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Post by jessielee on Jun 3, 2019 12:00:18 GMT
Ziva's NCIS Return: Three Reasons Why It's Real and Not Just in Gibbs' Head
It was no less than thrilling to see Ziva frickin’ David appear at the top of Gibbs’ basement steps at the close of NCIS‘ Season 16 finale. And yet the moment was tempered by the fact that Gibbs had spent much of the preceding episode seeing and talking to dead ex Diane Sterling (or, worse, channeling Diane for Fornell).
As such, an immediate theory — and one that merits consideration — is that Gibbs was merely imagining Ziva, as well.
What we know for a fact thus far is that Cote de Pablo will be back in this fall’s Season 17 premiere. Beyond that…? Who’s to say. As for the nature of the beloved alumna’s top-secret encore, the CBS drama’s showrunners teased in a statement, “This surprise moment is just the beginning,” adding: “We are thrilled to share that Cote de Pablo will guest star in the NCIS Season 17 premiere… as Ziva’s warning to Gibbs unfolds.”
Having sat with that season-ending scene (embedded above) for a couple of weeks, I have to think that Ziva is in fact back, in the flesh, and not as any sort of sage apparition. Here’s why:
1) On a practical level, and as many were quick to observe, when Diane “left” Gibbs moments earlier, there was no sound of her closing any doors or leaving the house (because she be dead after all). Ziva’s arrival, meanwhile, was preceded by the sound of his front door opening/closing and then her footsteps. Ergo, one lady is a ghost, the other isn’t.
2) Ziva’s warning, among the few words she said to Gibbs as she descended into his workshop, was that his life is in danger — this coming on the heels of him pulling at the thread of an illegal drug pipeline based out of Canada. Since de Pablo is only announced as being back for one episode (thus far), you can have Ziva slip back into Gibbs’ orbit to dump some intel on whatever hornet’s nest he has poked, and then slip right back out like the ninja she is, without having to get too deep into visits with other characters or hand-waving her baby daddy’s whereabouts, seeing as former cast member Michael Weatherly is busy headlining his own CBS drama. (Say what you will about it being “the same network” and that Bull could easily “loan” its star to NCIS, I’d argue it’d be even harder to limit a united “Tiva” to a single-episode visit.)
3) Gibbs was unarguably out of sorts for the second half of Season 16, ever since he destroyed Rule 10 in an episode that also leaned heavily on new Ziva mythology. And yet the show (or at least the showrunners) pointedly stopped short of calling it a “breakdown” (namely in the episode where he ghosted his team to grab an appointment with Dr. Grace Confalone). One can surmise that there’s a certain protectiveness when it comes to the series’ famously stoic-and-steady lead character and his mental state. It’s one thing to give Gibbs the occasional chat with Mike Franks or Diane; it’s another to make it an ongoing, multi-episode arc.
What is your current thinking on Ziva’s return?Note: there's a poll in the original article below that questiontvline.com/2019/06/02/ncis-season-17-ziva-returns-real-or-gibbs-imagination/
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Post by pdsmith777 on Jun 3, 2019 20:11:54 GMT
I re-watched it today. The second time I viewed it I paid attention to the audio of Dianne and Ziva. I did that again today, just to confirm what I thought I heard and didn't hear the previous viewings. While Dianne did make the slightest of noise when she walked up the steps the last time, and a bit of noise when she descended the steps the first time, compared to Ziva, you could hear the door open and she clomped down the steps when she descended. This would seem to make it clear that Ziva is alive and well and not a figment of Gibb's mind.
While this will set off the fireworks here, I have to say, I prefer her being alive than dead. Adds tension to the story as well as depth to the relationship between she and Gibbs. Hopefully she'll get to interact with Bishop and McGee as well as Palmer, Vance and Ducky. (I am hoping there is at least one scene with her and Bishop, it could be quite revealing) I know it will also bring out the haters who can't possibly fathom a reason for her leaving her child with the father, but I don't care about that, it's a TV show after all. Personally, I'm looking forward to this.
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Post by llyan on Jun 4, 2019 0:12:48 GMT
While this will set off the fireworks here, I have to say, I prefer her being alive than dead. Adds tension to the story as well as depth to the relationship between she and Gibbs. Hopefully she'll get to interact with Bishop and McGee as well as Palmer, Vance and Ducky. (I am hoping there is at least one scene with her and Bishop, it could be quite revealing) It will also bring out those who can't possibly fathom a reason for her leaving her child with the father, but I don't care about that, it's a TV show after all. Personally, I'm looking forward to this. You're not alone PD. Since they started teasing this story line back in She, I was worried that's all they were going to do: tease. I fully expected the 'is Ziva alive' tease to continue into next season so I was shocked to see Ziva walk into Gibbs' basement. Regardless of your feelings on Ziva, you have to admit that it was a heckuva cliffhanger!
