NCIS: Tony & Ziva Episode 5 is a great follow-up to what the show has done in its first four episodes. While Episodes 1-3 were the setup for this adventure, and for where we find Tony and Ziva today, Episode 4 was about taking that next step. That means that once Episode 5 “To Be Determined” starts, Tony and Ziva both have to get down to business and reckon with the decisions they made in the previous hour.
As it’s typical for them, there’s a lot of avoidance. They don’t really want to discuss the kiss, because they don’t really want to have to think about it or deal with it or make decisions based on the obvious feelings they still have for each other. And a big part of it is fear. Things already didn’t work out, not once, but a couple of times. Why would it work this time? Why should they risk the calm and contentment they’ve found?
The thing is, this approach is robbing Tony and Ziva of true happiness. They’d rather live in the in-between, in the land of okay, instead of risking taking that next step. Because yes, that step could leave them happier than they’ve ever been, but that step—they already know—means work. It means honesty. It means trust. And that can, sometimes, be the hardest thing.
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THERE’S NO I IN TEAM
NCIS: Tony & Ziva Episode 5 “To Be Determined” does a great job of keeping the tension as Tony and Ziva break into prison, and absolutely everyone in their makeshift team is required to get them out. In fact, the episode gives Fruszi (if you’re not in love with her, are we even watching the same show?) a chance to save the day by figuring out the code, all while Claudette and Boris prove how instrumental they are to everything Tony and Ziva are trying to do.
But it’s Henry that, perhaps, deserves more props than anyone this hour. Henry, who played by the rules. Who always wanted Tony and Ziva to be innocent. Henry, who, in the end, decides that Tali is more important than having backup, pays the price for it.
This is a devastating blow for Tony. Henry was his best friend and a steady presence in his life. Tony trusted his gut and relied on Henry, and he was right, and because he did, Henry is dead. There’s no doubt he’s going to blame himself. But Henry probably wouldn’t want him to. He was a grown man who made his decisions, even when they turned out badly. And he would want them to focus on Tali now.
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FEELINGS I WOULD DO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING TO RUN AWAY FROM
The thing about the way Tony and Ziva feel about each other is that it’s always been obvious. They’ve literally been trying to cover the sun with a finger, as they say. And the conversation they have in “To Be Determined,” even if it doesn’t really fix anything, is the kind of step forward that they can’t really take back. Because now those feelings are out there. Deep down, they both knew. But now, they’ve said it. And even if a lot’s going on right now, that means they’re gonna have to deal with it.
A lot of their story so far has been predicated on plausible deniability. We don’t know yet why they broke up—and flashbacks keep showing us moments of their happy past together, even if there are signs that things were anything but perfect. But ever since we picked up with them in the “present,” they’ve both been doing a very good job at trying to pretend they’re just… coparents.
They did this a lot during NCIS days, too. In fact, their will-they/won’t-they was a little different than others, and it pretty much survived off of the two of them denying anything was going on between them. Even though everyone could see it. Even though in dangerous, vulnerable moments, the truth came out. The masks came back up once things went back to normal. So, it’s possible they could have kept pretending for a while. They’ve done it before. But now, that’s over and done with. What happens next?
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YOU HURT ME WHEN
The flashback was instrumental to understanding what went wrong—what has always been the issue with Tony and Ziva. The root of it is a lack of communication, of course, but there’s a lot of internal baggage to their issues. Ziva is more open and honest, telling Tony you hurt me when “you’re not present,” but in those flashbacks, she still hasn’t dealt with how reluctant she is to trust her full heart with Tony and how that ties back to her life, her family.
Meanwhile, Tony deflects. Or at least, he tells a half-truth. Because sure, being with Ziva makes him happy, but in an exercise like the one they’re doing, it’s unfair to say “you don’t hurt me,” because your partner will always do things that hurt you. This isn’t about Ziva, though; it’s about Tony and about his belief that honesty instead of deflection, that truth instead of a mask, will make people leave him. It’s also about his desire not to be another thing, person, that hurts Ziva. And to do that, Tony will hurt himself if need be.
Past Tony and Ziva seemed happy, but it’s clear that as much as their love for each other was true, it has always been true, a lot of the relationship they had at that point was a performance. They wanted to be okay, to be happy, so they pretended they were. It doesn’t take a shrink to realize that a good relationship must be able to grow past that. Tony and Ziva haven’t found a way to do that together. But now they might just have to confront the mistakes of the past to figure out what future they can have.
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TRUST EACH OTHER WITH THEIR LIVES (HEARTS)
NCIS: Tony & Ziva Episode 5 “To Be Determined” very much proves that these two trust each other with their lives, no question asked. It’s hard to be someone’s partner for as long as they have been and someone’s co-parent for as long as the two have been and not trust them with your life. And I want to stress, this is a very vital type of trust. In a moment of danger, of worry, or stress, there’s no one these two would trust more than one another.
The problem is the moments of quiet. The day-to-day things. Because when things are calm, we default to our first instinct. For Tony, that’s deflecting, not being honest, pretending to be someone he isn’t—someone who always has it together, who doesn’t fear, doesn’t hurt, and doesn’t complain. For Ziva, that’s a hyper independent woman who doesn’t need anyone to complete her, and who doesn’t need to let anyone into her heart to let them into their lives.
Somewhere behind those two masks are the couple they want to be. The one they can be. The only way of getting there, though, is by putting it all on the table. Being fully honest and then… trusting in that honesty. I believe they do that. I believe they can get there. We now have five episodes left to find out how they do.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS: Tony & Ziva Episode 5? Share with us in the comments below!
The first five episodes of NCIS: Tony & Ziva are available to stream now on Paramount+.
