NCIS: Origins Season 2’s Midseason Finale Delivered Big Lala, Gibbs And Herb Moments, But That Explosive Ending Really Has Me Hooked

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Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS: Origins episode “End of the Road” are ahead!

For those following NCIS: Origins, the show has finished airing new episodes for now as part of the 2025 TV season. Luckily, Season 2 will be back in a few months! The midseason finale, which aired tonight, was packed with drama, especially for characters Lala Dominguez and Leroy Jethro Gibbs. We also saw recurring character Herm Daniels achieve a long-sought career milestone. And the episode, titled “End of the Road,” ended with a major, explosive twist that left me excited to see what happens next when Origins returns.

Lala’s Recovery Process Was Revealed

The season finale of NCIS: Origins left Lala injured after a car crash. While viewers saw some of the physical and emotional impact of the accident, the latest episode finally showed flashbacks of her recovery. This recovery happened while she was also working to solve the shooting of an informant she liked, known as Twitchy Tony (who thankfully lived!). Throughout her recovery, Lala’s sisters made sure she followed her doctor’s orders to heal her leg, and she received visits from Vera, Mary Jo, Randy, Mike Franks, and Tony.

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I remember those visits to Lala really vividly. The first one was tough – poor Lala had just found out she didn’t pass her fitness test, which meant her leg wasn’t up to field work. She was devastated, because she definitely didn’t want to be stuck at a desk for the rest of her career. Thankfully, that didn’t happen! Tony came along shortly after, and he was amazing. He really pushed her to fight for her career, suggesting things like water therapy and even praying for a miracle. And she actually did both! It was incredible to see her determination.

You might have wondered why I didn’t talk about Gibbs visiting Lala’s apartment during this time. As revealed in the season two premiere of NCIS: Origins, he only saw her once – when she was hospitalized and unconscious. She confronted him about it in the episode “End of the Road,” pointing out he seemed frightened and distanced himself, just like he did with Diane. This leads us to our next point.

Gibbs And Diane Got Married

So, in this episode of NCIS: Origins, Diane surprised Gibbs with some big news – she landed a job at Jordis Financials, and she was really excited about becoming a fully-fledged accountant within a year. The catch? It’s in Los Angeles. She basically asked Gibbs to move out there with her and transfer to the LA NIS office. But Gibbs explained he couldn’t leave his ‘family’ – meaning his team at Pendleton. And because Diane was firm that long distance never works – she even called it ‘idiotic’ – it felt like things were over between them. It was a pretty heartbreaking scene, honestly.

Fans of NCIS already know what happens, and in this Origins episode, Gibbs and Diane not only made up, but they also got drunk and impulsively flew to Las Vegas to get married instead of trying a long-distance relationship. Gibbs really took things too far by following Lala’s advice to not push Diane away, and we know this won’t end happily. Since Gibbs and Diane eventually get divorced, we can expect a difficult breakup ahead.

Herm Is Back In The Field (Part-Time)

From the beginning of NCIS: Origins, Herm Daniels has mostly been focused on supporting roles: working in the evidence room with Kowalski, assisting Randy with technology, or accompanying K-9 Agent Gary Callahan—a very talented dog—on missions. While Herm used to work as a field agent, his time in the field ended after a stressful incident. Fortunately, his friend Randy organized a petition to get him reinstated, which was ultimately approved by Special Agent-in-Charge Cliff Wheeler, who recently dealt with a challenging situation.

Herm did well on his recent assignment thanks to Randy’s pep talk, but he won’t be joining the regular team on NCIS: Origins. He’ll continue to help out in the field when needed, but mostly he’ll be working in the evidence room or assisting Gary Callahan. It’s good to know that Gibbs, Lala, Franks, and Randy can rely on him if things get tough.

A New Threat Has Emerged

The latest episode of “End of the Road” had a major surprise. Mike Franks focused much of his time reconnecting with his brother, Mason, who has been living at The Range since losing their family home in Texas. They had another argument, but it seems likely they’ll resolve it later. More importantly, we were introduced to Stanley, a 22-year-old newcomer to The Range. He’s been keeping to himself and recently got hurt trying to tame one of the horses.

Okay, so Stanley was acting a bit off, but I didn’t really pay it much mind… until he showed up at the end of “End of the Road” and blew up a movie theater! Seriously, things went from zero to crazy fast – it totally reminded me of that Ron Burgundy quote, “Boy, that escalated quickly!” Now I’m left wondering who is this guy, and why did he do that? Does he have other places he’s planning to attack? It looks like we’ve got a new villain who’s going to be a problem for a while. Just like with the Sandman storyline last season, I’m expecting we’ll learn a lot more about Stanley – and whoever he’s working with – in the second half of Season 2.

I’m so excited! The new season of NCIS: Origins is coming back on Tuesday, February 26th at 9 p.m. Eastern on CBS. If you’re like me and don’t want to miss it, you might want to plan ahead since the Olympics are coming up in 2026. Or, if you have Paramount+, it’s a great time to rewatch some of our favorite episodes from Season 1 while we wait!

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2025-12-10 06:11