‘NCIS’ Actor Brian Dietzen Hypes up Ziva’s Return Tonight: ‘It’s Really Happening’

Brian Dietzen cannot wait for fans to see Ziva’s return in Tuesday’s fall finale of NCIS. The CBS crime procedural is bringing back one of its most beloved characters once again for the beginning of a two-part story wrapping up Ziva’s (Cote de Pablo) latest dangerous adventure. Dietzen, who plays Dr. Palmer on the show, took to Twitter ahead of the fall finale episode to tease the craziness ahead.

The fall finale, titled “The North Pole” will follow as the NCIS team helps Ziva with the “one thing” she has to do before she can reunite with her family, Tony (Michael Weatherly) and daughter Tali.

Fans of the CBS series responded to Dietzen’s enthusiastic message, which also included the pulse-pounding promo for the episode, with excitement.

“I am so excited for your reunion with Ziva. You’re(sic) character brings such positivity and optimism! It’s gonna be good, I can tell,” one fan commented.

“I’ve never heard Gibbs say Uh Oh before [laughing emoji]. But still love my Team Gibbs to the end!” another fan noted.

“It’s awesome to see Cote back as Ziva! She continues to be such an inspiring character!” Another fan gushed.

NCIS showrunners Steven D. Binder and Frank Cardea previously teased the action-packed episode in an interview with CarterMatt where they implied at what Ziva will enlist the team to help her with in this week’s episode.

“We talked about how for years, Ziva’s been out there in the world looking for the person who is trying to kill her,” Binder teased. She’s a loner, but she hasn’t been alone. She’s had people helping her. She has incurred personal debts to these people for that help. Now that Sahar is gone, there are things she needs to do before she can put it behind her.”

“Debts is a bad word, because it feels like she owes someone something transactional,” he added. “It’s more than that. These are people who have been there for Ziva — they aren’t mercenaries. They are very close to her, and out of that closeness, she wants to make sure everything is good with everybody.”

Fans last saw Ziva in the first two episodes of Season 17, where she enlisted Gibbs’ help to capture Sahar after she threatened both of their lives. The investigation led to a moment where the team believed Ziva had switched sides, only for it to all be a trap to catch the terrorist. The episode ended with Sahar and her crew ending their lives before Ziva jetted off to finish the organization once and for all.

How will Ziva’s return affect the team? NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.