‘NCIS’: When CBS Show Will Return After Fall Finale

NCIS fans will have to get through the holidays to find out what happens after that crazy ending. The CBS crime procedural will return with its winter premiere episode in January after a short break for the holiday season. The show will return with a new episode Jan. 7, 2020 at 8 p.m. ET.

The winter premiere will also mark Ziva David’s (Cote de Pablo) final episode of Season 17, as part of the four-episode storyline that brought her back to the show this year.

Spoilers ahead for NCIS Season 17, Episode 10: “The North Pole”

The dramatic fall finale saw as Ziva returned following Odette (Elayn J. Taylor) asking Bishop (Emily Wickersham) for help with the mission as a way to get the team involved. The mission involved finding Ziva’s childhood friend Adam, who had been taken by Sahar’s group after her “death” led to his allegiances to Ziva being revealed.

The episode revealed that the real Sahar was actually still alive, and she had tortured Adam and eventually killed him from his injuries. The team found out as they investigated that the real Sahar is actually someone close to Gibbs, Phineas’ (Jack Fisher) mother. The reveal left Gibbs heartbroken, as he had bonded with the little boy for months after they moved in next door.

Following the trail, Ziva finds the real Sahar and they have a tense fight. Before Sahar can kill Ziva, Gibbs finds them and shoots her dead, leaving the door open for Ziva to reunite with her family after so many years. The episode ended with Gibbs dreading at having to tell Phineas that he killed his mother.

After Tuesday’s fall finale, fans of the show are hoping Tony and Tali will get to reunite with Ziva on-screen, bringing back Weatherly for a cameo appearance.

NCIS showrunners Steven D. Binder and Frank Cardea previously suggested that Weatherly was too busy working on fellow CBS series Bull to return, but a recent interview with CarterMatt seemed to hint the actor might show up after all.

“We don’t usually bring back former stars of the show for multiple episode runs. One of the things we talked about is how and when we want Ziva to reappear on the show. There were certain things we wanted to do, and that will become more apparent once you watch the episode. The timing of it just sort of worked out,” Binger told the outlet.

Ready to see how Ziva’s story ends? NCIS returns with new episodes Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.