Contains spoilers for “NCIS: Tony and Ziva”

The love story between Tony DiNozzo (played by Michael Weatherly) and Ziva David (played by Cote De Pablo) is one of the most cherished and complex relationships on “NCIS.” While some fans find it odd that much of their relationship’s development occurs off-screen, what’s captivating is the actors’ chemistry and the almost fated nature of their bond, keeping audiences glued to the screen. Despite having defied death to be together, they’ve chosen not to remain a couple, even though they share a daughter. As “Tony and Ziva” begins, they’re not romantically linked, but their connection is undeniably alive. Whether this seems like a cliché story is open to each viewer’s interpretation.

How did the romance between Tony and Ziva begin? When did they first fall in love, and what obstacles have kept them apart over the years? Let’s delve into the unpredictable journey they’ve experienced on the way to establishing a family, business, and shared life — and speculate if marriage could be in their future.

Tony and Ziva do not cross paths until Season 3, where Ziva steps in to replace Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander) following her death in the Season 2 finale. Tony wasn’t seeking romance since he and Kate had an unfulfilled attraction cut short by her sudden passing. Although there is instant chemistry between Tony and Ziva, she dislikes his flippant behavior and reliance on pop culture jokes, while he finds her too serious. Ziva, a former Mossad agent, quickly becomes part of Gibbs’ (Mark Harmon) team, and the witty exchanges between her and Tony begin in earnest. From there, they continue to bicker and are frequently thrown together, forcing them to confront their emotions for one another.

A notable moment of their underlying attraction happens in the Season 3 episode “Under Covers,” where they impersonate a married couple in a sting operation orchestrated by Gibbs to uncover the truth about an espionage duo. With a counterintelligence team observing them, Tony and Ziva spend significant time closely snuggled in bed, creating the illusion of being genuine lovers, and even enact some intimate scenarios as noted by the surveillance team. Though it’s all part of the act — they are still at odds during this time, with Ziva humorously “accidentally” applying too much pressure while giving Tony a massage. The groundwork of affection is laid, and as the next season unfolds, their flirtation continues to flourish.

Throughout Season 4, Tony temporarily fills in for Gibbs and finds himself having to defend Ziva when she’s accused of killing a terrorist the FBI intended to keep alive for interrogation. During this chaos, Mossad Officer Michael Bashan (Eli Danker) suggests Ziva might be secretly involved with Tony, observing his frequent visits to her apartment by order of her father, the head of Mossad, Eli. Ziva neither verifies nor denies the claim, and eventually, she’s cleared by all involved parties.

By Season 5, Ziva matches Tony’s wit and is unfazed by his bluntness or his romantic advances. It’s intriguing to see her unsettled when Tony goes undercover to date Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson) to reach her criminal father. While Ziva knows the romance is artificial, she clearly dislikes seeing Tony with someone else. During Season 6, the tables turn, and Ziva makes Tony envious when she becomes involved with Mossad Officer Michael Rivkin (Merik Tadros). Despite backstage debates on the authenticity of Ziva and Michael’s relationship, scenes depict them together, hinting at intimacy. However, Michael’s intentions are questionable, as he attempts to alienate Ziva from her team. Sadly for Ziva, Michael wasn’t truthful with her, and his storyline doesn’t extend beyond Season 7.

Tony begins to accuse Ziva of being loyal to Michael and Mossad instead of the U.S. and, by extension, NCIS, and tensions ratchet up until Tony physically confronts Michael during the Season 6 finale. He accuses him of murdering a terrorist and an ICE agent, and while he tries to arrest them, they fight. Tony is forced to kill the drunken Michael in self-defense, breaking Ziva’s heart and setting her against him. During the Season 6 finale, she rejoins Mossad in a quest to clear out her mind and quell the conflict in her heart, during which she ends up captured and tortured in Somalia. Ziva is then temporarily presumed dead, and not for the last time. 

As Season 7 opens, Tony is looking for retribution regarding Ziva’s so-called death. He is captured and tortured himself during the episode “Truth or Consequences,” and injected with a truth serum. When he learns Ziva is alive, he moves heaven and earth to rescue her. After she’s safe, when she asks him why he’s gone to such extreme lengths to bring her home safe, he says, “I couldn’t live without you, I guess.” The truth serum may or may not have something to do with his honesty. She eventually kisses him on the cheek as a form of thanks as they head home, and he vows his friendly devotion once again.

To say that this experience opens the floor for them emotionally is an understatement. In “Jet Lag,” they find themselves in Paris on a mission and discover there’s only one suite for them to share. They come away with conflicting stories about which of them slept on the couch and which of them took the bed, causing fervent speculation in the team and among fans whether or not they had sex. Even the actors were divided on the subject, with Michael Weatherly maintaining nothing happened and Cote de Pablo hinting she thinks it did. But if fans were hoping for answers, they’d have to wait a few more seasons.

With their relationship apparently consummated (albeit offscreen), one could assume that Tony and Ziva’s tortured connection might get a little bit of breathing room to bloom into something fans could rely upon. Instead, Season 8 introduces new love interests for each of them — Ziva began dating Ray Cruz (Enrique Murciano), a federal agent, while Tony began seeing team newbie Erica Jane “EJ” Barrett (Sarah Jane Morris). While both new couples seemed to be going somewhere for a while, ultimately both Ray and EJ leave town without getting permanent commitments from Ziva and Tony. Ziva comes the closest, taking a promise ring box from Ray that was ultimately as empty as any vow of togetherness they might make. 

