Directed by James Whitmore Jr.
Written by Scott Williams, Gina Lucita Monreal, & Gary Glasberg
Season 11, Episode 2:
Past, Present, and Future
Tony continues his search for Ziva in Israel and elsewhere, learning a great deal about her past in the process. He finds her, but returns home without her. In the US, Gibbs and Fornell work on the case of the bomber.- Anguished Declaration of Love: Though the words I love you were never spoken outright (beyond Ziva telling Tony he is loved), Tony and Ziva's scene in the olive grove definitely counts. Watching Tony beg Ziva to come home with him, telling her he can change with her, and that he is fighting for her is heartwrenching, especially coming from a character who usually provides comic relief.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Right before Tony leaves for the states.
- Broken Bird: Ziva has shades of this trait. After years of repeated trauma (including the death of her entire family, prolonged torture while being held hostage, and the accumulated guilt of killing people in the line of duty), she finds she can no longer cope with working in law enforcement.
- Call-Back: When Tony finally finds her, Ziva asks him why is there and tells him he should not have come, just as she did in "Truth or Consequences."
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: What causes Ziva's Moral Event Horizon. Dina still sees Ari as the boy next door, and Ziva is reminded that she loved him, too, as her brother, once upon a time. Dina reminds Ziva of Ari's humanity. This triggers overwhelming Fridge Horror as she extrapolates this to everyone she has ever killed as an assassin for Mossad and an agent for NCIS.
- Grudging "Thank You": Tony gives one to Adam for helping him find Ziva. This after being very cold towards him previously.
- Harsher in Hindsight: Tony and Ziva's final scene is even more heart-wrenching after watching "Family First," as you realize Ziva is pregnant with their daughter.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Ziva believes this of herself. She reaches a Moral Event Horizon after running into Dina Bashan, an old friend and her brother's love. Ziva is forced to deal with the fact that she had to kill her own brother, whom she had loved, and reckons with all of the lives she has taken while with Mossad and NCIS. Tony tries to point out that she isn't this trope, but Ziva is too far gone in self-loathing.
- I Will Find You: Tony spends the first half of the episode in a months-long hunt for Ziva, who is in hiding.
- It's All My Fault: Ziva's frame of mind when Tony finds her.
- Leaving You to Find Myself: Ziva chooses to stay in Israel to reconnect with herself.
- Minor Injury Overreaction: Justified with Fornell, as he's on painkillers. See Shot in the Ass below.
- Put on a Bus: Thematically inverted, with Tony leaving for the US on a plane, while Ziva stays behind in Israel.
- Seriously Scruffy: Tony grows a beard while searching for Ziva.
- Shot in the Ass: Fornell, courtesy of Gibbs. However, the real target was the man Fornell was protecting. He lampshades this three times as he's wheeled away on a gurney, flat on his stomach.Fornell: I can't believe that you shot me in the ass!
Gibbs: It's a surface wound, through and through.
Fornell: Through the ass!
McGee: (to Vance) Painkillers (Vance nods in acknowledgement).
Fornell: How'd I miss it, Gibbs?
Gibbs: We all missed it.
Fornell: Yeah, and I'm the one who got Shot in the Ass for it. - Tragic Keepsake: Ziva leaves behind her Star of David in the safehouse where she had been ambushed. It was found by Mossad and given to Tony, who returns it to her. As he boards his flight back home, Tony finds she has slipped it into the pocket of his suit jacket.
- Wham Shot: Tony delivers a status update via video to Gibbs and McGee. He tells them he hasn't found Ziva yet, but has new information about her whereabouts. He ends the video call, and as he closes the laptop, the camera pans across to Ziva standing in the doorway.
- Woman Scorned: Tony's search for Ziva leads him to her childhood friend, Dina Bashan. Dina initially tells him she hasn't seen Ziva in months, but Tony finds out from a street camera that she had seen Ziva much more recently. When Tony goes to confront her, Dina reveals that she had been in love with Ari, Ziva's brother. Her deception was a form of payback.Tony: You knew she was in danger, and you lied to me. I asked you point-blank.Dina: And had any other agent come to the door, I would have said "yes." Why should she have the man she loves when she took mine from me?
