NCIS: Tony & Ziva hasn’t featured any cameos from the regular NCIS show, which is why it’s working so well!
Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for NCIS: Tony & Ziva.
NCIS: Tony & Ziva is a departure from other NCIS shows. For one, rather than CBS, it airs on Paramount+. Another is that it features more racy content than networks would allow in terms of language and a steamy hookup between the main characters. Yet it also has the same fun and action of the other NCIS shows.
The pilot sets things up as Tony Dinozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) are living in Paris, raising daughter Tali, although not together as a couple. Each episode features flashbacks to the duo reuniting in 2019 and how various issues broke them apart again.
The main plotline has the pair framed for a cyberattack and forced on the run. At first, they believed that their old Interpol friend Henry Rayner-Hunt (James D’Arcy) was behind this, working with rogue Interpol agent Martine (Nassima Benchicou). Tony and Ziva discovered that the supposedly dead former Interpol chief Jonah (Julian Ovenden) was alive and imprisoned under a different name.
The pair went to break Jonah out, only to discover too late that they were wrong, as Jonah was the bad guy all along. Henry proved he was on their side, helping them escape, but tragically was killed by Jonah.
That’s a bold move as the season hits its halfway point. Notably, at the moment, we have yet to see any cameos from other NCIS characters and that may be better for the show!
Why Tony & Ziva doesn’t need NCIS cameos
The series did address the NCIS connections in the first episode. As the pair start to go on the run, Ziva notes how it feels like old times and “I almost want to contact McGee for information.” Tony responds that even if McGee could ignore a red notice on them from Interpol, “what’s he supposed to do from Washington?”
That was a great way to explain why the series wouldn’t have NCIS cameos. It’s likely that McGee and Vance are aware of the pair hunted (especially when they posed as NCIS agents to gain access to a factory), but the red tape and the politics of going against Interpol are keeping them from helping even under the radar. Interpol likely has an eye on any past allies of Tony and Ziva, so McGee, Vance, and Palmer are unable to help.
It’s also why other NCIS teams couldn’t help out and that also would make little sense for them to do so. After all, Tony only worked with NCIS: Los Angeles and New Orleans for one episode each and has never met the Hawaii team. Having one of those characters suddenly show up wouldn’t work for the series and would only be a distraction.
The fact is, the show doesn’t need any NCIS cameos to work. Sure, it’s fun to imagine Gibbs (Mark Harmon) suddenly racing in to help save the day. Yet the series rests on the two leads with Weatherly and de Pablo wonderfully back into old form as the bickering pair.
It’s not just the action and mystery as the flashbacks do a fine job of showing Ziva’s PTSD from her captivity, she and Tony trying to reunite, only to fail, yet still good parents. That emotional core is what fans wanted without cluttering it with some brief cameos from past NCIS cast members.
It also allows a focus on the duo’s supporting cast of loyal aide Claudette (Amita Suman), shady hacker Boris (Maximilian Osinski) and his scene-stealing girlfriend Fruzsi (Anne-Marie Waldeck). The trio is all great, helping our heroes out, and it’s better to show some fresh new characters rather than trotting out an old face to aid in the show.
The series is hitting its stride now with Tony and Ziva knowing who’s after them and now a personal stake in taking them down. That will lead to a likely explosive finale, and proving that Tony & Ziva only require the two title characters rather than other NCIS heroes to work wonderfully.
NCIS: Tony & Ziva streams new episodes on Thursdays on Paramount+.