NCIS Fixes Killing-Ziva Debacle — Now What Happens?

Tuesday’s episode of NCIS was what longtime fans have been hoping for ever since the hit CBS show foolishly killed off beloved longtime character Ziva David to facilitate the exit of fellow longtime castmember Michael Weatherly, who played Tony DiNozzo.

Weatherly left NCIS to headline another CBS show, Bull, so his character was made a dad, courtesy of Ziva (Cote de Pablo), who had left the team two years earlier to move back to Israel but was killed in an ambush. After her death, her daughter was sent to be with her dad.

Tony left in 2018 for parts unknown to be a fulltime father to their little girl as “Tiva” (Tony and Ziva) fans wept at the loss of their favorites.

In Tuesday’s episode, Ziva was the focus as viewers learned that she had kept a bungalow since she came to the U.S., where she wrote in journals about her personal feelings (we’ll forget that this makes zero sense if you knew the character, just roll with it) about cases, breaking Gibbs’ Rule 10 about not getting personally involved.

But it’s those journals that help Ziva’s replacement, Ellie (Emily Wickersham), who discovered it all and by the end, solve the case and by the end, she realizes Ziva is still alive but in hiding to protect her family. Considering her immediate family is dead, she must mean Tony and their daughter, Tali.

It felt like the show was paving the way for a return of Ziva David. It seems that de Pablo has shot only one thing in the last three years, so it could be that she’s ready for a return to the show that gave her fame but Weatherly seems firmly ensconced in his star vehicle of a show.

Would fans accept Ziva back while Tony is out there somewhere with their daughter? Or is learning she’s alive and out there keeping track of everything and could show up at any time enough to satisfy her tremendous fanbase? Needless to say, fans will simply have to stay tuned by regardless — it’s an excellent start.

Do you want to see Ziva back if it’s without Tony? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.