NCIS: Tony & Ziva has been, in many ways, a gift for fans. And showrunner John McNamara understands that. In many ways, part of the reason why it has is that McNamara was also a fan of the show—and the dynamic—before he got to make the decisions about what was going to happen to Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David.
Fangirlish talked to McNamara about the finale, the setup for the story, and so much more. Most of our conversation is definitely going to have to be held until after you have a chance to watch “Full Circle,” but McNamara did share with us the mindset he brought to NCIS: Tony & Ziva.
“Quick backstory,” he said. “I’ve been friends with Michael Weatherly for like 35 years, like really good friends. So, I obviously watched a lot of NCIS when he was in it, including when they hired Cote [de Pablo]. And just love the dynamic, love the chemistry.”
Which, if you ask us, you can absolutely tell by watching the show. “We started talking about doing a series and possibly setting it in Europe,” McNamara explained, adding, “I just thought, okay, it’s a love story. And love stories don’t really work if the couple is happy. They work better when they’re not together, kind of not happy. And it’s the story, it’s the plot, it’s the danger and the suspense to bring them together, you know. So, I want to make that a kind of journey.”
He has. NCIS: Tony & Ziva has felt like exactly that, a story of us reconnecting with these characters, and the two of them reconnecting with each other. But McNamara wanted to give fans more than what was happening in the present. “I also wanted to fill in why they weren’t married, you know. So, that was the reason for the flashbacks, the 2020 and 2021, was to fill in some blanks.”
For a veteran of the industry like John McNamara, it was clear that NCIS: Tony & Ziva had to strike a balance between giving fans the things they’d been waiting for, and also being a good and interesting story.
“I think the balance was, as we laid out the season…I suspected the fans wouldn’t be super happy with them being apart. But I thought I was going to make it really funny, I was going to make it really entertaining. I was going to make them both likable in their own way, even though they’re both kind of prickly. And then let’s give them some stuff as we go along. Let’s give them the first time they slept together in episode three. Let’s get them together, you know, as a couple, kind of undercover.”
Basically, fill in the blanks.
“Let’s find out in episode nine why the wedding fell apart. I felt like all of that would kind of keep the story going, and not rob it of romance, and not rob it of a sense of destiny.” Destiny is a nice word for Tony and Ziva. And look, as a fan, I was really happy when we got the actual love declaration in episode 9, the moment that felt like fans had dreamed it into being. Never let it be said that McNamara didn’t have things up his sleeve in both the present and future timeline of the show.
And a lot of it came with growth from the characters, growth that, in Ziva’s case, was served by therapy. When we talked to De Pablo at NYCC, she gave credit to McNamara for the idea, but he had a different story.
“Cote’s very kind to give me the credit, but actually, she’s wrong. It came up in a discussion with her. I’d never met her before. As I said, I’ve known Michael forever. I’ve never met Cote. Well, I met her at a party 10 years ago. But she came over for lunch. We had lunch at my house. I had just watched those episodes with her and Mark Harmon when she came back. And I said, I really admire the writing and the acting, and how they portrayed your PTSD.”
Then, he asked a question. “Do you think when Ziva gets on an elevator to go to Paris, is she completely healed, or is she still broken? I asked. And Cote said: Oh, she’s broken, really broken.”
“I go, good, good. Let’s do that. So, it was a discussion.” Like, perhaps, all the good stories. But McNamara didn’t stop there. “I give maximum credit to the writers of the original series who wrote that arc for Cote and Mark Harmon. And I give maximum credit to the whole mothership for letting that kind of reality in. It really helped me. It gave me the courage to be psychologically more honest.”
The fruits of all of that have been seen throughout Season 1 of NCIS: Tony & Ziva, and the story now comes together in the finale. Will it be a satisfying one? We will find out very, very soon.
Are you excited for the season finale of NCIS: Tony & Ziva? Do you want a Season 2? Share with us in the comments below!
New episodes of NCIS: Tony & Ziva stream on Thursdays on Paramount+.
