Ho Yay / NCIS

• Ziva's first appearances in NCIS aren't strictly speaking ho yay - at least not with another character. It might just be to give Tony nosebleeds, but... It's rare to see someone actively attempt to imply that they're bisexual, if not an outright lesbian, when actually aren't. It never develops into much later on, but... really. Naturally, these traits carry over to her sadistic, villainous sibling as well, though that's vaguely fanonical.
• Ziva didn't have tension with another character when she first appeared? They spend an awful lot of time on her close relationship with Director Shepard, after having her first onscreen conversation mention lesbians. In the season 6 episode "Caged", Tony starts the episode discussing his plans to ask out an attractive female coworker, only to have Ziva inform him that "Hannah" has asked her out to lunch. Twice. When Tony asks if she accepted, she smiles and doesn't reply.
  • Similarly, at the end of "Identity Crisis", Ziva smugly tells Tony that she got the number of the pretty rookie FBI agent the team spent the episode working with. Ostensibly, because the woman wants to learn fighting skills, but the subtext is there.
  • In "Lost at Sea", Ziva challenges Tony and Tim to ask out the next woman they see– who happens to be Abigail Borin. Both men fail miserably (mostly because Ziva told Abigail about the challenge). By the end of the episode, the one who goes out with her is Ziva.
• In one episode, Ziva told a suspect flirting with her that he wasn't her type. The guy was, for lack of a better word, a shmuck and was obviously not someone a straight Ziva would go out with. However, if someone was looking for clues Ziva was gay, that wouldn't be bad evidence if used with subtext.
• There was also some flirting between Abby and Kate in the early episodes.
  Abby: Admit it. You just like strappin' on a gun.
  Kate: More than one.
  Abby: Really? You packin' more heat than meets the eye?
  Kate: Those your only tattoos?
  Abby: You show me yours and I'll show you mine.
  • Also in "Doppelganger" when Kate is annoyed that she's been left to handle the phones.
    Kate: Hey, what is this... boys night out?
    Abby: Which means Girls Night In. Transfer your phones to my lab. (Kate smiles and does so, then the two walk off hand in hand)
• Abby is quite disappointed at having missed the "chick fight" in "Dead And Unburied", and just as gleeful to watch it as DiNozzo and McGee were after the latter reveals that he recorded it on his phone. (It's assumed that men like watching such things because they find it arousing. Abby's eagerness to watch it suggests that she does too)
• There are plenty of Youtube videos that hint at a relationship between Abby and Ziva. Some of the clips in these videos are pretty convincing.
• Tony's desperate need for Gibbs' admiration and approval can be a bit Ho Yay-tastic as well. It's the way he feels the need to know every tiny detail about Gibbs' life.
  • Or it could be that Tony is mature, reasonable, and intensely loyal to Gibbs - as Gibbs makes perfectly clear when he suggests to Director Shepard, without any prompting whatsoever, that it's time for Tony to have his own team. And he sounds truly regretful about it. Of course, Tony has absolutely no intention of leaving Team Gibbs. Under any circumstances. Not, of course, that this lessens the Ho Yay-tastic-ness of it any less... just puts a different spin on said Ho Yay.
  • Fair point. I'd argue it's gone from the first to the second scenario as the series progresses.
  • They have what is essentially a dinner date at the end of 7x12.
  • What is, by all appearances, a standing dinner date, no less - it looked and played out like something they had done a thousand times before.
  • Many have speculated that, considering the fact that Tony's own father was completely useless, he is desperate for a "Well Done, Son" Guy father figure.
  • It's worth mentioning that "Team Gibbs" is often likened to a dysfunctional family unit. With Tony, Ziva, McGee and Abby all playing various sibling roles and competing for Gibbs' Approval. The fact that the former three all have glaring parental issues helps to cement this.
  • The writers occasionally lampshade Gibbs' head slaps:
    • In "Dead Reflection", Tony asks if Gibbs is angry with him because he didn't get slapped.
    • In "Safe Harbor" Tony argues with Ziva that head slaps can be romantic "in the right context".
    • In "Secrets", Ziva speculates that Tony "enjoys being smacked in the head" and McGee answers that he'd "rather not think about it".
• The writers seem to be playing up the HoYay between Tony and McGee more and more as the seasons progress. Their subplot of 7x19 is basically Tony trying to make Tim jealous by bromancing the Detective of the Week.
  • Also played for laughs in one episode, when Tony and McGee had to guard a dead body outdoors overnight.
    Tony: McGee and I watched the sunrise together. It was very Brokeback Mountain.
  • After McGee explains he doesn't allow anyone to eat or drink in his car:
    Tony: Well, I guess sex is out of the question.
• In the episode "Engaged (Part 1)", we catch a glimpse of Tony's bucket list. Number 12: "Experience a Wonder of the World (besides Gibbs)."
  • Interesting that this is Number 12 on his list, considering Gibbs's Rule 12. Coincidence? Or a very subtle hint at something?
• Agent Todd has serious sexual/romantic tension with several women over the course of her tenure, and relatively little with men. Jane Doe/Suzanne Mc Neill is a sterling example.
• In Season 12, McGee and DiNozzo's reaction to Jake (Ellie's husband) and Gibbs' friendship can only be described as jealousy.
• In "Privileged Information", Gibbs finds candles lit around his house, with the lights in the kitchen dimmed. Fornell appears:

  Fornell: Get your hand off that light switch! You'll ruin the mood!
  Gibbs: Mood? We're gonna make out?

  • The two have this vibe in general. In one episode, when Fornell brings him dinner—like the "Tony" example above, implied to be a regular thing—the two proceed to bicker Like an Old Married Couple, with Gibbs snapping, "I thought we agreed that we hated that place!" and Fornell snapping right back, "I had a coupon!", etc.
• Jimmy's jealousy over Ducky's rapport with his new intern reads like someone annoyed that their crush has stopped paying attention to them.
• Gibbs couldn't get his eyes or mind off of shirtless Jimmy in 9x14. An offhanded comment by Gibbs had Abby sporting a curious grin:

  Gibbs: Who knew Palmer had abs like that?

• In season 14, Quinn admits to have had an Erotic Dream about Gibbs, and Palmer reveals with a big smile that he's had the exact same dream.
• Another one from season 14. Torres distracts a suspect in “Philly” by jumping on the table and dancing. He later asks McGee “What’d you think?” and gets an impressed smile in return.