‘NCIS’ season 12 spoilers: Michael Weatherly on Tony’s new direction
As you may have heard by now if you are a major “NCIS” viewer, there are some big things coming for Michael Weatherly’s character of Tony DiNozzo. Namely, he’s getting a new love interest.
When will this story start to materialize a little bit? Based on a TV Guide report, think around the fourth episode of the season. Meanwhile, Weatherly talked about the arc of his character, and why he feels like now is the time for him to really make a big move and shake up his life:
“I think he’s moved past being the wounded bird … [Last year,] we decided to whip that guy into shape and get him excited about the future and not holding on to the past. Tony is making choices that are not passive. He’s not content to sit on the side and cash his check until it’s time to retire. I think he’s going to have more fun than he’s ever had.”
We know that there will still be some who are upset about this comment, mostly because of the still-passionate fan base out there who wants to see Ziva back. Unfortunately, we don’t know if that will happen. Tony moving forward could be an interesting story, but it’s all going to be based on the writing of it, the casting of the love interest, and also where the story ends up.
Before we get to episode 4, expect to see plenty of story when it comes to some other members of the team; Ducky will have a flashback story, we’ll see some more potential foes, and we’ll also see where Gibbs is following the death of Jackson.
What do you think about Tony’s story moving into season 12? Are you on board with the creative direction? Share in the comments below, and head over here if you want to grab some extra news and updates via our newsletter.
Photo: CBS
HeleneR
August 5, 2014 @ 12:39 pm
I honestly don’t understand why people complain so much about everything this show offers. It’s a TV Show with fictional characters. They actors and writers are the only ones who are really invested in the stories and the characters. They know more than all fans together. The actors seem to be quite happy with what they do.
While I understand that we see these characters as our “friends” or “family” and we are excited and feel for them, it is still just a bunch of fictional characters portrayed by real people. Making so much drama about it is not making sense. And honestly, if so many things bother people, why do they even watch it? Or leave comments on articles that are there for fans who enjoy the show and don’t cry about everything.
Lorraine64
July 24, 2014 @ 11:35 pm
I think you are totally right, how well the introduction of a new love interest for Tony goes down with the viewers, whether those be Tiva fans or just plain Tony fans, is going to be totally down to the writing and the casting, and I really hope that it is approached with a great deal more sympathy for the viewers than was Bishop’s introduction which in my opinion was handled incredibly badly. Maybe TPTB should take a look at early season 3 episodes to see how Don B introduced Ziva. He knew that many fans would be grieving the loss of Kate, but by not forcing Ziva down our throats, by letting her grow and become gradually accepted by the main characters she gradually became accepted by the audience too. Sadly I personally believe that SB developed her character in a way that Don B never intended – but that’s something none of us will ever truly know. I’d really like to see Tony with a new lady, Michael Weatherly is a fine actor and it’s about time he had more to get his teeth into. I’d love to see a strong attractive woman (not necessarily pretty) someone a bit different, maybe older than Tony, perhaps with a child, maybe a marine or a Navy nurse – which has the benefit that they can be posted and therefore not around all the time – someone he meets during a case, perhaps someone who helps him when he’s undercover and things go wrong, someone who helps him over an injury. The opportunities are endless. I’ve referred to season 10 as the season of missed opportunities, here’s hoping this isn’t one more – I’m honestly not sure how many more the show can bare.
liz laughlin
July 24, 2014 @ 3:16 pm
I wish that they would fix the problem they created when they did not allow the team, the family, to grieve the loss of Ziva like they did with Kate. If Cote’s not coming back, then say so .What they did do was destroy the Gibbs’ team as family. When no mention of Ziva was allowed by the team members, they left us not with a family but a bunch of cold, uncaring people. Donald P. Bellisario, himself, said the team was family. Gibbs said it more than once. It’s all through ten years of NCIS. Season 11 is the first year where it’s gone. Bellisario said that the interrelationships between the characters was what made NCIS different from other forensic shows. It was a foolish move to mess with what made this show great and turn it into just another cop show. If Tony is going to move on then give us more resolution to his relationship with Ziva. It would be easy to write it as member(s) of the team, perhaps Gibbs or Tony, had been in contact with her all along. But to just continue what they’ve done is just plain stupid..The screwing up of the family dynamic is why I can’t watch this show anymore.
