NCIS season 17: Rocky Carroll on Cote de Pablo’s return as Ziva

NCIS season 17 is coming up this fall, and obviously one of the things that we’re the most excited to see is the return of Cote de Pablo as Ziva. We certainly know that we’re not the only person who feels that way! We’d previously heard Maria Bello talk about how excited she was on the other side of the finale cliffhanger, and now, Rocky Carroll is talking more about how it all came together in the first place.

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In a new interview from this past week’s new episode of The Talk, Rocky opened up about how far the show went to ensure that Cote’s appearance was a secret — we’d already heard about the skeleton crew who filmed it and the actress arriving in secret to film it, but he adds another layer to the surprise by saying that originally, production shot a different ending to the season so that the majority of the crew would be none the wiser:

“I’ve learned [from] being in this business in a while that when a secret leaks, it usually comes from the set. One of the things that I thought was really ingenuous that they did was shoot a false ending … we shot a scene that was never going to air to begin with. Cast members, everybody [else] finish the scene [and] the producers come up and say ‘thank you all for a wonderful season. We’ll see you next year.’ Then, about an hour later, [a small group of people] and Cote come and shoot the scene.”

NCIS is far from the first show to film a fake ending, as Game of Thrones did this in abundance for its most-recent season. Other TV shows and movies have chosen to do this recently — it’s a way to steer people off-base and have it so that your secret stays truly this. Impressively, the CBS show pulled this off — the secret of Cote’s return was truly that, and one of the biggest jaw-droppers of the entire May sweeps.

Moving into the start of season 17 production this summer, we’re sure it is a relief for everyone that they don’t have to worry about any secrets anymore. Everyone just knows now that Cote is coming back for the first episode and nobody has to keep it under wraps.

For some more NCIS discussion right now…

Check out the link here, since that’s where you can get some other news when it comes to how the Ziva cliffhanger story could progress over the season.

What are you the most excited to see with Cote de Pablo back on NCIS? Be sure to share right now in the comments, and check back soon for some other news. (Photo: CBS.)

This article was written by Jessica Carter. Be sure to follow her on Twitter.