This article contains mentions of physical abuse.
One of NCIS' most memorable storylines is Ziva David’s captivity in Somalia, which had lasting consequences for her character throughout the rest of her time on the show. NCIS follows the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s lead team of federal agents as they investigate crimes and affairs pertaining to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The show is one of the United States’ longest-running television shows at 20 confirmed seasons, with NCIS season 20 returning in fall 2022.
Ziva, played by Cote de Pablo, was introduced to NCIS in season 3 as a Mossad liaison officer following the death of Sasha Alexander’s character Special Agent Kate Todd. After joining the team, she developed close relationships with the other Special Agents, especially with father-figure Leroy Jethro Gibbs and love interest Tony DiNozzo. Following her departure in NCIS season 11, Ziva was seemingly killed in NCIS season 13’s finale, and was presumed dead until her surprise return to the show at the end of season 16. After her special appearances in season 17, she left Washington, D.C., and traveled to Paris to reunite with Tony and their daughter Tali.
Ziva was initially characterized by NCIS as a tough and quick-thinking assassin, and the storyline of her captivity created a drastic change in her development. NCIS season 6 ended with Ziva’s return to Mossad after Tony killed her boyfriend, Mossad officer Michael Rivkin. She was then captured by terrorist Saleem Ulman during a mission to take him down. NCIS, season 7, episode 1, “Truth or Consequences” centers on the team’s daring rescue of her in Somalia. Following her rescue and return to NCIS, the show makes several references to the abuse she experienced while being held hostage; though left largely unspecified, the effects influenced Ziva to stay at NCIS and defined her character as a survivor.
What Really Happened To Ziva In Somalia?
“Truth or Consequences” shows NCIS’s search for Saleem Ulman, whom they found due to his obsession with the energy drink Caf-Pow. Though their original objective was to seek revenge, Gibbs, Tony, and Special Agent Tim McGee brought Ziva back to NCIS after finding her alive. The episode showed Ziva, as well as Tony and McGee, bound and bruised; however, the show chose not to depict graphic scenes of them being tortured. This, in addition to the subsequent ambiguity used by other NCIS characters to reference Ziva’s experience, leaves the specifics of what happened to her in Somalia a mystery.
However, the show goes beyond the circumstances of Ziva’s captivity and instead explores the changes in her identity and conflicting loyalties to Mossad and NCIS. NCIS, season 7, episode 4, “Good Cop Bad Cop” unearths Mossad’s secretive mission on the voyage to Somalia where she and other officers killed the entire ship’s crew. Ziva and Gibbs also realize that her father, Mossad director Eli David, wanted to pin the blame of the mission on her so that she would not leave Mossad. The episode ends with her addressing her pain and the approval of her application to become an NCIS agent.
NCIS’s storyline of Ziva’s captivity ultimately serves to characterize her as more than a skilled agent, but as an undeniably strong woman and survivor. The show draws parallels between her and another abuse survivor in season 8, episode 13, “Freedom,” which investigates the murder of an abusive Marine. Ziva attempts to connect with his wife by saying she knows what it is like to be at the mercy of a man and to have to shut down in order to survive. Her final appearances in the show further emphasize her ability to persevere after revealing Ziva is alive after being presumed dead three years earlier. NCIS finishes Ziva’s storyline in season 17 with a happy ending with her family, finally moving beyond the events of her past by giving one of its most powerful characters well-deserved peace.