What To Know
- The NCIS: Tony & Ziva Season 1 finale ends with Tony and Ziva in a strong place as a couple.
- Actors Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo discuss whether a wedding is necessary for the characters or if commitment and honesty are more important.
- Showrunner John McNamara hints that if renewed for Season 2, the story will focus on testing Tony and Ziva’s now-solid relationship with new stressors.
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the NCIS: Tony & Ziva Season 1 finale “Full Circle.”]
It only takes going on the run together, one of them nearly getting blown-up, the first “I love yous” onscreen, and working with the enemy — oh, and their daughter being against them getting back together — for Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) to not only be in a good place as individuals but also as a couple. In fact, the first season of NCIS: Tony & Ziva ends with Tony asking Ziva something quite simple but what they need: on a date.
Ziva also gives him a sweet homecoming present: a framed photo of their daughter Tali (Isla Gie) with his best friend Henry (James D’Arcy), who died during the season and with whom Ziva had a tense relationship. “Just when I thought I couldn’t love you anymore, you go and pull a stunt like that,” Tony remarks. “You hang in, big daddy, there’s more where that came from,” she promises. We’ll have to wait to see if there is more; the series has yet to be renewed for a second season.
Should there be more, however, how important is a wedding (after their last attempt didn’t work out) vs. showing they’re committed to one another for Tony and Ziva?
“This is maybe just a Cote thing,” de Pablo admitted in the video above from TV Insider’s New York Comic Con suite, “I do think that when two people are together, whether they are married or not, they’re still together. There’s an energy thing and that it just is. And so, I don’t think they have to. I think what they need to do is really kind of acknowledge what they feel in honesty and I think that’s the strength of the relationship.”
Weatherly also wondered about the couple’s future when looking ahead to a possible Season 2 for them.
“What’s the next level of their relationship? Does that mean that they have established the trust and that they are going to have a proper wedding and that Tali is going to start going to high school? I think there’s something about moving into a very solid place, and just when you think that everything is super solid, some other aspect of everything blows up,” he said.
That tracks with what showrunner John McNamara told us is in his early plans for a second season.
“I think I’m going to start with what’s the most emotionally turbulent place I can put them without torturing the audience too much. … Now the relationship is solid, so I’m going to now test it,” he said. “They’re going to undergo as always, maximum stress test. I want to create a story that really tests, now they trust each other and they have a bond, how solid is that bond?”
What do you want to see for Tony and Ziva in a second season? Let us know in the comments section below.
NCIS: Tony & Ziva, Season 1, Streaming Now, Paramount+