'NCIS' Season 17 will see Cote de Pablo's Ziva David return for midseason finale and premiere, will interact more with the team
After appearing in the first two episodes of season 17, Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) has been in the wind again. There was no TiVa reunion with Tony DiNozza (Michael Weatherly) or her daughter, Tali. However, she assured Leroy Gibbs (Mark Harmon) she will be back.
Now, CBS has announced the dates on which Cote de Pablo will appear in the upcoming episodes. Ziva will return next for the midseason finale December 17 and also be part of the January 7 midseason premiere.
There are no details available about what will happen in these episodes. But, considering this is de Pablo's next (and last) two appearances in NCIS Season 17, we can expect the show to make her the central figure for these two episodes.
The episodes have already been shot since Cote de Pablo was spotted back on the NCIS set thanks to a photo posted to Instagram by actor Brian Dietzen, who plays Jimmy Palmer, the medical examiner. The candid snap, shot by their fellow cast member, Diona Reasonover (who plays forensic scientist Kasie Hines) on her phone, shows Dietzen snuggle-hugging Cote de Pablo.
The caption reads: "Man, I do love that I get to work with such good friends. Fun day on set today." The on-set photo also gives us a clue that unlike last time, when de Pablo spent most of her screen time with Mark Harmon's Gibbs, this time she will be interacting a lot more with the rest of the team.
This includes newcomer Diona Reasonover's Kasie Hines for whom Ziva David has been more of a myth than a real person. This will actually be the first time Kasie and Ziva will be in a scene together on NCIS, as they missed each other earlier in season 17.
In an interview with TV Insider, Reasonover teased that Ziva will need the entire team's help this time. "Ziva, Gibbs, [and] the whole team really and truly have to put this case front and center because if they don't, someone will die," she said.
As an NCIS forensic scientist, Kasie will be all business in the upcoming episode. "We [will] see Kasie and Ziva interacting or Kasie talking about Ziva, [but] we [will] never see Kasie in the break room being, 'tell me a cool Ziva story'. We only see Kasie in the middle of a case being like, 'okay, here's the information I know you need.' She might try to impress Ziva a little bit. I'm not going to spoil whether or not it does impress Ziva, but you will see her try."
Reasonover also spoke about her experience working with Cote de Pablo, describing the fan-favorite as "wonderful" and "so fun to work with".
'NCIS' Season 17 airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. only on CBS.