NCIS is currently pushing through its 21st season, although few original parties remain. Even Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs has left the JAG spin off’s building, and to ease some of that pain, at least NCIS: Origins is on the way to present the early stages of his career leading military investigations. As well, multiple location-based spin offs — NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: Hawai’i, and NCIS: Sydney — have been launched at various stages, but now it’s time to focus upon a pair of long-gone characters, one of whom is an original part of the ensemble, who are reuniting for their own spin off: Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) and Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly).
Really? Granted, the ‘shippers have wanted this for awhile, and Ziva “died” (conveniently) off camera in Israel within Season 13 after departing the show in Season 11. DiNozzo (sorry, I simply can no longer call him by his first name, despite the “Tiva” portmanteau) left the show upon Ziva’s “death” to go raise their daughter, Tali. So, let’s rundown what’s known so far about their reunion show because, yes, this is happening:
Plot
The unlikely couple — given that Ziva entered as a no-nonsense, ex-Israeli Mossad officer, and DiNozzo harbored a dual bozo-womanizer vibe — had pretty much ended up together in the tenth season, and in the eleventh season, Ziva bid him farewell (despite professing love) as he boarded a plane to the U.S., and she decided to live in Israel. She did, in fact, fake her death for safety reasons connected to her daughter, and these two apparently could not stay apart from each other forever. Maybe he tones down the bad movie references for her while they are in private? Fingers crossed.
Paramount has revealed that this CBS series will pick up with DiNozzo’s company under siege, and the pair falls back into action mode:
“When Tony’s security company is attacked, they must go on the run across Europe, try to figure out who is after them and maybe even learn to trust each other again so that they can finally have their unconventional happily ever after.
Weatherly and de Pablo joined in to add that the duo has been “talking about this story for many years.” Here’s more from the Paramount statement:
“The world of Tony and Ziva (and daughter Tali) promises to be an action-packed roller coaster fueled by love, danger, tears and laughter. We also want to acknowledge and thank the fans from around the world who supported the ‘TIVA’ movement for years. To this day, they say hello in grocery stores and on the street to tell us how much these characters mean to them and ask what Tony and Ziva are up to now. This is for you!”
Obviously, we should not expect any NCIS: Origins crossovers, although it’s not off the table for Ziva and DiNozzo to cross back into the original series or another spin off currently in motion. Any more clues? Weatherly decided to post an Instagram video from the sauna (he’s “hot”, get it?) and revealed that this series will shoot primarily in Europe. No officially released title yet.
Cast
Michael Weatherly will be back as Anthony DiNozzo, who will have hopefully refreshed his movie trivia. Cote de Pablo is the only Ziva this TV world has ever known, so it’s a damn good thing that she is onboard.
Release Date
Since CBS has slated NCIS: Origins within their late 2024/early 2025 schedule, it’s entirely possible that the Ziva and Tony series will premiere in conjunction with the Gibbs-focused series and air on the same evenings, akin to NBC’s Law & Order procedural nights. However, it’s worth noting that Ziva and Tony’s show will receive a 10-episode first season, so perhaps they will stack these spin offs in different seasons as how the shorter AMC The Walking Dead spin offs decided to do.
Trailer
No trailer can exist at this point, silly rabbit. So, let’s relive the eleventh-season scene where the Ziva and Tony kiss goodbye.