Tony and Ziva, however, continue to march onward together. Trapped together during Season 9’s season finale, “Till Death to Us Part,” the loyalty between the couple seems utterly paramount, as they refuse to let each other be blown up by a bomb. They cling to one another as they escape the building and survive the explosion. This would prove to be just the beginning for these two, as Season 10 finally provided fans with a major turning point in their relationship — only to result in some severely tough times for their love story when Cote de Pablo left the series.

During Season 10, Tony and Ziva would finally start getting closer and acting like two people attracted to one another. During “Shell Shocked (Part II),” Tony makes Ziva a CD filled with opera music when he learns she goes to hear librettos on the anniversary of her sister Tali’s death every year, but can’t score tickets to DC’s opera. Tony even tries to get her tickets, to no avail. When her father is killed, Tony is a close, supportive force in Ziva’s life. In the episode “Berlin,” where they head to Germany to find Eli David’s killer, they share a dance, and he grabs and holds her hand during a difficult moment. That’s another huge step forward that definitely hints that romance is on the menu at last.

Then Tony learns that she slept with an old friend while she was in Israel dealing with the fallout from her father’s death, and he feels betrayed. They reaffirm their friendship, leaving things ambiguous at the end of Season 10. But then Cote de Pablo announced her departure from “NCIS” before the start of Season 11. The show proceeded to send Ziva on the run when a childhood friend decides to kill her in revenge for Ziva murdering Ari (Rudolf Martin), the villain both Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo would love to have on “NCIS: Tony and Ziva.” Tony and Ziva finally share a true romantic kiss in “Past, Present and Future”, the best Tony and Ziva episode of “NCIS.” But it would be the last time they’d see each other for a very long time, as Ziva would soon go into hiding and leave the team. Fans would eventually get confirmation of their connection — in the saddest way possible.

For two seasons, Tony proceeded to focus mainly on work. But at the conclusion of Season 13, “Family First,” he would receive the devastating news that Ziva is presumed dead in a bombing. And even more shocking, that she gave birth to their daughter during her time on the run. While that confirms that Tony and Ziva had sex before saying goodbye, it’s quite a devastating gesture for fans who love them. Tony has no idea how to handle the news that Ziva raised their daughter alone for two years without telling him. Apparently she wanted to tell him, but wasn’t sure he’d welcome the news of being a dad. “Then she never knew me at all,” Tony retorts. 

But Ziva definitely told Tali about him, as the little girl is able to point to and identify Tony as “abba” (father in Hebrew) in a picture. Tony vows to dedicate his life to raising his kid and leaves “NCIS.” For three seasons the situation would remain dormant, with Tony happily taking care of his daughter alone offscreen and working in civilian security and tech jobs, with him only being mentioned in passing by his old team. But by Season 16, the truth about Ziva’s fate would be revealed, ultimately giving Tony, Tali and Ziva a happy ending, though one that seems to have been temporary.  

Unshockingly, the rumors of Ziva David’s death were greatly exaggerated. During Season 16’s “She,” the gang begins investigating a cold case related to Ziva, and the deeper they dig, the more they learn about her. “Tiva” shippers do get a few scraps in the process of this information excavation; in one of her diaries, she writes of Tony, “my heart saw him as if for the first time and I knew I could not live without him.” Elle Bishop (Emily Wickersham) figures out that Ziva’s alive during the investigation, but she begs Elle to keep quiet to protect her family. She also tries to stop Gibbs from digging into the case, but it’s too late and he ends up in trouble.

During Season 17’s “Out of the Darkness,” the audience catches up with Ziva as she works to save Gibbs, It turns out she faked her death and went into hiding to protect her daughter and Tony, both of whom she yearns to be with. The typically cool-under-pressure Ziva has begun taking anti-anxiety medication under the weight of it all. With the help of Gibbs and Bishop as well as the rest of the team, she brings the organization that’s been after her to their knees. But she tells Gibbs there’s one more thing she has to do before rejoining Tali and Tony in Paris. In “The North Pole”, she finally kills Mira Sahar Azam (Louise Barnes), the woman who has been chasing after her since Season 11. She helps Gibbs track down Sahar’s son Phineas (Jack Fisher) during “In The Wind” before meeting with Tali and Tony in France, where they proceed to get on with the business of living.

Tony, Tali and Ziva have been living happily ever after together since then, but those who try “NCIS: Tony and Ziva” are about to learn that not everything has been smooth sailing since then.

When audiences meet up with Tony and Ziva again in their Paramount+ off-CBS spin-off, we learn that they separated and are not united romantically. But they have been living in Paris, splitting childrearing duties while getting on with their civilian lives. Tony runs a cybersecurity firm while Ziva runs a private school for the offspring of the world’s elite diplomats. Therapy and determination have kept them a cohesive parenting unit, eternally protective of little Tali (Isla Gie), but there’s definitely a fly in the ointment. 

Everything changes when a cyberattack swipes millions of euros from an account Tony’s security firm is supposed to be monitoring. Tony is framed for the crime and Interpol is soon on his tail, but it appears to be the fault of a pen drive entered into a computer by a mysterious source. Ziva finds herself party to the situation when Tali is targeted by the unknown forces from the couple’s mutual past who wish to destroy them. With the whole world after them, they take Tali and head out on the run. Forced to face their demons and a daughter who does not entirely believe them, those banked romantic sparks between them suddenly pop to life, adding another big wrinkle to their supposedly-over romantic union.