NCIS season 17: How Cote de Pablo’s Ziva could stick around

Entering the NCIS season 17 premiere this fall, there is one thing that we know for certain — Ziva is going to be returning! Cote de Pablo has signed on for a guest role, but for the time being, she isn’t confirmed as anything more than that. There’s no indication that we’re going to see her around longer than the premiere, but that’s not stopping us from thinking that she could end up being around longer, however unlikely it may be.

In terms of the team itself, you can argue that there is an opening amidst the group. NCIS never actually replaced Clayton Reeves after his death and even though he wasn’t a part of every episode, he was a valuable asset to the rest of the team. Ziva could end up filling a similar role — someone who could turn up when needed and then, when not, be somewhere else like fulfilling her own missions or spending time with Tony — after all, it’s still not clear just how much time the two are really spending with each other.

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So how do you find a way to keep Ziva around longer than the premiere? We think the first order of business is establishing some sort of connection between her and the rest of the team. If Gibbs is the only character she’s willing to communicate with directly, that limits just how accessible she will be — we don’t actually think it will be this way forever, though, mostly because of the fact that Bishop already knows and you just have to move from point A to point B.

Then, you have to give Ziva a tangible reason to stay rather than going off again. Could she end up being hired as a part of the NCIS team? We think that Gibbs could have an interest in that; however, there is a certain issue that seems obvious. She’s obviously running from something, and that is the sort of thing that could keep her away from just about everyone. Yet, you could also assume that the NCIS could actually help her, and she could opt in order to stick around and spend most of the season with the rest of the team, working in order to ensure that these issues and demons from the past are completely resolved. Maybe this isn’t a story that could last longer than a season, but it certainly would make for an excellent year-long arc. Gibbs and the team could help Ziva, Ziva could help the team, and she could move on to what’s next.

Is there a way to keep her around longer than a single season?

In theory sure, if you wanted to find a way for her to stay for the sake of the job, while also traveling to wherever Tony is. You’d have to either give her a really compelling reason to stay, or write in that she is constantly moving back and forth from one continent to the next. It’d be difficult, but it’s also still possible in some universe. Mostly, it’s a question of 1) seeing if Cote is even interested in the idea and 2) being able to make it work.

For now, we don’t want to get too excited over the idea — we just got the character back for a single episode, so it’s hard to get excited about anything more than that.

For more news regarding NCIS and Ziva…

Be sure to check out the link here, since that is where you can get a little more discussion about whether or not we could see Tony return for more now that Ziva is back.

How do you think we could see more of Cote de Pablo’s Ziva on NCIS moving forward? Be sure to share in the comments. (Photo: CBS.)

This article was written by Jessica Carter and you can follow her on Twitter here.