WARNING: This article contains spoilers for NCIS season 16 and 17 that may influence your enjoyment in discovering the plotlines. Read at your own risk.
Cote de Pablo will be part of the NCIS season 17 premiere this fall. The actress will be back to reprise her role as Ziva David, who was one of the main characters in the earlier seasons.
As seen in the NCIS season 16 finale, Ziva is still alive despite her fateful end in 2013. She appeared to Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon) to warn him that he is in grave danger and looked stunned to see his old friend.
According to E! News, the NCIS producers made real efforts to keep this guest appearance a big surprise and filmed De Pablo's seasons in the midnight with most of the crew off to work. They also had to let De Pablo enter a different site at the studio to make sure that nothing spills to the public.
According to TV Line, this NCIS season 16 finale scene was not part of the call sheet, and only the showrunners had the copies of the pages with Ziva's scenes. The only actor present with De Pablo was Harmon.
"This surprise moment is just the beginning," showrunners Frank Cardea and Steven D. Binder said. "We are thrilled to share that Cote de Pablo will guest star in the NCIS Season 17 premiere this fall, as Ziva's warning to Gibbs unfolds."
De Pablo will not be permanently back on NCIS season 17. What's certain is she will be in the premiere episode, but it's still unclear if she will have more than one guest appearance.
The actress said when she left NCIS in season 11 that she's open to returning to the show if there was a compelling reason to do so. She wanted the storyline to be fitting to her character's return.
De Pablo shocked fans in 2013 when she confirmed that she was exiting NCIS season 11. In later interviews, the actress revealed that she departed from the series because the storyline was no longer doing her character any justice.
In NCIS season 13, viewers of the series learned that Ziva had a relationship with Tony (played by Michael Weatherly) that bore a daughter, Tali. The NCIS team learned, however, that Ziva was supposedly killed when her farmhouse exploded, but her body was not found. This led Tony to leave the team to look after Tali when Weatherly decided to exit the show as well.
NCIS season 16 has been dropping hints that Ziva was still alive at the beginning of the season. The producers had been hinting all season long that they were throwing the story out there for nothing and fans of the series will finally have clarity about Ziva's whereabouts in the least three years in NCIS season 17.
