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The second half of NCIS: Origins season 2 is getting off to an awkward start as Gibbs tells Lala he’s a married man.
In Us Weekly‘s exclusive clip from the Tuesday, March 3, episode of the NCIS prequel, Gibbs (Austin Stowell) arrives late and hungover after his surprise wedding to Diane (Kathleen Kenny).
“We were in Vegas,” he explains to the team about his absence. “We got married.”
The others think Gibbs is joking, with Randy (Caleb Foote) asking, “You go to one of those little white chapels where Elvis does the ceremony?”
While Lala (Mariel Molino), Franks (Kyle Schmid) and Vera (Diany Rodriguez) initially think Gibbs is “still drunk,” they quickly realize he isn’t kidding about getting married.
“A regular guy did the ceremony. Elvis already clocked out,” Gibbs tells the group before Vera replies, “Congratulations. When is the annulment?”
Before the CBS series returned, Stowell, 41, exclusively told Us about Gibbs’ decision to marry Diane despite his connection with Lala.
“Gibbs is somebody who is already married once and married to the job. He dedicates himself to his occupation and to his coworkers. He even says it himself to Diane at one point,” he noted. “He says, ‘If I can’t do this job, I don’t know who I am.’ That’s very telling of who this guy is and so he is trying to find the balance and struggling to do that.”
Stowell also teased where the marriage will go from here.
“A Gibbs rule is he never looks back. So this is a decision and he has to follow through with that,” he noted. “He’s now taken somebody into his life and his care — so he takes that very seriously as he does all things. It’s his decision to do that tells a lot about where he is.”
Stowell continued: “He’s looking to move forward from his first marriage that ended so tragically and he’s trying to put himself back together.”
Fans who are familiar with Mark Harmon‘s version of Gibbs from the original NCIS are aware he had a total of four wives — Shannon, Diane, Rebecca and Stephanie. While many were hoping for the prequel to deviate from the original show, NCIS: Origins has largely stuck to canon.
“We always approach these things — as they seem like huge challenges — how we’re going to write that into the tapestry of our story,” creator Gina Lucita Monreal told Us in April 2025. “But it always ends up being a plus somehow in the end figuring out how to weave these stories together. So we’re really excited to delve into this one as well.”
More recently, Molino, 32, teased how Gibbs and Lala’s relationship could continue to be explored despite him meeting his next wife.
“Even though we can’t play out this love, we can play out the subtleties of wanting someone and how that affects you in every aspect of your life, through work, in your career [and] in your personal life,” Molino shared with Us in October 2025. “You just want to prove them wrong or make them proud.”
She continued: “The writers are doing the best possible scenario of this and our relationship. … As much as he has incredible feelings for Lala, he’s trying to protect his heart from the thought of losing her again. It’s [him] just not wanting to open up his heart again just to have it ripped out again.”
When season 1 premiered in November 2024, Stowell spoke to Us about the chances of the fan-favorite couple finding their way to each other.
“At this point, we’re still just months after Gibbs lost his wife and child. Even if those emotions are creeping in, he probably is quieting them and feeling as if he shouldn’t have those feelings,” Stowell explained at the time. “If his wife and daughter were still alive, he would be with them. It is only because of their death — their murder — that he blames himself for that he’s even in the position and interacting with the people he’s with.”
The actor pointed out how “cognizant” Gibbs and Lala are about the obstacles standing in the way of their potential romance.
“The turmoil that probably causes him [is obvious]. … You see Gibbs and Lala physically getting intimate for the first time and having to work together,” he continued. “That’s where their bond is created. When you go through experiences with another person — particularly ones where you have to overcome a certain endeavor and succeed — that can be a real bonding memory for the two of you. That event can be the catalyst for something more.”
NCIS: Origins airs on CBS Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
