Who misses Ziva David on NCIS?
The terrorist Ari Haswari killed Cote de Pablo’s Ziva at the end of NCIS Season 2, which starred Sasha Alexander as Caitlin Todd. David first came to Washington, DC, just to confront her half-brother, but he ultimately replaced Caitlin on the core cast of the CBS program. De Pablo appeared on NCIS for eight seasons before leaving the show at the start of Season 11. One CBS executive later referred to the actress’ departure as a “ripple in the universe,” and one of the show’s creators acknowledged he never thought this would occur… until it happened.
The “ripple” comment came from former CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler, who was among the many individuals surprised when De Pablo walked away from NCIS. As for why the actress decided to leave, executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson explained in THR’s NCIS oral history to commemorate the show’s 20th anniversary that De Pablo had reached a point where she felt it was time for a change. As Floyd recalled:
With Cote, I think she had gotten to a place where she wanted to move on. She did eight years on the show, and I had a conversation with her about a year or two before she left, and she said to me, ‘I don’t know if I want to do this forever, and at some point, I think I might leave.’ And I said, ‘Oh, Cote, please, come on. It’s such a successful show. What are you going to do? You should ride this horse all the way to the gate.’ And she said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ So I didn’t believe it.
Cote de Pablo “wasn’t necessarily as popular” at the beginning of her NCIS employment compared to when she departed, which is undoubtedly true, according to fellow executive producer Mark Horowitz. Usually, when a new main character joins a program, they have a hard time blending in with the current regulars. However, as time went on, Ziva won over fans, with viewers particularly loving her will-they-won’t-they romance with Michael Weatherly’s Anthony DiNozzo.
Back in 2016, De Pablo said she “chose not to stay” on NCIS because of “political things and the scripts not being good enough,” as well as feeling that her character “was not being treated with the respect that she deserved.” However, three years later, the actress stated that her previous comments were “taken out of context at a certain point,” though she wasn’t willing to elaborate on the specific circumstances concerning her departure. As Charles Floyd Johnson understood the situation, De Pablo had simply reached a point where she’d taken her NCIS journey as far as she wanted to, even though Johnson and plenty of other people wanted her to stick around.
Ziva’s storyline was finally concluded by Cote de Pablo in the first two episodes of NCIS Season 11, and a few weeks later, Emily Wickersham was chosen to play Ellie Bishop, Ziva’s replacement on the team. Johnson said the following regarding her joining the ship:
When Emily Wickersham (Eleanor Bishop) replaced Cote de Pablo, it wasn’t an easy move for her because Cote was such a compelling personality. The public liked [Cote], but in the end, Emily triumphed. However, I recall that things with her were a little rocky; you’d get mail and people would say, “She’s no Cote de Pablo.” Because of that, we wrote her quite differently.
Ziva David, who was first believed to have died in Season 13 off-screen, made a surprise appearance in the Season 16 finale to reconcile with Leroy Jethro Gibbs played by Mark Harmon. She later made another appearance in Season 17 before returning. She was on her way to meet Tony and their daughter Tali in Paris when we last saw her. When Ellie Bishop departed NCIS at the end of Season 18 to embark on a deep-cover mission, Emily Wickersham also left the organization. The good news for fans of both of these characters is that they are still alive, leaving the possibility of a future comeback open.