NCIS Season 16 Finale ended with a big surprised with Ziva David's appearance. Now that Cote de Pablo is said to return to NCIS Season 17, would her character stay in the show?
Fans long thought Ziva was already dead, but Season 16 had been hinting her return. There was even a trailer at the recent Super Bowl that teased Pablo's character is still alive and would be seen in the series.
As she made a surprise appearance in Season 16 Finale, Just Jared reported Ziva would still be seen in NCIS Season 17 premiere. The former agent would be giving warnings to help Gibbs (Mark Harmon) in a yet-to-be-revealed situation.
"This surprise moment is just the beginning," executive producers Frank Cardea and Steven D. Binder teased. "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."
In their reunion, Ziva only greeted Gibbs with a "hello." "No time for pleasantries - you're in danger," she said. "Well, aren't you gonna say something?" To his surprise, Harmon's character only let a faint smile and said her name.
According to TV Line, to keep Pablo's return in the series, NCIS Season 16 Finale's scene was not put in the script or call sheet. Only Cardea and Binder got the copies of the final scene pages. Ziva's appearance was also filmed with a skeleton crew at the wee time of the night, and she entered the set through the back gate entrance to maintain secrecy.
Now, will she stay in the whole NCIS Season 17? Express.co.uk noted Ziva's return was only advertised as "guest star," so she might only be seen in a few episodes to help Gibbs. But as the showrunners managed to pull off her return in secret, they could also be hiding the fact that she is back for good.
In an earlier interview, Cardea and Binder admitted they didn't want to say Ziva's appearance would be "sky's the limit." However, as she had been gone for several years - she was last seen in Season 3 - a lot of things could happen. They revealed they have been talking about it for a long while.
CBS already confirmed NCIS Season 17 would be out in autumn. So, fans could expect to know more details about Ziva's return in a couple of weeks. The show would be out on CBS in the United States and on Fox in the U.K.
