Michael Weatherly is suiting up as Tony DiNozzo once again for NCIS Season 24, and on the surface, that's a slam dunk for the long-running procedural. Tony is one of the franchise's most beloved figures, and his return offers a nostalgic trip back to the show's glory days. But there's a wrinkle: Tony isn't the same carefree bachelor fans remember. He's now a devoted father and partner to Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), and his return without her raises a question the show can't simply brush aside.
For years, NCIS kept Tony and Ziva in a state of perpetual will-they-won't-they, with Ziva leaving first and Tony following soon after. Their off-screen reunion was hinted at but never fully explored—until the spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva finally gave them the happy ending fans had been craving. That series, which aired on Paramount+, showed the couple confronting their past and choosing each other and their daughter Tali. By the finale, they were a family, together at last.
Now, NCIS Season 24 is bringing Tony back for a multi-episode arc, not just a quick cameo. According to reports, Tony establishes a D.C. satellite office for his security firm, Salus Mondiale, and gets pulled back into NCIS when he catches wind of something suspicious at his old stomping grounds. It's a solid setup, but it immediately begs the question: where's Ziva?
Showrunner Steven D. Binder has offered an explanation: Tali is attending boarding school in the U.S., and Tony has moved to Washington to be near her. Ziva is also in the country, staying close to Tali's school. So, they haven't split up or undone the ending of Tony & Ziva—they're just geographically separated for now. That's a reasonable in-universe reason, but it doesn't fully solve the narrative tension.
Tony still has deep ties at the Navy Yard, with old colleagues like Gibbs, McGee, and others still around, even as the team has evolved. If he's going to spend an extended period working alongside them, it would feel odd for Ziva to exist only as an off-screen mention. Weatherly himself has stressed that NCIS: Tony & Ziva is canon, so Tony is returning as the man who walked away with Ziva and Tali as his family. The show can't have it both ways—acknowledging that spinoff's significance while treating Tony's family as an afterthought.
Of course, no one expects Ziva to become a regular again, and Tali doesn't need to be a recurring character either. But if Tony is going to be back at NCIS for months, there needs to be some acknowledgment that the people waiting for him a few hours away are the most important part of his life. Otherwise, his return risks feeling disconnected from the character's growth.
The boarding-school setup does leave the door open for Ziva to pop up later, and it's a convenient way to explain her absence without breaking up the couple. But it also feels like a workaround—CBS wanted Tony back, but de Pablo wasn't available. If that remains the case for the entire season, the show risks repeating the same mistake it made for years: keeping Tony and Ziva apart when fans just want to see them together.
Tony's story has changed. He's a father, he's settled with Ziva, and he's built a life outside the Navy Yard. Bringing him back should be an opportunity to explore how that life has changed him, not to pretend it doesn't exist. Seeing Tony back at the Navy Yard is exciting, especially after all the franchise's recent upheaval, but NCIS already did the hard work of getting Tony and Ziva to a good place. The question is how long the show can keep Tony away from Ziva before her absence becomes the story.