Bellz Webster
July 25, 2014 @ 6:24 am
Kate died, Ziva hasn’t. There isn’t anything to grieve about. Ziva was given a ‘nod’ of a few mentions in episodes. Her empty chair, Tony answering her phone and saying her name, her empty desk etc. Her flag quite visible in Abbys lab. The only way to see Tony and Ziva right is to end their relationship once and for all. You can’t have her hanging around while Tony has moved onto another relationship.
liz laughlin
July 25, 2014 @ 8:36 pm
When a friend or relative moves away, you don’t stop talking about them. You grieve their absence. The NCIS team is supposed to be family. That’s the way that Bellisario created the show. The closest thing that I’ve seen to how this is portrayed is a nasty divorce. “We don’t talk about him/her.anymore. Glad they’re gone!” If you hated the character, that is the natural reaction for you. You are not sad. Maybe you are giddy with delight.. If you liked Cote de Pablo and the character Ziva, you are sad.. Ziva was part of Gibbs’s team, his family. The characters should show some sense of loss over an 8 year member of the team gone. From my point of view the reaction of the team is cold and hypocritical. The kisses on the forehead from Gibbs, the hugs from Abby, the goodbye kiss from Tony–they didn’t mean anything. I’m not saying that they should constantly talk about Ziva but some mention here or there would put the warmth back in the now cold characters..
VBQ
August 14, 2014 @ 12:18 pm
She needed a hell of a lot more than a “nod”.
marysue
July 24, 2014 @ 1:15 pm
While I enjoyed the “TIVA” thing to some degree, I also agree that NCIS is a crime drama not a soap so the writers have to find a balance and not let any of the character’s personal lives dominate the show. It is OK to have back stories to develop the character for moving them forward but it should be a one off in an episode not a continuing story arc. I will admit I do miss Cote but for more than the TIVA. She brought a lot of humour and strength to the show and its characters. However she has clearly moved on with now a second post NCIS project in the works so its time for Dinozzo to move on as well. If there is a new love interest I too, hope that it is someone that will bring balance to the character and lead to his further development and not focus on the sex aspect of things.
RockyW
July 24, 2014 @ 7:58 am
So CBS lets the showrunner make NCIS a cheesy soap opera!
I really like Weatherly as an actor but “Tony definitely” needs to find a woman and settle down? Come on, I thought NCIS is a crime show!
My girlfriend was very disappointed after she heard the news because she is a TIVA fan. Although I liked the chemistry between these two I never wanted the focus on a romance but with that showrunner everyone who loved NCIS for so many years needs to give up hope!
All Glasberg does is fighting a running battle against Cote de Pablo and all the fans who loved Ziva and TIVA!
I would prefer if this guy remembered that he’s the boss of a once great CRIME show and wrote great stories about crimes in the Navy with action and some fun!
Instead he’s creating stories for the most silly and annoying TV character ever (Mrs. blonde and boring Bishop) and now adding a cheesy Tony romance!
I suggest a new time slot for the NCIS telenovela, maybe early in the afternoon!
Erin
July 24, 2014 @ 3:30 pm
It seems like tiva fans are worried about the show turning into a soap opera now that Tony might get to move on and have a story that doesn’t revolve around Ziva, but they were generally the ones screaming for a bedroom scene, marriage, and babies while tiva was on the plate. If all the tiva anvils and contrived tiva moments weren’t soapish, I don’t know what was. I’m all for Tony getting a story that is actually about him instead of having the majority of his screen time being devoted to the episode’s comic moment or being supporting cast for everyone else who seems to get stories for their characters.
I agree though that I wish that the writers would focus on crime stories first and let the personal stories grow subtly out of the crime stories. I really wish that tptb would actually let Tony have a crime story arc that was more than the usual one and done. He hasn’t had one since the Frog arc. It’s high time and it would be a nice change of pace from Gibbs (and formerly Ziva) who have gotten all the big stories for years and years.
Lorraine64
July 24, 2014 @ 10:47 pm
I’m honestly not sure what people mean when they talk about NCIS being or not being a ‘soap’. If this had literally remain a ‘crime’ drama – who solved what this week then it would have ended years ago. When Don B created the show it had great crime plots but he also hugely invested in the relationships between characters and that’s why we grew to love them. I fail to see why Tony having a relationship makes it a soap. Gibbs has had several ‘girlfriend’, Palmer got married and McGee now has Delilah – thou whilst I like her a lot in the absence of any chemistry between them you could be forgiven for thinking them only friends. However, if Tony’s new girl turns out to be someone he met in some bar or other I’m going to be very disappointed. There are so many interesting and potentially exciting ways she could be introduced.
liz laughlin
July 25, 2014 @ 9:17 pm
“I’m honestly not sure what people mean when they talk about NCIS being or not being a ‘soap’. If this had literally remain a ‘crime’ drama – who solved what this week then it would have ended years ago ”
Yes, that is the problem. If the team is not a family and the relationships don’t matter, then why watch?