When Ziva/Cote left the show, I'll admit I was kinda happy to see her go. I was over Ziva's drama and the associated drama that came with the fandom. (I'm not happy to have that part come back, by the way.) I wasn't thrilled with the appearance of Tali and 'killing' Ziva off screen when Tony left. But they said it from the start that no body means she could be still alive, so I always had some kind of suspicion that Ziva was still out there. And if anyone could fake their own death, it would be Ziva especially with help from Mossad. So her return isn't totally unexpected.
It has the potential to be an interesting story line. Where has she been these last three years? Did she go back to Mossad? Is she freelancing or just in hiding? Obviously Gibbs didn't know she was alive. Considering his reaction at Ziva's She Shed, I doubt Tim knows. Does Tony? Given the note that Ziva left Bishop, I strongly suspect that he doesn't know about Ziva either. So why is she still hiding from her closest friends?
No matter which way they take this story, there are going to be unhappy people.
Here are my hopes for this story line: - I really hope that Tony and Ziva and Tali haven't been living happily ever after in Paris all this time mostly because there would have been no good reason to let Tim and Gibbs still think she was dead. That would be an awful thing for both Tony and Ziva to do to their friends.
- I hope that Gibbs is allowed to be mad at her for disappearing and allowing them to think she was dead.
- I hope that we get to see a Tim and Ziva reunion. (He also has every right to be mad at her too, although I think he'd be more willing to forgive her quickly.)
- I agree with you on Bishop meeting Ziva as well.
- I hope that Ziva doesn't stick around for more than an episode or two and I hope that if she comes back again that she's an infrequent visitor so that she doesn't overshadow the current cast.
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Post by luckysmom on Jun 4, 2019 1:26:19 GMT
I could live with all of this... I really don't want Ziva back after she was supposed to be dead, and now has a child etc... And the ZIva/Tiva fandom was pretty dramatic. But I am also not thrilled with the characters from the dead always coming back, so we shall see...
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Post by nas on Jun 4, 2019 1:39:52 GMT
to all of you who welcome the return of “ninja-girl”, I’m happy that you’re happy...
but I simply cannot suppress the urge to at the idea that she has been alive all theses years...
and, for the life of me, I cannot understand how the writers will come up with a storyline/excuse for her still being among the living that won’t sound totally implausible, unbelievable, and/or welllllll, complete bull 💩!!!
I await Season 17’s Episode 1 (but I’m not holding my breath)...
nas
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Post by ballerina on Jun 4, 2019 1:45:00 GMT
to all of you who welcome the return of “ninja-girl”, I’m happy that you’re happy...
but I simply cannot suppress the urge to at the idea that she has been alive all theses years...
and, for the life of me, I cannot understand how the writers will come up with a storyline/excuse for her still being among the living that won’t sound totally implausible, unbelievable, and/or welllllll, complete bull 💩!!!
I await Season 17’s Episode 1 (but I’m not holding my breath)...
nas
I concur vehemently nas. If other people are happy/okay with it, that’s nice for them. To me any story they come up with, will be unbelievable and nonsense as well as BS. I just don’t get why this ship has to continue, it honestly makes me want to vomit as well. Why do people who hoped for or like other “ships” have to move on, but not Tiva. She leaves and two years later she comes back into the picture, in MW awful exit episode. Now three years later, she’s back? I just can’t with this continued story.
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Post by luckysmom on Jun 4, 2019 2:11:38 GMT
To me the biggest problem is it is all implausible... whether she is alive or if she is dead and Gibbs is being visited by deceased wives and colleagues. I am not sure which is worse. I am just waiting to see what they do with this and then hopefully move on to something that makes sense...
