SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for NCIS: Origins Season 3, Episode 5.

NCIS: Origins Season 3, Episode 5 feels like a functional installment, meant more to move Lala Dominguez’s story along than to tell its own individual tale. The CBS series certainly gives actor Mariel Molino some great scenes in “Baila Esta Cumbia.” The rest of the episode, while fun, doesn’t have that patented Origins hook.

That’s because while previous episodes have dug into specific characters’ backstories in a way that feels seamless, this hour is more obvious in how it’s trying to get Lala to certain points (and Gibbs to certain points about Lala). The death of a con artist leads Lala to revisit her childhood history, helping her father Samuel pull off his own schemes—to the point where she thinks Samuel might be the victim’s accomplice. NCIS: Origins deserves some points for that not being the case; other crime shows might’ve taken the easiest and more dramatic route forward and opened a much bigger can of familial angst. To see Lala choose her present in Gibbs, instead of her past, is huge for her and for the fans who’ve been following her.

Molino is the clear MVP of the episode; as much as Origins scored in casting Austin Stowell as young Gibbs, there’s no denying that she’s just as major a piece of this series. For the script to take a moment that could’ve been simplified down to a romantic crescendo—Gibbs and Lala sharing a dance together—and instead making it about character as she ends up crying in his arms is really beautiful. And there’s another great scene in the hour with Kyle Schmid and Patrick Fischler, as Mike Franks and Cliff Wheeler reflect on how Franks pushed for Lala to join NIS in the first place. What’s great about that is it’s not a one-sided conversation, not an “I told you so,” but the fans can hear Wheeler’s respect for Lala almost as much as Franks’ pride. And when Franks says that Lala’s history is “a feature, not a flaw,” it’s a truly heartwarming moment.

Plot-wise, though, the case of the week doesn’t fit around these character beats as well as Origins normally does. Choosing to cast the flashbacks to Lala’s childhood in black and white has the side effect of visually taking the audience out of the narrative, too. And the actual investigation isn’t very compelling, possibly because the guest characters are fringe players at best; they don’t have as much screen time as usual. The biggest part of the episode is the team enacting a sting operation at a stamp collectors’ expo that feels straight out of Leverage, from the over-the-top costumes to the quick camera cuts and the jokes between characters. It’s fun, but Leverage does it far better (and understandably so).

Of course, what everyone will be talking about after “Baila Esta Cumbia” is the show’s apparent reveal that Lala is, in fact, alive. One has to allow for the possibility that Gibbs’ would-be assassin is lying, but naturally this is a game-changer for both past and present canon. NCIS: Origins has always had this bittersweet pall over Lala’s story because she died; how much does that change if her fate is now open-ended? And if she is alive, then there has to be a present-day Lala who appears (it would be unfair to the fans and to Gibbs if she doesn’t), and if the show botches that, it would be a big letdown after how well the show, Molino and Stowell have built up the Lala and Gibbs dynamic. Hopefully, this doesn’t become another case of a TV show bringing back a beloved character (in a sense) and botching it. But that won’t be known until much later—presumably closer to the end of Season 3.

“Baila Esta Cumbia” achieves its goals of getting Lala closer to Gibbs, and to dropping the bombshell about her survival in the present-day timeline. It’s also good to have that additional information about her history, as it is with all the characters in the show; that’s the whole point of a prequel. It’s not that memorable beyond Lala’s development, but it’s worth watching just for Molino’s performance.

NCIS: Origins airs Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. 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.