Of the many NCIS characters we have come to love over its 22-year run, one of the most iconic, yet the most failed was Ziva David (Cote de Pablo). First introduced in Season 3 as a Mossad agent, Ziva joined the ranks of NCIS and made her mark through her confident attitude and wild storylines. Of course, there was also her tantalizing romance with Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), with whom she now has a spin-off in NCIS: Tony & Ziva.
But as a standalone character, Ziva’s arc eventually petered out until Season 11, where she made her abrupt exit from the series. Her development was plagued by repetitive subplots and themes, never allowing the character to truly grow as she was dragged back into misery at every turn. Where the flagship show failed Ziva’s character, it seems the spin-off is succeeding, as the three-episode premiere sets up a promising arc that may fix the franchise’s mistake.
Cote de Pablo’s Ziva Deserved Better in ‘NCIS’
When Ziva first arrived on NCIS, she replaced the late Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander) on the team. The transition was seamless, as the initially antagonistic Mossad agent quickly won our hearts when she killed her half-brother, who was a dangerous rogue agent. Her redemption arc slowly proved her loyalty to the team, made even more appealing through her badass skills, awkwardness around English idioms and sharp tongue. However, throughout her run on the show, she faced countless traumatic experiences that inevitably tied to her past in Israel and Mossad — it was becoming repetitive.
Pablo’s reason for leaving NCIS essentially sums up the reason for the issues in Ziva’s character. She explained that she felt her character “wasn’t being treated with the respect she deserved” and that “they were going to send [Ziva] back to Israel and make her an unfortunate, miserable woman.” From being kidnapped by a terrorist because of her association with Mossad to her father having a horrific death, Ziva never had a break in the series. Every twist became more anti-climactic than the last, but when Pablo agreed to reprise her role in the spin-off, our interest was piqued. In the same interview, she said, “until someone can write something really fantastic for Ziva [she] won’t come back,” so Pablo’s return is promising for her role in Tony & Ziva, and the premiere bodes well for this character.
‘NCIS: Tony & Ziva’ Delivers a Refreshing Take on Ziva’s Character
In the spin-off, five years have passed since Ziva left NCIS for the final time, so we are presented with a character who feels very different from the one we knew. The foundation of her characterization remains the same: a woman with badass skills and a penchant for flirting with her partner. But there is a gravity to her character that feels more profound, especially as the show exposes the cracks in the usually self-assured Ziva without leaning too much into histrionics. It is a nuanced and refreshing approach to her character.
Ziva’s most prominent storyline revolves around her mental health, given the ample trauma she faced in the flagship show. She is now in therapy working through her PTSD, where the premiere reveals that when she first reunited with Tony and Tali (Isla Gie) at a military compound, a gunshot triggered an episode where she drew her gun and nearly reacted violently. Five years later and now she can recognize the difference between a gun firing and a truck backfiring, improving her confidence in navigating everyday life. Her sessions with the therapist ensure her arc isn’t just about abject misery anymore, but rather a layered portrayal of recovery and relapse.
Pablo’s performance also beautifully captures the fluctuating and ongoing process of healing from trauma. She still retains that gritty tenacity we expect from Ziva but adds in more vulnerable, moving moments of a small smile whenever something positive happens or a tremble in her voice whenever she is uncertain about her future and how her mental health will impact her role as a mother. There is a self-awareness not only in Ziva’s reflection on her past, current mental state and her relationships, but also in the show’s tone, as if they are actively addressing the pitfalls in the character’s original arc. The self-awareness inherent in their approach is why we can be hopeful that Ziva’s character arc will continue to flourish in terms of nuance through the rest of the upcoming episodes.
Tony and Ziva’s Relationship Benefits From ‘NCIS’s New Approach
Image via Paramount+
Ziva may only make up one half of the spin-off’s central couple, but the improvements in her characterization also benefits how her relationship with Tony is presented and received. When Weatherly and Pablo share a screen, there is always going to be palpable chemistry, but the spin-off is far more intentional with these scenes. In NCIS, the instances of flirty exchanges were scattered throughout the episodes with very heavy sexual innuendo, but here, they let the history and body language do most of the work, making the unsaid magnetism feel even more powerful. But the other reason their romance works so well here is that they are lodged between scenes of the couple trying to navigate Ziva’s mental health (Tony’s own storyline also comes into play, but we’re focusing on Ziva right now).
By making Ziva more multifaceted in the spin-off, their relationship feels more balanced and dynamic, especially as she goes through the ups and downs of her PTSD. There is a simultaneous distance and closeness that arises whenever Ziva has an episode or talks about being ready for “normal” milestones like dating. Out of everyone, Tony is the person who knows Ziva the best and can understand where she is coming from, yet there is also an inherent alienation, since he can never really be inside her head. As such, there is a constant exchange of empathy and misunderstanding between them, fluctuating just as frequently and unpredictably as Ziva’s road to recovery.
We may only be three episodes into the series, but it handles Ziva’s storyline with so much care, empathy, and self-awareness that you can’t help but be excited to see where it leads. Tony & Ziva‘s premiere is on the path to fixing one of the franchise’s most glaring mistakes and failures. We couldn’t ask for a better comeback for Ziva’s character, and hopefully, our favorite trauma-ridden mother gets the arc she so desperately deserves.
New episodes of NCIS: Tony & Ziva premiere every Thursday on Paramount+ in the U.S.
