‘NCIS’: Ziva ‘Betrays’ Gibbs, McGee During Terrorist Threat Investigation, and Fans Have Thoughts

NCIS officially reunited Ziva David with the team in a high-stakes episode where they all worked together to stop a possible terror threat. The Season 17 Premiere left fans in shock after Ziva (Cote de Pablo) pulled a gun on the Sahar, the woman who has been trying to kill her, and Gibbs (Mark Harmon) getting in the middle after she revealed a U.S. Senator would die if she did.

Spoilers ahead for NCIS Season 17, Episode 2: “Into the Light”

Tuesday’s episode began minutes after the cliffhanger ending, with Gibbs and Ziva barging into a local sheriff station to hold Sahar as they interrogate her after claiming a possible threat on a senator’s life. Ziva believes the woman is bluffing and wants to kill her then and there, leading her and Gibbs to have a tense war of words.

Vance’s superiors are skeptical of Sahar’s threats so the team is entrusted with finding evidence of it being real. Bishop is noticeably missing when the team is briefed.

Ziva and Sahar have an argument where the terrorist accuses her of choosing to run away from her loved ones when she went undercover. Ziva storms out of the room and is met by Bishop (Emily Wickersham). Their conversation is interrupted when a helicopter arrives to take them away from the station.

At the headquarters, Sloane (Maria Bello), McGee (Sean Murray) and Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) find out Sahar was actually about to take over the organization left behind Ziva’s evil family members but something happened to stop. The reveal comes after news breaks of a suicide bomber being killed before it exploded inside of a Senate event.

The team secures the event and the senators in attendance as Bishop warns McGee he shouldn’t get his hopes up about a sweet reunion with her, because of how much she has changed.

Back at Gibbs’ basement, Ziva struggles with memories of when she killed her brother in the same location many years before. She reunites with Ducky (David McCallum) and swears she will not stop until the threat on her life is done. At that point, an interview between Sloane and Sahar reveals there will be another attack, before news breaks of a second suicide bomber being killed.

Palmer (Brian Dietzen) finds a connection between Sahar and a White extremist group, but Ziva does not recognize the when it happens. McGee tries to convince her to come back “home” to work on the case.

She has a heartfelt reunion in the office, recalling memories of working with her longtime love Tony (Michael Weatherly) before she meets Torres for the first time. Kasie then shocks the pair when she reveals that both of the possible attacks were faked.

When they find a suspect, they realize Ziva bugged the room before heading out to take control of the investigation. She and Torres then have a decoy fight to lure the man out of hiding.

The investigation leads to a suspect in the police but he seems to have already fled the country. The lull in the case gives Gibbs and Ziva the opportunity to has out her resentment for him about him not trying to find her after she presumed dead. Kasie finds out the bombers and the cop’s disappearance are all connected to calls made from Ducky’s phone, which Ziva asked to borrow earlier in the episode. The clue seems to point at Ziva secretly working with Sahar all along.

The team later tries to call Ziva but her phone is disabled along with Ducky’s. Vance (Rocky Carroll) says whatever happened they walked right into Sahar’s plan, and now she is missing as well. They interrogate a traitor who was working with Sahar and he reveals Ziva and Sahar are working together. Ziva made a deal with Sahar to save Gibbs’ life, and for her to return to her family.

The man reveals Ziva is helping Sahar reveal Ari’s terrorist group using information she stole from NCIS. Bishop and Gibbs believe Ziva didn’t do it maliciously and they manage to find her at the station where the episode started. Ziva reveals she transferred the assets but alerted authorities, meaning she didn’t actually betray the team. At that point Sahar orders “Plan C” and makes her men kill her and themselves.

With the mystery of the growing organization still a threat, Ziva jets off to finish her mission on her own once and for all at the end of the episode. The hour ends with Gibbs getting a call from Tony, and Ziva promising to tell her love everything once she is really safe.

What did you think of the eventful episode? NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.