‘NCIS’ season 11 spoilers: Will Michael Weatherly’s Tony ever move on without Ziva?
We know the question above is a controversial one, but it is one that some “NCIS” fans are currently asking. Given where we are right now when it comes to the Tony character, where is he going to go from here when it comes to Tony’s personal life? At the moment, the future of Cote de Pablo’s Ziva is unclear; while we would love to sit here and say that she is endgame for the character, we can’t. It all depends on whether or not all parties involved can make a return visit happen.
But until then, you do have to wonder whether or not there are plans to eventually give Tony another love interest. We know it’s not happening in the near future and it definitely doesn’t look like new character Bishop is a possibility, but showrunner Gary Glasberg tells TVLine that down the road, this could be something that the writers try to explore:
“I’m curious to see what’s next for him in his personal life, but we’re not going to rush into anything. Much like a real relationship, it takes time to recover and to figure out what’s next, and the one thing we’re really trying to do is approach this from the standpoint of as if it’s real. You have to give people” – the audience included – “time to ‘mourn’ and deal with their feelings, and then re-embrace why they watch NCIS.“
Odds are that if such a story is approached, it could be in the later part of this season since it’s not going to be too soon. At least for the time being, the writers are allowing Tony to process his emotions in the same way that anyone would who was trying to get over a great love. He’s just trying to make his life work for the time being, and once he gets his head on straight again, he will figure out what to do from there.
What do you want to see happen on “NCIS” the rest of the season? Just be sure to share some of your thoughts below! Meanwhile, take a look here if you are curious in watching a preview for next week’s all-new episode.
Photo: CBS
Christine
October 28, 2013 @ 6:59 pm
I see a lot of opportunity for the possibility of Cote’s character Ziva to return, if she decides to. There’s a lot of story lines that could be used. She may have managed to go after the man who was responsible for her father’s death, but was he just hired to do the job? This new director for the Mosod seems to be raising a lot of concern for NCIS so maybe Director Vance has assigned her to go back to Mosod as a double agent to find out exactly what this new director is up to. Then with all of the grieving that Ziva still needs to do maybe she feels that her feelings for Tony will not only distract her, but that she’s also afraid to lose him to a killer. As we have already seen during Ziva’s final two or three episodes, she had a bucket list of thngs that she wanted to accomplish before she passes away. This leaves it open for the story line of Tiva to resurface. She’s openly admitted that she wants to be a wife and mother and deep down she knows that Tony is the man that she wants to be with. Over the past seasons we have seen extra footage from previous episodes that we didn’t see at the time. So maybe Tony and Ziva not only showed a kiss for the first time, but maybe they could have been intimate and Ziva’s pregnant without Tony knowing about it until her character somehow resurfaces.
Lorraine64
October 28, 2013 @ 6:15 pm
I think one of the main problems is that we don’t know what Tony is supposed to be feeling since we’ve never been told exactly what Tony and Ziva felt for each other. Everything that might have happened between them has always been left to our imaginations since the writers refused to get off the fence. Now we’re stuck in a bit of a limbo. I personally would have preferred that Tony and Ziva had declared their feelings in ‘Past Present and Future’, Ziva had given a decent reason for leaving, some idea of what she was planning to do next and whether she was going to keep in touch. Followed by a few episodes with the characters dealing with her departure – bearing in mind that by the start of the series everyone, other than Tony, hadn’t seen her for four months and so to some extent had started to get used to her absence anyway. After which Tony might have had tough a time dealing with her departure, until something or other in the plot pulls him out of it, realising that he needs to accept the situation and move on. A distracted agent is a liability both to himself and the rest of the team. I’m not anxious for Tony to move straight into another relationship, but it might be nice to see him with someone else even if just for a few episodes – after all the next relationship doesn’t have to be the love of his life, Gibbs has had several relationships across the course of the show. Just something that gives him hope that he’ll ultimately find someone else. As others have said, it’s not fair to tie the character or the actor to the memory of Ziva. In the event there is an opportunity for Cote to guest at a later date then that can be addressed by the writers at the time.
marysue
October 26, 2013 @ 5:26 pm
A second thought….They should have some kind of conversation in one of the upcoming episodes that addresses how everyone is feeling about Ziva being gone. Tony said it well this past week that no one will say her name and is acting like she is dead. I hope when Emily Wickersham (Bishop) comes on board she has some conversation with Tony and the others acknowledging the hurt they feel and that she isn’t going to replace Ziva but will do her best to help the team etc etc . I also hope that she is the one that can get Tony to release his feelings and make peace and be able to move on. I’m not anxious for Dinozzo to have a romance so soon but it will be good to see the characters liven up more. Ziva had a lot of difficulty accepting the fact that the others at NCIS really value human life. They proved that by rescuing her in Somalia. Her life in Mossaud taught her that everyone is expendable and the mission always comes first even at the expense of abusing others. Now that all being said it will be interesting if Cote does reprise the role at some future point because it will be a “new” Ziva and if Tony has moved on it will another interesting twist to see how this goes down.
marysue
October 26, 2013 @ 5:11 pm
I miss Cote a lot on the show but everyone is right, we have to move on and so do the characters. Since it is unclear whether Cote will return that is just how it has to be. If she had been more specific like saying she needed a leave of absence for a bit rather than up and quitting that would have made it much easier for everyone including the writers. Ziva then could have gone into hiding to get away from those threatening her and then brought back when Cote was ready to resume the role. If Cote had then turned it into a permanent departure then we would have been able to “leave Ziva in Israel” without all the drama.
