NCIS: Tony & Ziva Episode 10 ‘Full Circle’ is indeed the episode that ties everything up in a little bow, with a nice chase, re-established dynamics, and the kind of ending fans have dreamed of for these characters for so long. And yet, it is also the kind of episode that gives a glimpse as to how this could be more than just a one-off story.
In many ways, ‘Full Circle’ serves as a coda to the Tony and Ziva story, and yet it doesn’t take an expert in storytelling to realize that as much as this is a happy ending, it’s also a happy beginning. These characters were not allowed to be this on NCIS. Their story was never complete. Now, the beginning of their real life together is set. And this is when another story starts. Let’s just hope the show gets a chance to tell it.
MORE: Here’s what showrunner John McNamara said to us about the show
WHAT MAKES A GOOD ENDING
You could call ‘Full Circle’ a predictable episode, and perhaps you wouldn’t be wrong. And yet, that is perhaps an unfair word to use, considering the predictable story for these characters would have had them together much sooner. Not just at the start of this show, but somewhere in Season 8 of NCIS. And then, we wouldn’t have Tali. We wouldn’t have this story, this depth.
Sometimes, when a show does setup as well as NCIS: Tony & Ziva does, things can only be leading one way. But, especially in this day and age, delivering the ending that makes sense, the one you have left crumbs for, and the ones fans want, should not be taken for granted. How often do we get endings that are just shock for the sake of shock? It’s way more common than we would want it to be.
NCIS: Tony & Ziva Episode 10 doesn’t subvert expectations, but we didn’t really want it to. That’s not what this show was ever about. Instead, this show was about giving these two damaged characters who loved each other a chance to start fresh in a place that felt real and earned. Now, we’ve got a family. Now, we can let them be happy, even off-screen. And yet now, we also don’t want to. Now we’re invested. Good stories do that.
MORE: We talked to Cote de Pablo at NYCC! And Michael Weatherly. Here’s what they said.
I JUST WANT US TO BE TOGETHER
This episode is a masterclass in dealing with conflict for Tony and Ziva, particularly as a couple that has left conflict break them up again and again. Tony doesn’t agree with Ziva’s decision to go after Jonah, not because he’s scared, but because he wants to hold onto the thing he now has: a family. Ziva, who has lived so long on the run, cannot conceive of subjecting her daughter to that half-life. And yet, the way the two communicate even while disagreeing shows how far they’ve come.
Emotions are expressed out loud. Conversations are had. No one runs away without a plan. No one gets angry and invalidates the other. And in the end, when all is said and done and they’ve saved Tali, they both approach her as a unit to discuss with her the possibility of being a family.
“I’m sure,” Ziva says when they’re about to open the vault for Jonah. “Then so am I,” responds Tony. This is a distillation of the trust the two have always had in each other; it’s just that this journey has allowed them to take that trust further than they’ve ever been able to. It’s not just that I trust you with my life without thinking; it’s now with eyes wide open, I also trust you with my heart. And I trust not just that you won’t break it, but that you will cherish it, protect it, and nurture the best parts of me.
And that doesn’t mean never disagreeing or never calling each other out. No, it just means communicating through the ups and downs, and facing everything as they have done when it’s been about getting the job done, together.
MORE: We also talked to Maximilian Osinski about Boris
DON’T BE SO DRAMATIC, IT’S FINE
Tali’s perfect teenage moments underscore why I said earlier, as she first reacted badly to the possibility of her parents getting together, that we should just give her time and grace. She’s a teenager, and teenagers will teenage. That means that she will spend the entire episode being a sassy mini-Ziva, aka the perfect combination of her parents, who will not give up when she thinks she can help and who will kick a bad guy because he hurt her family, and then react to her parents getting back together with a “don’t be so dramatic, it’s fine.”
Of course, she has a caveat. It’s fine, as long as they’re sure. It’s great, as long as they promise this isn’t going to blow up in her face, in their faces. And it’s amazing as long as this time, they can all be together for real, without secrets and without holding back.
Because Tali is not a kid, as her little joke about having a boyfriend proves. She’s something even more worrisome; she’s a young adult who has way too much of both her father and mother in her. And she’s also a kid who’s been abandoned, a kid who didn’t know she had a father for years, and a kid who has never really seen the two of them be a unit, not the way kids dream of their parents being.
Now, she gets the chance. They get the chance. And I’m sure they’re going to grab it with both hands.
MORE: Are NCIS and NCIS: Tony & Ziva crossing over?
THE SETUP
‘Full Circle’ does such a great job of providing fans closure, and yet there’s setup for a Season 2, and you don’t even have to squint. First, with Boris, because how could a Season 2 even exist without Boris? No, we needed him in our team, and if that comes with betrayal from Fruzsi, so be it. As long as we still get more of Anne-Marie Waldeck, I’ll take it, even if we have to lose the mirror to Tony & Ziva that Boris and Fruzsi were.
Then there’s Martine, who turns into what she really should have been from the beginning, that morally ambiguous ally who might not be an ally, depending on the day. Unlike Jonah, there was always a chance she could go this way, and she is an infinitely more interesting character as this than she was as just Jonah’s henchwoman. Plus, her role at Interpol will certainly be interesting for whatever new adventure we might end up with.
With Boris, Claudette, and Tony working together on his company, Sophie still protecting Tali, and Ziva still Ziva, there’s a lot this show can do in Season 2 if we are lucky enough to get it. And that’s without touching on the Tony and Ziva dynamics, which are even more interesting now, considering we have never truly seen them be a couple, much less a couple raising a teenager. So, that means we don’t just want a Season 2 at this point; we pretty much need one. What say you, Paramount+?
MORE: Check out our previous reviews! Here’s Episodes 1-3, here’s Episode 4, here’s Episode 5, here’s Episode 6, here’s Episode 7, here’s Episode 8, and here’s Episode 9.
Things I think I think:
- “I will get her back. I promise. I swear.” Someone give Sophie a hug. Not that she’d accept it right now.
- “If you help me destroy Jonah.” Angry ex times 100.
- But Jonah is so basic, blackmail them to confess, really?
- “It’s a plan, and we both know plans change.”
- And you just left them there, not even tied up! Jonah, come on.
- Boris and Tali was A+.
- “I wonder who will kill me first, your mother or your father.”/”Mom, definitely.”
- Look, I’m actually really proud of Tony for the words “I hate when you dismiss me.”
- “I don’t care, I just want us to be together.”
- Okay, but going against the war industry would have been kinda noble if you weren’t also trying to profit from it.
- “You two could really benefit from couple’s bootcamp.” Tony always with the joke at the worst moment.
- “Spunky little thing you raised.” Indeed.
- Tali 1, Jonah 0.
- Boris, so proud of you for destroying 9.4
- Tali and Archie gave me feels, truly. It’s so important that Tony and Ziva are creating such a safe environment for her.
- So, Martine’s in charge of Interpol?
- Lazar and his son is a nice full circle moment.
- Fruzsi nooooo.
- That’s not even her name?
- Imma be honest, the name hurts more than anything else.
- But the setup for this is delicious.
- “I love you guys,” and the hug was kinda nice.
- This kid really said “don’t be so dramatic, it’s fine” to her parents.
- And the boyfriend joke was cruel. Tony almost died.
- “Take it slow and be sure this time.”
- I legitimately teared up at the Henry picture. Real tears.
- “And just when I thought I couldn’t love you any more.”
- “There’s more where that came from.”
- THE MONTAGE.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think about NCIS: Tony & Ziva Episode 10 ‘Full Circle’? Share with us in the comments below!
New episodes of NCIS: Tony & Ziva stream on Thursdays on Paramount+.
