'NCIS' Season 17: Adam Eshel was key to Ziva David's incognito existence and a dependable ally these last few years
After NCIS' Season 17 premiere, we are still not very clear about the threat Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) faces but we have a little more information about how she managed to disappear. Along with Ziva, we have another old face pop up - Adam Eshel (Damon Dayoub), Ziva's old boyfriend. He only appears in Ziva's flashbacks but it is obvious that she depended on him in what was one of her weakest moments.
After the farmhouse bombing, when Ziva breaks down and says: "I am weak", he tells Ziva, "We will work together. We will find this threat against you, and we will neutralize it." He adds that weakness is not accepting help when she clearly needs it.
This means that he was actively helping Ziva stay underground all these years and will have the most information about what she has been up to. While Ziva has been working alone, as is apparent in her conversations with Leroy Gibbs (Mark Harmon), one of her few trusted allies during this time of exile has been Eshel.
So, it is worth wondering how far Eshel is involved in Ziva's life at the current moment. The two obviously share some chemistry. Could Ziva going undercover have changed their "friendly" relationship into something more? Danger and trauma can make even strangers turn to each other not to mention people who already have a shared romantic history.
For "Tiva" fans, Adam Eshel could represent a potential romantic rival to Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly). In case you are fuzzy about who Eshel is, he was first introduced in season 10 episode 21, 'Berlin' as Ziva's "contact" and a Mossad agent.
Later in episode 23 of the same season, Ziva revealed that she had slept with Eshel once "in a moment of weakness" after her father's death when she was in Israel. In the past, Eshel has always acted in Ziva's best interest.
For example, when Ziva goes AWOL in season 11 after she returns to Israel, Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) asks for Eshel's help tracking her down because she might be in danger. He doesn't hesitate to help, knowing the threat is real.
But as soon as he realizes Ziva has gone into hiding because she wants to and not because she has been coerced, he stops giving Tony any leads. So this isn't the first time he has helped her disappear. However, "Tiva" fans can take comfort in the fact that Ziva David has only spoken about finding a way back to Tony and her daughter, and she is ready to kill Sahar to do it.
'NCIS' airs on Tuesday at 8 pm on CBS.