Bellz Webster
October 26, 2013 @ 6:05 am
If Ziva returns, I think she should tell Tony that she loves things ABOUT him but she isn’t in love WITH him. To me it always looked as though he was more interested in them as a couple more than she did. Ziva never treated him like she was in love with him. It will make it a bit awkward now that they have kissed if she returns full time. That’s fine by me if she does return, but i don’t want the Tiva stuff to start up again. I would prefer if she returns to only be in a recurring roll rather than a full time one. That would just start up all crap again of now what will they do…blah. blah. blah. I would like her to be head of another section perhaps where they once in awhile have to work with NCIS, like Homeland or such, and she could also be ‘borrowed’ from that section if needed, for special circumstances. Maybe there could be a Mossad section in the States. That way she gets time off but is still in the show 3 – 6 eps a season. I don’t want Tony to have a new interest at anytime. I want him to come to terms about her and see it was more him than her. I like the show with just the 3 of them. They don’t need anyone else. No grown man should pine in hope for something that should never be.
Chrissy
October 25, 2013 @ 5:27 pm
In the words of the great orator, Leroy Jethro Gibbs –
“Ziva wanted to move on so let’s move on.”
She’s gone and more than likely not returning anytime soon. It’s time for the show, the characters and the fans to move forward.
NoChance
October 25, 2013 @ 4:24 pm
The show can’t keep tying a character that’s still there to a character that’s gone – on the off-chance that she might show up again someday. It would stagnate not only Tony but Michael Weatherly as an actor. I wouldn’t wish that fate on either of them – character or actor.
Ziva made it clear that she’s gone. None of the characters know where she is or how to get in touch with her – her choice.
From the looks of the preview for next week, Tony appears to have made progress when he helped Anton. Evidence of this is that he did finally fall asleep and with a smile on his face. He’s made peace with himself (with a little help from Gibbs) that he’s not responsible for her decision to make a new life for herself back home in Israel.
annsan
October 25, 2013 @ 4:22 pm
It’s past time to lock the character of ziva away – Cote quit. Move on already!
Beyond that this whole dragging out the tiva nonsense is tedious at best. Ziva is NOT the love of Tony’s life – never has been & never will be.
Let fans see the wonderful layers of Tony that we got a glimpse of in this week’s ep. Text book reactions by the child of an alcoholic parent – feels the need to fix everything in his world and that of his friends & then experiences tremendous guilt when he can’t fix something (like ziva’s choice to stay in Israel).
But it’s past time now for the moping around the bullpen to end & the characters to move on.
Am excited about Bishop & hope to never hear ziva’s name mentioned again
Danielle
October 25, 2013 @ 3:52 pm
I think Tony needs to be free of Ziva, and I think the show needs to make that clear by having Tony pursue a relationship before the end of the season. Leaving the door open for de Pablo to return and Tiva to restart is way too iffy, and saddles Tony with the dead weight of a character who may never return.
Why should the show have to proceed as if Ziva were still there? They have the chance to re-energize the show with a new vibe. They should take it. As any successful corporation knows, if you’re not constantly reinventing aspects of yourself, you’ll become a dinosaur and soon extint.
I feel sorry for Michael Weatherly as an actor if he is tied for the life of the rest of the series to a memory (one that new watchers won’t understand and could become bored with rather quickly). The character is gone. The actress is gone. Time to move on!
marie
October 25, 2013 @ 2:15 pm
Tony in contact with Ziva just so those of us who love TIVA can have hope.
Lyn
October 25, 2013 @ 2:29 pm
Agreed! I think that would be the best thing at this point for TIVA lovers. And it keeps the spirit of Ziva in the show at the same time. Maybe they could text or talk on the phone “secretly” without the team knowing…. don’t know I’m not a writer but I think that’s the way to go – not another relationship. Ultimately the show is due to end in the next season or so (just my GUT) so Cote could come back in the end and they could be together.
annsan
October 25, 2013 @ 4:24 pm
It’s past time for the show to quit pandering to tiva fans. Want tiva then read fan fic. We’re finally getting glimpses of all the other relationships in the show that were grounded in canon and mean something. love the glimpses of the Abby/Tony friendship & the Ducky/Tony. Now time to bring back Jimmy/Tony & further develop Tony/Gibbs & Tony/McGee
rosa
October 25, 2013 @ 6:53 am
MW is my favorite actor on the show and one of the main reasons I’ve stuck with it. He does a great job but TONY looked so lonely without ziva. Miss Cote a lot.
JETHROluvsTONY
October 25, 2013 @ 2:58 am
Tony and Gibbs belong TOGETHER – move NCIS to HBO and give this girl what she wants…….lots of hot TIBBS action………….
;-P