‘NCIS’ Season 17: Is Ziva Coming Back After Episode 2 Cliffhanger?

Ziva David left town once again to finish the mission that caused her to be presumed dead for half a decade. Will the fan-favorite character be back? NCIS fans were up in arms after the conclusion of Tuesday’s new episodes, worried Cote de Pablo’s character’s storyline is done after Ziva walked away from Gibbs at the end of the hour.

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

Fans need not worry about Ziva disappearing after the two action-packed episodes, as de Pablo has already been announced to be returning for two more episodes later on in Season 17.

“There will be four episodes in this season, two early on and two fall/winter,” series co-showrunner Frank Cardea said in an interview for Parade.

Tuesday’s all new episodes showed the team’s twisty investigation into a series of terrorist attacks happening in Washington, related to Sahar, the woman who threatened to murder Ziva and Gibbs. The team later found out Ziva was actually working with the dangerous terrorist to secure information at the headquarters, after making a deal with Sahar to secure her safety so Ziva could reunite with her family.

The big reveal reached its climax when Sahar and Ziva reunited in a police station to secure the assets had reached the woman’s partners. Ziva revealed at that point she had notified authorities to assure Sahar’s friends would be arrested when they retrieved the assets.

Sahar responded by enacting a mysterious “Plan C,” ordering her men to shoot her. The team then shot the remaining terrorists after listening to Ziva’s explanation of her actions. The episode ended with Ziva and Gibbs having a heart-to-heart in which he apologized for not looking for her after her “death” five years ago. Ziva also promised to tells Tony (Michael Weatherly) she is alive after the danger is cleared.

The show will use the two remaining Ziva episodes, set to air later this year, to give the beloved character’s return a closed ending. Whether that means a reunion with Tony and her daughter Tali remains to be seen.

“We came up with the idea and we approached Cote,” Cardea told the outlet of pitching the storyline to de Pablo. “She wanted to know what the storyline was going to be, and we basically pitched her the arc of her episodes. She came out and had a meeting with Steve, me, the writer and Mark Harmon and she loved it, and here she is.”

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

Photo Credit: CBS