Over the course of 19 seasons, NCIS has seen a number of characters come and go, including Cote de Pablo’s Ziva David. Ziva is still one of the most popular Naval Cr1minal Investigative Service agents eight seasons after her departure.
Fans are still hoping to see her with her boyfriend, Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly).
Despite her popularity, Ziva’s storyline on NCIS was tragic throughout her seven seasons. It took until season 17 for the former Mossad agent to find happiness with Tony and their daughter Tali.
Here are seven of Cote de Pablo’s most heartbreaking Ziva David moments.
7. Tony murd3rs Ziva’s boyfriend in Season 6 of ‘NCIS.’
Tony met Ziva’s boyfriend, Mossad agent Michael Rivkin, for the first time in season 6’s penultimate episode, “Semper Fidelis.” When Tony tries to arrest Michael, the situation quickly escalates and the two begin to fight at Ziva’s apartment. Tony ends up k1ll1ng him in the end. And Ziva arrives just as the shots are fired.
6. The ramifications of ‘Semper Fidelis’
The heartbreak continues in the season 6 finale “Aliyah,” which depicts the aftermath of the previous episode’s events. Ziva is accompanied by Tony, Gibbs (Mark Harmon), and NCIS Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) as she flies to Israel with Michael’s body.
This is where Tony is questioned by Mossad Director Eli David, Ziva’s father (Michael Nouri). And Ziva stands by, enraged at her fellow agent’s decision to k1ll rather than injure Michael. When Tony asks if she loved him, she says she doesn’t know.
Ziva eventually decides to remain in Israel and rejoin Mossa. The episode concludes with Ziva embarking on a mission to apprehend a terr0rist cell. The final scene ends on a cliffhanger, with Ziva being tortured for information on NCIS in the Cape of Africa.
5. ‘NCIS’ viewers meet Ziva when she murd3rs her brother.
Fans first met Ziva in the season 3 premiere, “K1lling Ari,” which was split into two parts. The hunt for Ari Haswari, the assassin of Agent Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander), has begun in the aftermath of her d3ath. When Ziva arrives at NCIS, she claims that her fellow Mossad agent is innocent and is on an undercover mission. As the story progresses, it appears that she is correct.
Ari is Ziva’s brother, and she is certain he would never k1ll anyone. However, she soon realizes that he has become misguided and begins to doubt his innocence. When Ari arrives at Gibbs’ house to assassinate him, he confesses to k1lling Agent Todd and claims Gibbs reminded him of his father, whom he despises. Ziva shoots her brother in the forehead and k1lls him instantly, just as Ari is about to k1ll Gibbs.
4. The season 7 premiere of ‘NCIS,’ titled ‘Truth or Consequences,’
The seventh season began with “Truth or Consequences,” which fans and critics consistently ranked as one of the best NCIS episodes of all time. As a result, Ziva needed to be rescued after a Mossad mission went wrong.
The episode begins with DiNozzo and McGee (Sean Murray) kidnapped. But this is all a ruse, as they purposefully got themselves arrested in order to rescue Ziva. Who has been missing for four months in Somalia and has been tortured beyond recognition? They eventually track her down. She was, however, willing to d1e alone in captivity in order to atone for her mistakes.
3. The ‘d3ath’ of Ziva in Season 13
This heartbreaking Ziva moment occurred even though de Pablo was not on screen. When Weatherly was set to leave the show in season 13, the news that Ziva had been murd3red during an att4ck on her father’s Israeli farmhouse prompted his departure.
But Ziva’s alleged d3ath was not the episode’s only heartbreaking moment. This was the moment Tony discovered Ziva had a daughter named Tali, of which he was the father. Every viewer was moved to tears when they saw Tony meet Tali while believing Ziva was d3ad.
Fans didn’t learn that Ziva had survived the att4ck until season 17. She was finally able to live in Paris with Tony and raise their daughter after going deep undercover for years.
2. Ziva loses her father during Season 10 of ‘NCIS.’
In season 10, Ziva reconnected with her estranged father. Throughout the series, he was the source of her feelings of alienation. But it appeared that they were finally reconciling and resuming their relationship.
However, the reconciliation is cut short during a dinner at the Vance home in the episode “Shabbat Shalom.” Eli makes an emotional toast before they begin to eat. As a result, Ziva storms out of the dining room in rage. A shooter opens fire on the Vance home, k1lling Ziva’s father Eli and Vance’s wife Jackie as she steps outside to call Gibbs (Paula Newsome). When Ziva discovers her father is no longer alive, she rushes to him, sobbing.
1. Ziva bids Tony farewell at the airport
De Pablo’s final episode as a series regular was “Past, Present, and Future” in season 11. She left the show after the second episode of the season and didn’t return until the season 16 finale, when she made a sh0cking reveal in the final seconds.
De Pablo, on the other hand, broke fans’ hearts in her final episode as a regular cast member when she said goodbye to Tony at the airport in Israel. He respects her desire to stay and start over, but that heartbreaking moment is one of Tiva’s most memorable.
Related News – Be sure to get some more news when it comes to NCIS.