NCIS: Tony & Ziva brings NCIS alums Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David back into limelight — but what have they been up to since leaving the Washington, D.C., office?
During the series premiere on Thursday, September 4, fans were transported to modern times where Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) are coparenting their daughter, Tali (Isla Gie), two decades after their meet-cute on NCIS.
Warning: Spoilers below from season 1 of NCIS: Tony & Ziva.
Tony & Ziva takes place in September and October 2025 — at least to start — but flashes back to 2020, a year in which NCIS fans never saw Tony nor Ziva’s life together in France.
The five years between Ziva and Tony’s in-person reunion in January 2020 to solving a cyber-crime case in fall 2025 have been a mystery, until now. The Paramount+ show dives into the missing years between the former couple while slowly peeling back the layers of their dynamic in 2025.
Luckily for fans, Us Weekly is keeping track of all the missing moments and piecing them together weekly.
Scroll down for everything Tony & Ziva revealed about the pair’s off-the-grid years — and where they stand in present-day:
NCIS: Tony & Ziva airs on Paramount+ Thursdays.
2005
During Tony & Ziva’s premiere, fans are taken down memory lane to the special agents’ first meeting.
“Hi, I’m Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. Who are you?” Tony cheekily asks Ziva, during a season 3 episode of NCIS, two years after viewers were introduced to Tony.
Ziva quickly responds, “Ziva David. Massad. We’re going to be working together.”
2013
Flash forward to 2013, when Ziva and Tony can no longer deny their connection. During the memory scene, Tony tells Ziva he is “fighting” for her and while Ziva tells him she must “start over alone,” she reminds him he is “so loved.”
2016
Ziva is presumed dead after a terrorist attack in Israel takes out her family’s home. Shortly after the bombing, Tony learns that he and Ziva share a daughter, Tali, and he leaves NCIS to care for her and find “answers” about Ziva’s death.
NCIS fans learned that Ziva was alive during season 17 of the OG series. According to Tony & Ziva it wasn’t until 2020 that she reunited with Tony and their little girl for the first time.
January 2020
During the show’s first episode, viewers see Ziva’s arrival in France via a flashback. “Hi,” Tony says after Ziva hugs Tali at the airport. “Hi. You’re crying,” she replies. “So are you, on the inside,” Tony teases.
Ziva doesn’t skip a beat, telling her partner, “Yeah, well we goddamn deserve it.” She then kisses Tony after being apart for years.
While the reunion is sweet, Ziva later reveals that before they left the airport, she was triggered by a canister falling on the tarmac and pulled her weapon on foreign police. The incident resulted in Ziva starting therapy, which at the start of Tony & Ziva has been going on for five years.
March 2020
In an episode 2 flashback, fans are transported to Ziva and Tony’s life together raising Tali and living under the same roof, temporarily. After Tali falls asleep in her room, the pair go into Tony’s living room, and he reveals he’s been sleeping on the couch so Ziva can have his bed.
“I’m so sorry,” Tony says after fondly placing his hand on Ziva’s face. “It’s OK,” she replies, noting that going “slow” is “not fun,” but she has a “lot to unpack” in therapy and wants to focus on that.
Tony is supportive, telling her, “I am here whatever you need.”
April 2020
While drinking wine at dinner during an episode 3 flashback, Ziva and Tony share an intimate moment. “Here we are. Two ordinary people with normal jobs,” Ziva says after securing a location for her language school. Tony points out, “I don’t think there’s anything ordinary about Ziva David.”
When Ziva worries, “What if I just can’t be normal?” Tony assures her, “I think that’s where I come in.” He then playfully feeds her fruit and jokes that’s what “ordinary people” enjoy doing.
After dinner, the pair return to their shared space and start making out. “We shouldn’t. … I don’t want to send [Tali] any mixed messages,” Ziva says, while Tony argues, “Maybe us being together is the stability Tali needs.”
Ziva tries to deny her feelings for Tony but ultimately gives in and they sleep together. “You always got me in a lot of trouble,” she teases.
May 2020
In a separate flashback from episode 3, Ziva reveals she got her own apartment as part of her therapy and healing, which crushes Tony. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine,” he tells her after cutting his finger with a knife prepping dinner.
Ziva later wonders in therapy if it was a “mistake” to move out on her own. “I just want to give her as normal a life as possible. There’s never been anything normal about my relationship with Tony,” she confesses.
September 2025
While in a safe house in Italy — as seen during episode 2 — Tony and Ziva must share a bed to accommodate everyone else on their team. The pair wake up cuddling in the morning, but don’t talk about the intimate moment. (Tony and Ziva are on the run while trying to prove that they are being set up for stealing money from Interpol).
