Tony & Ziva’ Creator Cut a ‘Very Dark’ Ending in Case There’s No Season 2

Note: This story contains spoilers from “NCIS: Tony & Ziva” Episode 10.

“NCIS: Tony & Ziva” almost had a very different ending, but creator John McNamara opted to end things on a good note — in case the spinoff series doesn’t snag a Season 2.

The Paramount+ spinoff series reunited the titular fan-favorite “NCIS” characters and put them at the center of an international conspiracy involving AI, car chases, explosions and a road back to romance. Episode 10, titled “Full Circle,” followed Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) working together with their new team to rescue their daughter Tali (Isla Gie) and stop Jonah (Julian Ovenden).

The finale also brought Tony and Ziva back together romantically — with Tali’s blessing — and ended with the couple hugging each other quietly in their Paris apartment, relishing in the silence after weeks of chaos.

“There was a very different ending to the finale that we shot, and I decided to cut it,” McNamara told TheWrap, adding his hopes to use the “very dark” cliffhanger footage to kick off a new adventure in a potential Season 2.

“The final moment we went with is a credit to Cote and Michael. They are the ones who made that scene work, giving it a weight and power that I didn’t realize it had when it was on the page,” he said. “Once I saw the footage I was like, ‘That’s the ending.’”

Though fans in the U.S. and abroad have praised the spinoff series — which picked up the story of Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo almost a decade since they were last seen together on “NCIS” — McNamara noted that there have been no conversations with Paramount+ about returning for more episodes.

Still, he and finale co-writer Joseph Mireles laid the groundwork for the story to continue. After stopping Jonah, the villain ended up dying in prison — with his former lover and spy Martine (Nassima Benchicou) knowing a little too much information about how it happened. And hacker Boris (Maximilian Osinski) saw his engagement with Fruzsi (Anne-Marie Waldeck) end suddenly, which opened him up to join Tony and Claudette’s (Amita Suman) security firm in a more permanent position.

The heartwarming ending also leaves some uncertainty for the central couple, since they only just agreed to start dating again and take things slow — a key ingredient to leaving the door open to a potential Season 2.

“I’m not an optimist by nature, I’m a realist. So it’s all going to come down to the numbers,” McNamara said. The three-episode debut of “NCIS: Tony & Ziva” in September landed it the No. 8 spot in Nielsen’s streaming originals list for the week of Sept. 1, gathering 371 million viewing minutes.

That’s the only viewing data available publicly for the series so far, and only one piece of the data streamers look at to consider a renewal, McNamara noted, “We won’t really know for a bit.”

Season 2 or not, McNamara was enthusiastic in his praise of Weatherly and de Pablo for leading the charge in creating this new chapter for their beloved characters, as well as to the rest of the cast and international crew who brought it all to life. Getting the stamp of approval from the “NCIS” fandom helps, too.

“The main feeling is relief, honestly,” he said.

“NCIS: Tony & Ziva” is now streaming on Paramount+.

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