Did ‘NCIS: Tony & Ziva’ Just Reference LL COOL J’s Sam Hanna?

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for NCIS: Tony & Ziva Season 1 Episode 5 “To Be Determined.”]

Does Tony (Michael Weatherly) have Sam Hanna (NCIS: LA‘s LL COOL J) on speed dial (sort of)? The Thursday, September 18, episode of NCIS: Tony & Ziva does see the former NCIS agent, now on the run with his ex-fiancée Ziva (Cote de Pablo), mention reaching out to a Navy SEAL for help. But was that a reference to Sam?

In “To Be Determined,” Tony and Ziva, while thinking they’re breaking into a prison to extricate Interpol’s Secretary General Jonah (Julian Ovenden) end up in hot water and in a cell of their own; Jonah’s really working with Martine (Nassima Benchicou). Once Claudette (Amita Suman), Boris (Maximilian Osinski), and Fruzsi (Anne-Marie Waldeck) decipher the code that Tony manages to send before they lose their comms, they remove all the tags that allow them to be tracked around the prison, and then Tony and Ziva break out of the cell. As they hide from the guards, Tony remarks that he met a Navy SEAL once who owes him $5 and wonders if he’d consider an exfil before answering his own question with a no.

So was that a reference to Sam Hanna, whom Tony knows from Weatherly’s crossover to NCIS: Los Angeles back in its seventh season? TV Insider had to ask showrunner John McNamara just that.

“Sam Hanna, deep cut! No, it’s not Sam. Or anyone from the NCISverse. But since he and Tony know each other, maybe Sam introduced them?” McNamara said of the SEAL.”I’d never made that connection, honestly — but you win NCIS Trivia Night.”

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Tony does end up reaching out to Henry (James D’Arcy), his friend at Interpol who he had come around to thinking could be dirty and working with Martine — as Ziva had — and he was right to trust him. Henry was a good guy, but he was killed by Jonah during their escape when he sent Tony and Ziva ahead to save Tali (Isla Gie) after the parents received a worrying message from their daughter.

NCIS: Tony & Ziva, Thursdays, Paramount+