The stars of NCIS’ upcoming spinoff, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, tease Tali’s reaction to her mother’s return, as well as new plot details. After Michael Weatherly’s reprisal of Tony in NCIS season 21, he will officially come back to the franchise, this time reteaming with Cote de Pablo as they spearhead their own offshoot. The new show intends to take advantage of Tony and Ziva’s chemistry and follow them running across Europe with their pre-teen daughter, Tali. No release date has been set, but new narrative information has been revealed.
While attending the Monte Carlo press event (via Variety), De Pablo and Weatherly tease what to expect from NCIS: Tony & Ziva, particularly how Tali fits into it. As it turns out, Ziva’s faked death has an unintended impact on her daughter. Beyond that, the idea of trust (or mistrust) will be prevalent throughout the whole NCIS show. Read the full quotes below:
De Pablo: I think the idea of trust, and the idea of how this relationship moves forward is something that was intriguing to us as actors. We’re trying to address the idea of trust and we’re trying to address how they move forward parenting together with this child and trying to make things work and having a lot of challenges thrown at them.
Weatherly: When you think about Tali, who is really the third character in ‘Tony & Ziva,’ the idea for her to think that her mother was dead, and then her mother is alive, but was running around the world and didn’t come home to protect her … Trust doesn’t mean truth, doesn’t mean honesty. Just because I’m telling you the truth doesn’t mean you can trust me. And I think that a lot of the relationships inside … I won’t give away anything […] You have a daughter who’s going to question the story. ‘No dad – you told me she was dead, and she just walked through the door.’ ‘Yeah, but your mom had reasons …’ ‘No, no, no. The facts are the facts.’
Tony & Ziva Could Completely Shake Up NCIS’ Approach To Story
NCIS took a painstakingly long time to get Tony and Ziva together despite both clearly being attracted to each other for most of their shared time with the agency. Despite this, they continued to date other people, perhaps to prevent any in-office romance, which could complicate their work. Once they were both off duty, the idea is that they were finally reunited, but since it happened off-screen, their reunion is one of the most-awaited elements in NCIS: Tony & Ziva. Considering their latest comment, however, it seems like things haven’t been a walk in the park for them.
Beyond their personal family life, it’s possible that whatever Tony and Ziva are running from in their show may be a new case for their former agency. Despite its title, it doesn’t seem like the pair have resumed their position as potential international agents for the organization. Despite this, considering their ties to the Major Case Response Team (MCRT), not to mention the possible global threat that their new foe might pose, it’s possible that they eventually reach out to Director Vance or some of their former workmates for help. This could all go down in NCIS season 22.
Ultimately, Weatherly and de Pablo’s NCIS spinoff has the chance to do something that has never been done in the franchise before. NCIS: Tony & Ziva will likely move away from the procedural format and devote a whole season to a single case, similar to what happened to Criminal Minds when it was revived on Paramount+. The offshoot will also be on the streamer, which makes these changes more plausible, in light of having a successful precedent with the BAU’s new project.