NCIS is one of the most highly-rated crime dramas on television today. It also eventually grew to become a franchise that includes NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans. Ever since the show first aired in 2003, we have all become hooked. In fact, we’ve even ranked the show’s major characters according to intelligence and sorted them into Hogwarts Houses.
Meanwhile, for the better part of the show’s run, fans have also become fixated with the characters of Tony Dinozzo and Ziva David. And if you miss them as much as we do, here are the best episodes to watch.
Kill Ari, Parts 1 And 2
These season three episodes mark the arrival of actress Cote de Pablo as Ziva David and the Mossad assassin gets flirty with Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo early on. In "Kill Ari," Ziva makes her way to NCIS after learning that Agent Gibbs and his team are on the hunt for Ari. Initially, Ziva insists that her brother was pulling an undercover assignment. She was also convinced that he wouldn’t kill anyone. However, she eventually realizes that her brother had become misguided. Ziva eventually shoots her own brother after Ari attempts to kill Gibbs.
Under Covers
In "Under Covers," we see that the relationship between Tony and Ziva has progressed nicely. After Ziva asked to be assigned as a liaison officer for NCIS, she becomes a part of Gibbs’ team. And in this episode, Tony and Ziva go undercover as married assassins who are planning a hit during an upcoming Marine Corps ball.
The two agents appear both convincing and funny as they tried to fake intimacy and keep the mission on track. Things do get dicey at one point, but the team rallies together to get things done.
Judgement Day, Parts 1 And 2
By the time the "Judgement Day" episodes air during the show’s fifth season, the chemistry between Tony and Ziva has become more pronounced than in the previous two seasons. There is a lot of smart banter and ‘Ziva-isms.’ In these episodes, Tony and Ziva are assigned to accompany NCIS Director Jenny Shepard on a trip to Los Angeles that results in her death. "Judgement Day Part 2" is also ranked as one of the best NCIS episodes, according to IMDb. Meanwhile, Lauren Holly, who played Jenny, later revealed why she left the show.
Semper Fidelis
This episode from the sixth season marks the first time that Tony comes face to face with Mossad agent Michael Rivkin. Things get awkward rather quickly when it turns out that Ziva and Michael had been seeing each other. The situation further escalates when Tony and Michael get into a fight in Ziva’s apartment after the senior NCIS agent attempts to arrest the Mossad agent. Unfortunately, Tony kills Michael in the process. Ziva arrived at the scene just after hearing Tony’s shots. Following this episode, nobody really knew what would become of Tony and Ziva.
Aliyah
"Aliyah" marks the show’s finale for its sixth season. It takes us to the events that occur following the events of "Semper Fidelis". In the aftermath, Tony, Ziva, Gibbs and (then-relatively new) NCIS Director Leon Vance fly to Israel with Michael’s body. Upon arrival, Tony gets questioned by the Mossad Director, who also happens to be Ziva’s father. Tony and Ziva also get into an intense discussion themselves. At the end of the episode, it was revealed that Ziva didn’t get on the flight back to the U.S. Instead, she chose to stay with Mossad.
Truth Or Consequences
The first episode of the show’s seventh season is ranked as one of NCIS’ 10 best episodes of all time. The episode opens to reveal that Tony and fellow agent Timothy McGee had been taken captive. As it turns out, the whole thing was a set up. Tony and McGee had gotten themselves captured so they can rescue Ziva who had participated in a Mossad mission gone wrong. According to the D&D moral alignments of NCIS characters, Ziva is lawful neutral, which implies she would have allowed herself to die in captivity to atone for her mistakes.
Extreme Prejudice
The events of "Extreme Prejudice" follows the aftermath of a bombing inside the compound of NCIS’ own offices. During the opening moments of the episode, we learn that both Tony and Ziva managed to survive the blast.
However, the two agents end up stuck inside an elevator after they decided to skip the stairs. Throughout the episode, the two share some light-hearted and flirty moments. As the late Gary Glasberg, who served as the show’s executive producer told The Futon Critic, the “Tony and Ziva of it all is a big part of the show.”
Shiva
Perhaps, one of the reasons that Tony and Ziva’s relationship are among those that fans got behind is essentially this episode, which follows the events that led to the death of Ziva’s father. In "Shiva," it becomes quite apparent how deeply Tony cares for Ziva as he comes to her side. Ultimately, the team is determined to catch her father’s killer (and they eventually do). And when it was time for Ziva to escort her father’s body back to Israel, Tony meets her at the tarmac and whispers “You are not alone” in Hebrew.
Berlin
In "Berlin," Tony and Ziva go undercover together once again. This time, the goal is to catch the man responsible for the death of Ziva’s father, as well as the director’s wife. This mission takes them to Berlin, where we see them share a dance at one point. As it turns out, it had also been one of de Pablo’s favorite scenes. “Michael and I crafted that scene,” the actress explained while talking to Entertainment Weekly. “We felt the moment was very intimate, and we thought that just looking at each other was enough.”
Past, Present, and Future
For a lot of Tony and Ziva fans, this episode is quite bittersweet as it was the last one that featured Tony and Ziva together. In this second episode for the 11th season, Tony does everything he can to track Ziva down after the team learns that there is a threat to her life. The senior agent eventually locates her in Israel and two share some intimate moments that ‘Tiva’ fans appreciated. Unfortunately, it was to become de Pablo’s final episode as a series regular. That said, the episode ended with Tony and Ziva kissing at the airport.