There is a bunch of crime shows out there that you can choose from. They have explosions, car chases, shoot outs, gory death scenes, great looking actors and actresses and all that great stuff without that horrible relationship business. This was the best show for relationship development between the characters. Why change what worked for 10 years?. If the game plan took you to the top of the heap, why do something different?
Lisa Liscoumb
July 24, 2014 @ 7:29 pm
No, it became a soap opera when we had dead characters popping in to counsel Gibbs, ridiculous revenge plots and a fauxmance that was pushed to the detriment of every single story.
Erin
July 24, 2014 @ 3:40 am
Would LOVE to see Tony move on and the writers actually take seriously letting him grow and evolve for a change. They’ve been promising this for years and so far we’ve mostly seen this talented actor play supporting cast to everyone else’s dramas and fretting over bubble baths and casseroles constituting his “growth”. I hope that tptb are sincere this time (for a change). There really are fans out there whose favorite character is Tony and we’ve been fed some pretty disappointing crap for a really long time. Michael Weatherly is loyal, dedicated, enthusiastic and a great team player for the show. It’s time for tptb to reciprocate – on screen.
Lorraine64
July 24, 2014 @ 10:33 pm
Here here! I couldn’t have put it better myself. For me S11 was the worst Tony season ever – and that’s saying a lot after S10. Tony’s character was so all over the place I didn’t know what to expect from one week to the next, and when he started in with the completely OOC men’s support group and wittering on about chops and casseroles during an otherwise serious episode I nearly lost it all together. If it weren’t for the great penultimate ep of the season, The Admiral’s Daughter, season 11 would be a complete write off – as it is it will be the first season I’ve not bought the box set DVDs. I too very much hope that Tony’s fans and Michael Weatherly himself are finally rewarded during season 12, though the fact that Gibbs takes McGee and not Tony to Russia does not bode well.
Erin
July 25, 2014 @ 3:46 pm
McGee and Bishop have become Gibbs go to agents now. I don’t hold out much hope that Tony will really get any more attention than the last couple of years It’s quite obvious that GG and co love and feature Gibbs above all others and that they are not the least bit interested in flattering or featuring Tony except in the very rare one and done. They seem all on board for pushing McGee forward yet again this season. I’m guessing that episode 1 will be a two parter leaving either Gibbs or/and McGee in some kind of peril as the cliffie and if that’s the case, I could really care less. I’m no more interested in another big Gibbs/McGee story than tptb seem to be in writing Tony as a hero.
BlueBelle
July 24, 2014 @ 1:07 am
I didn’t see Tony heal, or get whipped into shape last year. I saw him holding the clicker, babysitting bishop, and fretting about bath salts. He never mentioned Ziva. So this storyline doesn’t ring true.
If he is to “grow”, he doesn’t need a girlfriend. What he needs is to get out of his 12 year servitude to Super Gibbs. Put the romance on the back burner and let him get his job straightened out.
vgerd
July 24, 2014 @ 3:12 am
I’m all for Tony character growth, in fact it’s my fondest wish for this show. But why do the two things have to be mutually exclusive? Maybe Tony finally moving past Ziva and embarking on a new romance could lead him to make some changes on the career front as well — or vice versa.
In all honesty, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see Gibbs starting to step back a little and let Tony take the reins more often this season. IMO, the death of Jackson is going to have some long-lasting repercussions, and I think this may very well be one of them. It seems like a logical next step for this show.
VBQ
August 14, 2014 @ 12:17 pm
Yes, GIbbs will be allowed to grieve Jackson. but Tony wasn’t allowed to mention Ziva. That’s how it goes on this show.
Lisa Bannister
July 24, 2014 @ 12:44 am
Yes it’s time to move on. Give the guy a break and let him have someone in his life that loves him as much as he loves her. Tony is a complex man and it is about time he found the right woman to settle down with. Looking forward to season 12.
vgerd
July 24, 2014 @ 2:57 am
Sing it, sister. LOL. Cote de Pablo has clearly moved on from NCIS, so WTH can’t Tony move on from Ziva? I’m tired of seeing the awesome Michael Weatherly stuck in character limbo while Tony pines for his lost love. One season of that was enough. It’s past time for him to move forward. Bring on the new romance, especially if it brings some strong storylines for Michael to sink his teeth into as an actor. He and Mark Harmon are the main reasons I tuned into this show to begin with, and they remain my favorites.