‘NCIS’ Director Talks Origins of Tony & Ziva’s Relationship

It was 21 years ago that NCIS fans were first introduced to the will-they-or-won’t-they dynamic of Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) — Spoiler alert: They do! — and in the latest episode of the NCIS: Partners & Probies podcast, Dennis Smith, who’s directed over 100 episodes across the franchise, sat down with hosts Brian Dietzen (Dr. Jimmy Palmer) and Diona Reasonover (Kasie Hines).

During their conversation, he spoke about the origins of Tony and Ziva’s relationship on the mothership; Weatherly was part of the series from the very beginning, including the two JAG episodes that served as a backdoor pilot, while de Pablo joined at the beginning of the third season.

“I was really fortunate in the fact that I got to introduce a lot of the new characters when they came on board. The Ziva character was always one of those characters that you continued to sort of peel stuff back and discover who she was. And I think Don [Bellisario] had a general idea of who she was. But as the stories unfolded, it revealed more and more about her. And as the episodes went on, it became just a fuller character,” Smith recalled.

Richard Foreman/CBS

He continued, “Her and Michael just sort of always had this slightly contentious relationship because she didn’t put up with any crap from anybody. And I think a little bit their onset relationship was a little bit like their offset relationship. They had this almost brother-sister relationship and maybe a little sexual tension.”

Dietzen agreed, noting the differences between that relationship and Tony’s with his previous partner, Kate Todd (Sasha Alexander), who was shockingly killed off in the Season 2 finale. Theirs was, as he put it, more “”I’m going to try and get her;’ ‘I’m going to try and get him.’ It seemed very sibling[-like], poking each other.” Smith agreed.

“And so when that element was added in of some sort of sexual tension but always unfulfilled…” Dietzen noted. “It’s the best,” Smith finished. Dietzen then pointed out, “That wick just burned for a long, long time.”

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Indeed, it did. It wasn’t until de Pablo exited in NCIS Season 11 that Tony and Ziva shared their first real kiss, and two years later, when Weatherly left the mothership, fans were shocked to learn that they had a kid together — so was Tony, as Ziva had kept that from him, and he only found out when she “died.” Three years later, NCIS revealed that Ziva faked her death.

The one-season spinoff, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, on Paramount+ delved into Tony and Ziva’s relationship and why it didn’t work when they got together upon their reunion. It did, however, end with them back together. Now, Weatherly is returning to NCIS for a season-long arc, and we’ll have to wait to see what that means for Tony and Ziva’s relationship since, at least so far, there’s no word that de Pablo will be appearing as well.

NCIS, Season 24 Premiere, Tuesday, October 6, 8/7c, CBS