'NCIS' Fans Disappointed Michael Weatherly's Tony Did Not Return for Ziva's Sendoff

Fans of NCIS ended up not getting the reunion they'd hoped for. Tonight's episode of the police procedural had featured the return of Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) who was on the verge of finishing her undercover mission, which would have ended with her getting back to her family. This lead fans to believe that Michael Weatherly would return as Tony, which ended up not being the case.

Naturally, with their hopes dashed, viewers were quick to unload their unhappiness at the significant lack of Tony in the last installment.

"Ziva and Tony need to come back to the show full time," wrote one fan on Twitter, as another added that they "felt like something was missing with a Tony and Ziva reunion." A third even suggested they do "a spin-off of Ziva and Tony in Paris" to help placate the long-running show's audience who are ready for some closure on that front.

The lack of a reunion comes just a month after NCIS showrunners Frank Cardea and Steven Binder had talked about the fact that Tony knew about Ziva, which might have (and could still be) leading to some kind of on-screen reunion.

"We were playing a game of Operation with this," Binder teased to TV Insider at the time. "On the one hand, we wanted to see a reunion and we think the audience wants to see a reunion and if there has been a full-throated reunion in the past, that's a disservice to the storytelling on some level. On the other hand, when you're a co-parent, letting your co-parent believe you're dead is a pretty rough pill to swallow."

He added that Tony knowing Ziva was alive "doesn't mean there's been a relationship there, which still gives us space to do a reunion."

Cardea also added to the speculation by promising that tonight's episode would be "getting into some of" the Ziva/Tony dynamic but didn't promise any specifics.

"In terms of the effects on the relationship going forward, that's a trajectory that wouldn't be answered in one episode anyway," he said.

That same month, de Pablo herself teased that Ziva's soon-to-be-concluded story arc would be a "different walk away," before adding, "I'll leave it at that. It's a beautiful walk away."

NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS