Despite only being a series regular for seven out of the 22 seasons of NCIS, Cote de Pablo’s Ziva David is a character that left an indelible mark on the series. In the Season 3 premiere, when the NCIS Major Crimes Response Team dealt with the fallout of Caitlin Todd’s (Sasha Alexander) murder by Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin), Ziva’s introduction was a smooth transition to replace Todd on the team. She was introduced as Haswari’s control officer while he worked undercover at Hamas. The then-newly-appointed NCIS Director Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly) vouched for Ziva to assist NCIS as they had worked together and had been saved by her on a mission in Cairo. Ziva was tasked with ensuring Ari’s safety when Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) had a personal vendetta against him.
She proves her loyalty to NCIS by killing Ari when he tries to shoot Gibbs. It was revealed that Ari was also Ziva’s half-brother, showcasing the start of a long-running redemption arc for her character. As she joined NCIS as a Mossad liaison officer, Ziva eventually stepped out of the shadow of her former agency, run by her father, Eli David (Michael Nouri), and worked toward being a full-fledged NCIS agent. But just as the character reached this satisfying development, de Pablo revealed Ziva’s next arc would have her return to Israel as “an unfortunate, miserable woman.” This led to her ultimate exit from the series in Season 11. After many of Ziva’s character-focused episodes dealt with having Mossad be her main antagonist, the possibilities for fresh stories were endless, so it’s unfortunate that this fan-favorite character wasn’t treated with the respect she deserved.
Ziva David Had a Cycle of Reused Stories Throughout ‘NCIS’
From her introduction in the series to her eventual exit in NCIS Season 11, Ziva has dealt with traumatic experiences involving her family or romantic partners. Many episodes about her character were limited to dealing with Israel’s national intelligence agency or ties to her f ather, like Haswari or Mossad Deputy Director Ilan Bodnar (Oded Fehr). Ziva’s stories would typically feature someone from her past showing up and show them reconnecting without her knowing that the person is secretly involved in criminal activities. The NCIS team would find evidence that suggests their criminal involvement, but Ziva would initially dismiss it, only for her to be affected by the fallout. With how often this story comes up, you’d think Ziva would learn from her past mistakes. But instead, a highly capable agent is stuck in a Groundhog Day of cyclical patterns that create a sense of emotional stagnation.
This repetitive nature could also be applied to Ziva’s dating history throughout NCIS. Since there was an overarching slow-burn romance between Ziva and Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), Ziva never had a solid relationship in the series. One of them was Mossad agent Michael Rivkin (Merik Tadros), who infiltrated and killed terrorist cells on American soil but also murdered an ICE agent. At this point, Ziva had a strong relationship with the NCIS team, but she lied to them about her romantic relationship with Rivkin. Even though they informed her of his criminal acts, Ziva was too stubborn to think he’d be capable of such things. It’s this lack of growth that not only highlights a missed opportunity but remains one of the show’s greatest missteps, especially for a female lead who had the potential to stand on her own and evolve into a more self-aware character.
Ziva’s Apparent Death Is One of the Biggest Fumbles in ‘NCIS’
When Ziva was seemingly killed off-screen at the hands of CIA agent Trent Kort, it was frustrating that it was done to give DiNozzo a good reason to exit in NCIS Season 13. The writers later retconned this decision in Season 17 by revealing Ziva faked her death to protect her and DiNozzo’s daughter, Tali (Isla Gie), from an operative named Zahar, who wanted revenge for Haswari’s death. Even as she has returned, in a guest star capacity, since then, Ziva’s stories still dealt with people tied to her past or her family instead of introducing new and fresh threats. Naturally, this repetition of old conflicts limits any growth and keeps her stuck in the same cycle of unresolved trauma and betrayal.
But with NCIS: Tony & Ziva officially in production, the spinoff featuring Weatherly and de Pablo is finally giving fans what they’ve been waiting to see for a long time: Tony and Ziva being in an open romantic relationship. It was a disservice that NCIS stunted one of the show’s best romances after teasing it for so long. This new series will be the first time audiences see DiNozzo and Ziva together since NCIS Season 11, especially in their new dynamic of raising a teenage daughter. Hopefully, it does the characters the justice they deserve with this refreshing storyline.