NCIS season 16 theory: Could someone else know about Ziva?

There are a couple of exciting things that come from the aftermath of the landmark NCIS episode “She.” The first is knowing that Ziva David is still alive (although we’ve never actually bought into the idea that she was dead in the first place). The second is that it gives us an opportunity to ponder over various theories and ideas until this storyline is touched on again. Before this episode aired, there were not exactly a ton of long-term mysteries; most of them were just cases wrapped up within a single hour of television.

The theory we’re discussing here today is one that some out there could consider being a bit of a stretch. Yet, it does also make a certain degree of sense the more you think about it. Is it possible that someone, like a Gibbs or a McGee, could have known already that Ziva was still out there?

If you missed it, we talk in full detail about the events of “She” in our video at the bottom of this article! Remember to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube for more NCIS scoop. We also have a full show playlist that is absolutely worth checking out.

The biggest case that you can make in support of this is often overlooked, but does boil down to the basic essence of what we know about McGee and Gibbs — they’re good at their jobs. They know Ziva extremely well and they understand her skill set. If there was no body found at the site of her “death” that properly matched her DNA 100%, wouldn’t they still suspect something? Heck, wouldn’t they suspect something anyway? The biggest reason why we never felt Ziva was really dead is that her death (as presented on the show) felt too easy. It didn’t feel like the way someone like Ziva would leave this Earth. This suspicion had to cross their minds as well.

Let’s now take this suspicion and run with it — is it possible that McGee and Gibbs did some digging? Maybe they didn’t come up with anything tangible, which is why the writers have never shown us anything on the subject; yet, we have a hard time thinking that the characters just let Ziva slide out of their mind without 100% DNA evidence – they are NCIS agents! They may feel she’s alive somewhere in the back of their mind and they may be afraid of false hope in the event they’re wrong. We saw how upset Gibbs got during “She” just when Bishop tried to talk with him about Ziva — he’s obviously protective of the memory of her he chooses to have.

Do we think that either Gibbs or McGee knows 100% the truth about Ziva like Bishop does? That feels a tad outlandish, mostly because it would be a hard sell to the viewers that one of the characters who actually knew Ziva had figured it out, and we never had an opportunity to be clued in on that. It’d be infuriating especially to the Ziva fans who’ve been waiting for some glimmer of hope. What the writers should consider is that if the Ziva carrot is picked up again this season (which it should be, for reasons we explain here), at least one other character should mention that they had their suspicions, and may even point towards a little research that they’ve done on the subject that maybe didn’t pan our because Ziva is a ninja after all and is only going to be found if she wants to be. This feels realistic to how an agent would act to the death of a beloved colleague; meanwhile, it is not rewriting the history of the show as we know it.

Obviously, we want a Ziva return to be the most exciting event possible — and the best way to do that is to produce a wide array of reactions if and when Bishop’s information comes out. For the record, we firmly believe that Tony’s off somewhere doing some digging of his own — it’s just hard to focus on that given that he isn’t featured on the show anymore.

How much do you think other characters know about Ziva?

Do you think that they are suspicious in some way? Be sure to share in the comments. (Photo: CBS.)