New information about NCIS: Tony & Ziva confirms where its events take place in the timeline. While the NCIS franchise continues on network TV with the return of NCIS season 22 and the premiere of NCIS: Origins, it is showing no signs of slowing down soon, with another offshoot in the works. NCIS: Tony & Ziva will be the first series in the universe that will be on a streaming service, as it is set to debut sometime next year on Paramount+. Despite being on a different platform, it remains connected with the bigger NCIS umbrella.
Marking the reunion project of Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo’s star-crossed lovers in NCIS, the upcoming spinoff’s main events will take place in modern times but with a caveat per a new report from Deadline. During the show’s MIPCOM panel, it was confirmed that NCIS: Tony & Ziva will pick up after Ziva’s supposed death and Tony’s departure from MCRT. It will then tackle subsequent events until Tony’s security firm in Paris is attacked. De Pablo says that it’s part of giving viewers answers about the characters’ fates after they left the main show. Read her full quote below:
We haven’t seen these characters since 2013 and I think the fans have always wanted to see what happened between them. In our first season, they’re going to get a fix of what has happened.
Why NCIS: Tony & Ziva Picks Up A Decade Ago
Much Has Happened To The Couple After They Left MCRT
As de Pablo explains, the reason for NCIS: Tony & Ziva’s story picking up more than 10 years ago is to give viewers an idea about what happened to the characters since they were last seen in the main show. Ziva’s death being fake was revealed several years later as she reunited with Gibbs to hunt down her mysterious foes. After that crisis was averted, she left Washington DC to reunite with her family in Paris. While Tony returned during Ducky’s special NCIS season 21 tribute, not much is known about the life he led prior to finding Ziva again.
This removes the pressure to check out the main show to fully understand what’s going on and how Tony & Ziva’s new dilemma connects to their past.
Beyond catering to long-time fans who were deprived of any proper romance between the couple, going back and establishing how Tony and Ziva got to their current situation in Paris will help the NCIS spinoff be more enticing to the general audience. This removes the pressure to check out the main show to fully understand what’s going on and how Tony & Ziva’s new dilemma connects to their past. It also makes it easier for the public to get invested after learning about the struggles that they have had to experience to live a normal life as a family.
Our Take On NCIS: Tony & Ziva’s Unexpected Timeline
Going Back In Time Makes Sense
Revisiting the history of Tony and Ziva in the main series is a brilliant move for the spinoff. Granted that they can just establish that via exposition, it would be better to see how that actually played out. I am curious to know, however, the extent of these scenes. Unlike the other shows in the NCIS universe, NCIS: Tony & Ziva will only have 10 outings per season — assuming that it gets renewed, although de Pablo makes it sound like there are already plans for its future.
If it is going to devote a substantial amount of screen time to Tony and Ziva’s backstory, I am wondering if they are also planning on bringing back some NCIS characters. This seems the easiest way to stage some fun cameos from fan favorites such as Gibbs and McGee. It will also establish how connected NCIS: Tony & Ziva’s main couple was to their old team during those years.