NCIS: Why Cote de Pablo Left in Season 11

NCIS has been no stranger to significant cast turnover in its long history, sometimes leaving viewers wondering if the show could sustain itself without some of its most integral stars. Arguably, the most shocking shake-up to the cast came when Cote de Pablo’s Ziva left NCIS. From her first appearance, Ziva was a big part of the franchise, making her departure all the more heartbreaking for longtime viewers.

It hit fans of the long-running crime series hard when CBS announced Ziva would be leaving the highly successful NCIS. Details on why the character was written out were never fully confirmed, but quotes from de Pablo and lack of confirmation from production have led to conflicting rumors.

Updated by Jordan Iacobucci on July 14, 2024: Ziva David and Anthony DiNozzo are officially returning in their very own NCIS spinoff series, reuniting audiences with the fan-favorite characters years after their departure from the original series. Why did Ziva leave NCIS in the first place, and what has happened to her character in the years since?

Who Was Special Agent Ziva David on NCIS?

Ziva David’s first NCIS appearance was in the Season 3 premiere as an agent of the Israeli Mossad. She was introduced in a tumultuous time on NCIS, shortly after Sasha Alexander’s Caitlin Todd had been suddenly killed by Rudolf Martin’s Ari Haswari in the Season 2 finale. Things were slightly awkward because, as it turned out, Ziva was Ari’s half-sister. But it didn’t take long for Ziva to declare her allegiance to the right cause, shooting Ari to save Gibbs.

After that, Ziva became a liaison officer between her father, the director of Mossad, and NCIS’s Director Jenny Shepard. She served in that role for four years throughout three seasons. She then returned to Mossad but was captured in Somalia while on assignment before Gibbs, Tony, and McGee rescued her. Following this traumatic experience, she resigned from Mossad and became a probationary NCIS agent and a US citizen.

Ziva’s time at NCIS finally came to an end in Season 11. She, Tony, and McGee all resign from NCIS in order to protect Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs from a dangerous political vendetta. However, unlike Tony and McGee, Ziva chose not to rejoin the agency when the issue was resolved. Instead, she returned to Israel and was supposedly killed offscreen in Season 13 during an attack on her father’s farmhouse. Viewers later learned that Ziva and Tony had a daughter named Tali. After finding out the news, Tony also chose to leave NCIS.

Why Did Ziva Leave NCIS?

In a 2013 interview with TV Guide, Cote de Pablo indicated that she left NCIS because of a personal issue: “As far as my decision to leave, that’s a personal thing, and I’d rather leave it at that.” However, in a 2016 Q&A about her departure, she told a different story, which involved how her character would be treated in the future. She noted, “They were going to send [Ziva] back to Israel and assemble her an unfortunate, miserable woman. I said, ‘What do I leave all the women that are watching and following the show?’ And I didn’t think it was fair. So, I said, ‘Unless someone can really write something fantastic for [Ziva], I won’t go back.'”

Even with all of that, fans still don’t have a complete answer as to why Cote de Pablo left NCIS after Season 11. However, some cast members, including David McCallum, were markedly disappointed by her sudden choice to leave. Regardless, fans were unhappy with how Ziva was written off and clamored for a cameo appearance for years. Nevertheless, for many years, Ziva was completely absent from any of the shows in the NCIS universe, killing any hopes for a return — that is, until Season 17.

When Does Ziva David Return To NCIS?

While NCIS had spent many years claiming that Ziva was dead, a shocking twist in Season 16 revealed that the character had actually faked her own death and was still active somewhere in the shadows. Finally, six years after her departure and apparent offscreen death, Cote de Pablo’s Ziva David returned in the Season 17 premiere “Out of the Darkness.” In a four-episode arc broken up throughout the season, Ziva teamed up with her old colleagues at NCIS, including agents Gibbs and McGee, in an attempt to find the individuals who had attempted to kill her just before she went underground.

Ziva must once again embrace her history as a ruthless assassin in order to defeat the enemy hunting her down. But first, she must regain the trust of her former colleagues who, despite being glad to see that their old friend is not dead, are wary of trusting her after she lied about her fate for so long. Eventually, she is able to convince them to help her in tracking down the mysterious “Phineas,” who seems to want her dead.

Ziva’s final appearance comes in the eleventh episode of Season 17, entitled “In the Wind.” Therein, she, Gibbs, and the NCIS squad make one last stand against Phineas. However, it is revealed that the true mastermind behind the scheme to kill Ziva is actually Sarah Johnson, a seemingly innocent civilian who was secretly the terrorist Mira Sahar Azam — and Phineas’s mother. With the help of her old team, Ziva kills Mira before she accomplishes her mission, finally freeing the former NCIS agent to live in peace once more. Ziva takes the opportunity to reunite with Anthony DiNozzo and their daughter, Tali, once more, though this tender moment occurs offscreen.

What Will NCIS’s Ziva And DiNozzo Spinoff Be About?

Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo are officially returning to the NCIS franchise for a spinoff series starring Anthony DiNozzo and Ziva David. Details are still sparse on the upcoming series, but audiences are excited to finally catch up with their favorite crimefighting couple years after their departure from the original NCIS series. Although Ziva is confirmed to have reunited with DiNozzo after her return in Season 17 of NCIS, the two characters haven’t been onscreen together in over ten years. The upcoming series could follow the two former special agents as they catch up with one another, trying to get back on the same page after so long apart.

Moreover, DiNozzo and Ziva have a daughter, Tali, whom they are presumably still raising in Paris. The upcoming series could see DiNozzo and Ziva attempting to balance parenthood with their exciting lives as special agents, blending the action genre with family themes that would make the spinoff distinct in the expanding NCIS franchise. The series could also explore Tony and Ziva’s backstories in greater depth, especially as the NCIS universe delves deeper into the past for other characters, including Mark Harmon’s Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

The series could also see Tony and Ziva reunite with other fan-favorite characters who have departed the original NCIS series over the years. Audiences would be ecstatic to see Gibbs return for a cameo, especially if it meant that he could reunite with two of his top agents. Pauley Perrette’s Abby Sciuto has also been conspicuously absent ever since her departure from NCIS in Season 15 and would be more than welcome in the upcoming spinoff. Other minor characters could also return, including Jennifer Esposito’s Alex Quinn or Emily Wickersham’s Eleanor Bishop. Even if none of these characters appear in the upcoming series, Tony & Ziva sets a precedent that could see NCIS bring back characters for their own spinoffs after departing the flagship show.

Whatever form the spinoff takes, audiences are ecstatic to see Very Special Agents Anthony DiNozzo and Ziva David interact again.