I guess I can breathe a sigh of relief that Manny lives.
Given NCIS: Origins Season 2 Episode 15’s episode title, there was a genuine fear that Flaco would figure out what was really going on with Manny, along with NIS with Lala, and he’d be pushing up daisies by the end of the hour.
But instead, we have a love story that ends in a different kind of tragedy, where the sadness comes from what “could have been.”
From the moment Lala embarked on this forbidden relationship with Manny, we knew that they were on borrowed time.
And the hour finally dove into the case and complications of that dynamic while simultaneously exploring the complexity of what she has with Gibbs.
The opener gave us insight into Manny, making it easier to make sense of this man who could’ve been something else entirely if life had dealt him a better hand.
It was evident that he was never cut out for the lifestyle Flaco led.
The whole gang life wasn’t for him, but while NCIS: Origins doesn’t glamorize the lifestyle, it does touch on the realism and nuance of how good people can be caught in terrible situations.
In another life, Manny would’ve been a chef, some sweet, soft-spoken guy running his own restaurant and dazzling patrons with his food and winsome smile.
But life’s circumstances and the loss of his parents placed him in Flaco’s path, where joining up with him was a way of survival, and he found a brother and a family in an environment that was less than ideal for them.
And once he got into that life, there was no getting out. You only get out via death.
What was remarkable was knowing that Manny was able to maintain certain boundaries. As long as he cooked well and drove Flaco around, no one asked him to do dirtier work, like killing people, and given the circumstances, that’s all he could cling to.
Until he hooked up with Lala, and it felt like he had his own slice of heaven and potentially a way out.
The moment Lala started pressuring him into finding a way to send Flaco to prison without him getting the death penalty, I suspected there would be too many variables at play for this ever to pan out as they hoped.
Lala was a bit naive on that front, especially believing that she’d somehow succeed in only taking down Flaco but pulling Manny into any of it.
My worst fear was that Flaco would’ve somehow figured out how to frame Manny for some of his more heinous crimes as insurance, and Manny would end up going to prison for the things they had hoped to nail Flaco for.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, but when it came down to Manny firing a weapon for the first time, turning on a man he thought of as a brother for the sole purpose of protecting Lala, the next greatest fear was that someone would take him out in prison.
The case was always going to be a mess. Once Manny told her about Flaco taking out his infamous competitor, and Lala jumped on it, there was no way the case wouldn’t get more complicated.
And she did a horrible job of covering her tracks and not coming across suspicious for her mysterious tips and orchestrating a way for NIS to be the ones to land the case.
It set off Gibbs’ radar, and once he got involved, it was a mess.
I love Gibbs, and I understand that he genuinely believed he was protecting Lala, but she’s not a fragile flower, and she’s a decent read on people. Hell, in many ways, Lala reads Gibbs better than he can read himself.
And he knows she has feelings for him, even if they both refuse to talk about those.
So, why would he immediately leap to judgment about Manny, a guy he didn’t even scope out enough to really know, to the point of intervening in this investigation to the degree that he did?
He was insufferable! Who was he to confront Manny, not like an agent using his rationality to make sense of a situation, but as a jealous “almost lover” who presently has his cake but still wants to eat it too?
Gibbs confronting Manny, without telling anyone else, was driven entirely by his own feelings for Lala and by this gross attempt at machismo. With no understanding of the situation, he set things in motion that could’ve led to a real tragedy.
Because of that confrontation, he sent Manny after Flaco, nearly jeopardizing his and Lala’s lives, since Manny was still trying to protect both Flaco and Lala at the same time.
And if Gibbs hadn’t had the good sense to make things right, he ultimately would’ve led Manny right to his death in prison.
I felt for Lala. Here she found love with a man in a way she didn’t feel she would have with Gibbs. Gibbs pushed her away after that accident, didn’t visit her, started dating someone else, and then got married.
She’s still shown up every day and dealt with the reality that they somehow missed their window, and then there Gibbs was judging her and not letting her have this little sliver of happiness, too.
It does make it seem like he wants the option of Lala on this shelf, even though he can’t and won’t do anything about their romantic tension.
And that’s not fair at all. They don’t address it outright, but it was interesting to see it in motion all the same.
His self-righteousness about the ordeal was a bit much, too, and he didn’t seem to appreciate when Lala reminded him of his own errors and rule-breaking. She’s protected him in ways that no one else knows, so his judgment stung the most.
Nevertheless, I did love seeing Vera and Gibbs losing it at the same time. Because they genuinely care about Lala and want to protect her.
Their joint efforts likely protected Lala and Manny in the end, even if it meant they’d never be together again.
They spoke about writing letters, but WITSec generally doesn’t allow that for safety reasons, right? And what’s left to say when words on a page are being combed through by the agency for safety protocols?
Manny gets a fresh new life thanks to Swanson and Gibbs putting her up to it. And Lala has his Impala and has officially overcome her fear of driving after racing to get to him in time.
Lala’s greatest strength as an agent, interrogator, and so forth is her ability to connect with people. She doesn’t approach them from this high position. She connects with them as a peer.
Knowing that, it makes it so easy for her to get too close to people. It’s fitting that during an episode where she ultimately lost Manny because she got too close, she turned to Twitchy Tony, someone else she also got too close to.
But he’s there to remind her that what she does isn’t necessarily bad. And thanks to him, their bond, and a button, she found a way out.
It seems Gary Callahan‘s second chance at life has given Mike a new lease on one himself, and I love that for him. He was quite jolly and hilarious throughout the hour.
Swanson’s return was amusing, and Mike having the hots for her cracked me up. His going on about his natural scent enticing women and his pheromones basically going into overdrive was hilarious.
And Randy was right there hyping him up. I was just wondering when Mike would move forward after Tish, because he deserves to find some happiness and companionship again.
There is a bit of foreplay there, I can see it. And Swanson did succumb to Mike’s manly pheremones in the end. Randy was as amused by all of this as I was. Let them bang!
Chats from the Bullpen:
- Mike telling Mary Jo that she’s immune to his scent because she’s his best friend made me laugh and then smile. Did she know she was his best friend? They’re so adorable.
- “Whatever is on his record with the chicken cutlet?” What did Cliff’s son do? He has that poor man stressed out trying to find an internship for him. God bless Mary Jo for negotiating that deal with Swanson.
- Swanson stealing the case from Fornell was awesome. Love the Fornell mention.
- Lala sort of falling into Twitchy Tony‘s arms did something to me. I really love the sibling dynamic they have, and that she finds solace in him that she can’t find in anyone else in her life.
- Also, wherever Lala and Randy are, I hope they are as sibling-coded as they have been for the rest of their days. The whole bathroom thing felt exactly like something my brother would do.
- Everyone acting like Phil’s talk about forensics was science fiction cracked me up. Oh, we have come so far.
- Vera is such a badass!
Over to you, NCIS: Origins Fanatics!
Was Gibbs out of line? Are you shipping Mike and Swanson? Did you expect Manny to survive? Let’s discuss below!
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