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Post by pdsmith777 on Jun 4, 2019 3:27:42 GMT
Here are my hopes for this story line:- I really hope that Tony and Ziva and Tali haven't been living happily ever after in Paris all this time mostly because there would have been no good reason to let Tim and Gibbs still think she was dead. That would be an awful thing for both Tony and Ziva to do to their friends. (Completely agree with this.) - I hope that Gibbs is allowed to be mad at her for disappearing and allowing them to think she was dead. (Would make sense, but his initial reaction indicates that right at this moment, he doesn't believe she's real. In time I think he will be mad at her and we will probably get one of those elevator scenes with the two of them.) - I hope that we get to see a Tim and Ziva reunion. (He also has every right to be mad at her too, although I think he'd be more willing to forgive her quickly.) (What will be interesting will be if she is in a scene with Ducky. David was very vocal about his displeasure with Cote leaving like she did. I know people here have questioned if Harmon would forgive her, but it now seems clear that he has, the question is, has David? And if he hasn't, how would that affect a scene between the two of them. I suspect too much time would be lost if she said hello to everyone, so I'm expecting her to stay in the shadows and not make an appearance at HQ)- I agree with you on Bishop meeting Ziva as well. (I will cross my fingers for that one.)- I hope that Ziva doesn't stick around for more than an episode or two and I hope that if she comes back again that she's an infrequent visitor so that she doesn't overshadow the current cast. (I'll take her permanent return if they dump Kacie and Torres. I'm not joking either.)
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Post by Hari Seldon on Jun 4, 2019 4:39:39 GMT
Here's how it will probably go: The answer to every question about everything Ziva did will be that anyone involved was in danger with no details beyond perhaps that her father's enemies are still after her and those she's close to. Tony and Tali will be one (and only one) of those questions and addressing them will last an entire 4 seconds. McGee, Palmer, and Ducky will all be mad and then forgive her. At the tail end of the episode she will appear to have been killed again but either the body is not found or disappears before a confirmation of death.
Did I miss anything?
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Post by nas on Jun 4, 2019 5:59:38 GMT
nope, Hari, that says it all! 👍
nas
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Post by terrij58 on Jun 4, 2019 13:22:49 GMT
Here's how it will probably go: The answer to every question about everything Ziva did will be that anyone involved was in danger with no details beyond perhaps that her father's enemies are still after her and those she's close to. Tony and Tali will be one (and only one) of those questions and addressing them will last an entire 4 seconds. McGee, Palmer, and Ducky will all be mad and then forgive her. At the tail end of the episode she will appear to have been killed again but either the body is not found or disappears before a confirmation of death.
Did I miss anything?
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Post by verdun on Jun 5, 2019 15:37:41 GMT
I don't mind an episode or 3 with her back, but let's not make her a staple of the series again. And I think David MacCallum is much to good an actor to let his displeasure show in any scene he does with her.
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Post by jessielee on Jul 2, 2019 22:37:14 GMT
Fall TV Preview
NCIS' Ziva Has Returned, to Deliver a Warning! What Happens Next?
TVLine hits rewind on the TV season’s biggest “What Happens Next?” finales, then invites you to predict the cliffhanger outcomes.
Ziva David most unexpectedly resurfaced, and in the flesh, in NCIS‘ Season 16 finale. But will her only happy reunion be with Gibbs? Might baby daddy DiNozzo show up as well? Or is she, to the consternation of more than 90 percent of TVLine readers, just another figment of Boss’ imagination?
After Gibbs, in cracking a season-ending case, got wind of a grey-market opioids racket run out of Canada, he retreated to his basement, where (the dead) Diane Sterling assured her ex that when times get rough, “we are all inside you” to help. Moments after Diane disappeared up the stairs, Ziva appeared atop them, paused, and then made her way towards her onetime boss.
“Hello, Gibbs. No time for pleasantries — you’re in danger…,” she said. Noting his stunned (?) silence, she added, “Well, aren’t you gonna say something?”
“Ziva” (or “Zeever,” if you insist on being that person) was Gibbs’ only response before the season faded to back, his mouth letting slip a faint smile at the daughter figure seemingly back in his life.
But just how “back” is Ziva, considering that NCIS alum Cote de Pablo is only confirmed to appear in the Season 17 premiere (airing Sept. 24)? Has she “come back from the dead” only to see Gibbs, or will she reconnect with other former colleagues? And what about Tony?
*followed by poll*
tvline.com/2019/07/02/ncis-season-17-ziva-returns-gibbs-warning-where-is-tony/
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Post by Llyan (Admin) on Jul 3, 2019 0:07:58 GMT
“Tony” has another job on the other side of the country.
90% of their readers - who post - speaks volumes about their site.
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Post by nas on Jul 4, 2019 1:29:23 GMT
man oh man! CBS is gonna milk this sucker for all it’s worth, aren’t they?
I still think this PR trick is genius, but on the other side of the coin I think it’s beyond scraping the bottom of the barrel for a storyline/plot!
🤔 hmmmm... what’s lower than the muck and slime at the bottom of the barrel? whatever it is, it’s stinko, you can bet on it - just like this episode is gonna be...
now excuse me while I go again...
nas
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