calls out Gibbs’ feelings for Lala Dominguez. Once that happens, viewers know that there has to be a last scene between Gibbs and Lala because now the worst kept secret in the entire show is being specifically thrust front and center. And when that scene arrives, it does not disappoint.
Choosing Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” from The Bodyguard is an epic needle drop as Lala and Gibbs finally admit their feelings and share their first kiss. So many TV series use (and overuse) popular music as a quick substitute for what the script can’t or won’t communicate. But this is what a needle drop is supposed to be—something that enhances what’s already there. And since NCIS: Origins Season 1 ended with the promise of telling Lala’s story after that car wreck, it’s fitting that the season concludes with a Lala and Gibbs scene. Between that and the long-awaited change from NIS to NCIS, the events of “Hollywood Ending” truly feel like the episode is closing one chapter and starting another.
Speaking of the name change, NCIS: Origins comes up with a creative way to explain that, which gives it actual meaning. It could have meant nothing, or Monreal could’ve just used the supporting cast for comic relief, winding up Cliff Wheeler as he tries to fight the closure of the Pendleton office. But the truth is that it’s this crew who propose adding the “Criminal” to the NIS acronym—for NCIS franchise fans, that letter C now has emotional meaning. It’s an example of most of the office coming together to save their team. It’s also an example of how much detail and thought has been put into this prequel from the very beginning, which is why it succeeds in ways that other prequels and spinoffs do not.
There’s one possible point of contention, and that’s the cliffhanger ending in which Randy Randolf is abducted. It’s now almost expected for a TV show to end on a cliffhanger, as if the creative team is trying to incentivize fans to come back. But that means audiences see them all the time, which in turn makes them less effective. And so as much as it’s a relief to see Gibbs and Lala on the same page, at the same time, the audience can’t help but worry about Randy—who’s still missing while they’re having their romantic moment. The characters don’t know that, but viewers do. The only silver lining here is that if the Season 1 finale was any indication, then Season 3 should be telling Randy’s story and growing his character beyond the overly excitable comic relief that he’s commonly (but not always) used for.
There’s one other reason that “Hollywood Ending” ought to be as big and epic as it is, though, and that’s because it is the last episode for Gina Lucita Monreal. Monreal’s departure from NCIS: Origins has already been reported, and the show will not quite be the same without one of its two creators. (David J. North is staying on as sole showrunner for Season 3.) In two seasons of NCIS: Origins, North and Monreal created something that felt unique and distinct, not only from NCIS but from most procedurals. It has been a breath of fresh air, not unlike the terribly underrated CSI: Vegas. NCIS: Origins is still in great hands with North at the helm, but Monreal swings for the fences in her last episode—as she should. She gets to say goodbye in a major way, as the prequel closes the chapter of NIS and moves into the NCIS part of its adventure.
NCIS: Origins has been renewed for Season 3. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
