NCIS: Tony & Ziva Episode 8 “Fire Sale” is the most action-packed episode of the season so far, as Tony, Ziva, Boris, and Claudette go undercover to try to get the proof to clear Tony and Ziva’s names—and end up trying to stop Jonah. It’s a great episode for Ziva’s growth, and for our understanding of it, but it’s also a pretty solid episode for the team dynamics that have only sort of been hinted at.
We’ve seen Boris and Claudette work together before, but we hadn’t yet seen the two go on the field with Ziva. “Fire Sale” gives old NCIS vibes in the way the team splits up, faces problems, solves them to the best of their ability, and then comes together in the end. There are even McGee and Gibbs references, for those who really want the connections.
But this episode also really proves that NCIS: Tony & Ziva doesn’t need the mothership. It can stand on its own. And that’s exactly what we wanted from the show, what we needed from it. Hopefully, in later seasons (which we better be getting), we can figure out if there’s a way for some characters, like McGee, Jimmy, or even Gibbs, to come play in this sandbox. For now, this show works as is. It doesn’t need anything else.
MORE: Check out our previous reviews! Here’s Episodes 1-3, here’s Episode 4, here’s Episode 5, here’s Episode 6, and here’s Episode 7.
YOU’RE NOT HEARING ME
We often believe that, if you love something, the rest is easy. NCIS: Tony & Ziva Episode 8 “Fire Sale” showcases how love is hardly ever all you need to build a lasting relationship, particularly between two people as damaged as Tony and Ziva. It also showcases the differences in their approaches to their mental health. Ziva chose to face her traumas head-on. Tony deflected and tried to push through it. We have been in both their spots and don’t judge either of them for their decision.
There is, however, no doubt that these differing approaches contributed to the fact that they broke up, no matter how much they loved each other. No matter how much planning went into making a life together. Because the things Tony wants and the things Ziva wants are not incompatible. It just feels like they are from the POV of absolutism that we sometimes take when we’re not seeing eye to eye with our significant other.
What they always needed was compromise; what they chose was one way or another. Tony went from a big list to doing what Ziva wanted, because even though Henry pointed out the importance of communicating what he wanted, it seems Tony didn’t do that. Never planned to. But thinking all your issues are small in comparison to your partner’s is a sure way to make yourself miserable, even if, objectively, you are right.
So yes, Tony was not hearing Ziva. Ziva was not hearing him. In her defense, he wasn’t really saying anything. It’s just that both of them, up to a point, relied on that love and said… “well, the rest will figure itself out,” and then, when it didn’t, they thought it was a sentence on their love, not their lack of communication.
MORE: Are NCIS and NCIS: Tony & Ziva crossing over?
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TRUST YOU?
The truth is, Martine can’t trust Jonah. She knows it, deep down. She’s smart enough to. She almost killed him once, so she knows what it is to make the hard choice. In fact, she ends the episode in that same place with Lazar, about to make a really hard choice. Except this isn’t one she has to make. Just because one person betrayed you, that doesn’t mean everyone will. What a nice parallel to Tony and Ziva’s story.
Martine is hurt and lost, but right now, the best thing she can do is not just go scorched earth and try to take Jonah on her own. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all of that. Lazar, Tony, Ziva, and the entire team have as much on the line as she does. Plus, they are also interested in the same thing she is right now: taking down Jonah. Everyone’s reasons for that can be what they are. Working with them is still the right choice.
And then, maybe, Boris can fangirl over Lazar in person. Lazar can, perhaps one day, find redemption with his son. And hey, perhaps Martine can get her revenge, too. These are not straight roads, but that doesn’t mean people who might not be friends but who are still aligned in purpose cannot travel them together.
MORE: The NCIS: Tony & Ziva spinoff was shot in Budapest
MAYBE WE’VE CHANGED
NCIS: Tony & Ziva Episode 8 “Fire Sale” gives us a changed Tony and Ziva, not just in their interactions with each other but in their decisions. Tony, from the beginning of the episode, confronts the issue head-on instead of just deflecting. Ziva is right there to meet him with honesty. They’re not hiding anything from each other anymore, and that’s why the “maybe we’ve changed” feels real and not like a thing you say. They have. They are different, better people.
Proof of that is in Ziva being able to use the tools therapy has given her in a moment where she felt like she was losing control. I know some people look at therapy as a fix, and if it doesn’t fix you right away, then it doesn’t help. Tony probably thinks that. But therapy is about giving you the tools to move through the world in a way you feel comfortable with. Not just that, it’s about doing so in a way that doesn’t require you to give up pieces of yourself. It feels like this Ziva David has gotten there, that she knows what she wants, what she needs—and not just that, that she’s starting to believe she deserves it.
As for Tony, he might still have a little bit to go. But he’s communicating the thing he always wanted: a family. For someone who never had that, he’s ironically built a found family at NCIS, and now here, and he’s also got one with Ziva and Tali. Now, it’s all about bringing all the pieces together.
For now, we’re going to have to worry about the immediate danger to Tony—and the fact that they’re still on the run. But we’re not that worried. Tony and Ziva have been here, and in worse places, before. The working together was never, ever the problem. It’s not gonna start becoming one now.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think about NCIS: Tony & Ziva Episode 8 ‘Fire Sale’? Share with us in the comments below!
New episodes of NCIS: Tony & Ziva stream on Thursdays on Paramount+.
