SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the finale of NCIS: Tony & Ziva on Paramount+.
NCIS: Tony & Ziva wrapped its rollercoaster of an espionage tale Thursday with an intense finale, which picked up with the titular pair once again going in search of their daughter Tali after she’s kidnapped by Jonah Markham’s (Julian Ovendon) lackeys.
It’s yet another detour on Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva’s (Cote de Pablo) quest to clear their names after they’ve been framed for terrorism — oh, and stealing a ton of money from Interpol. Both of which, of course, are actually Markham’s doing.
Our heroes manage to prevail, thanks to some savvy thinking all around, and the final moments of the episode see Tony and Ziva decide to give their romance another shot. Don’t worry, Tali approves.
Jonah Markham gives a really impassioned speech in this episode about his motives and how the defense industry is fueled by and profits off of unnecessary war and the death and destruction of innocent lives. What intrigued you about writing this antagonist as someone who, for better or worse, might have a good point?
JOHN MCNAMARA: It’s literally my favorite kind of antagonist. The best antagonists ultimately have an incredibly relatable backstory. I’m not gonna, like, be a Star Wars fan, but I love the backstory of Darth Vader, because even the first three movies, he becomes more and more understandable. So I really just gravitated toward that kind of writing where the villain is complex, not black and white, and isn’t just down for money.
What was interesting to you about giving Markham this particular backstory, where he himself had been the victim of that industry, having lost his family due to war?
MCNAMARA: I honestly wish I could remember. It was so long ago… I don’t think in the original pitch series he was necessarily linked to the war in Serbia. It was more that he had a general hatred of this kind of industry. Once we got the writer’s room and the other writers pitched in, we got more and more specific. I think a really important episode was Episode 7, where you spend a third of the episode learning about how Martine and Jonah met and collaborated. That scene is really important, and the writers really executed it well.
Once you’ve established that you’re going to be working with this more complex antagonist, how do you find the right balance for the storytelling so that, at the end of the day, we’re still rooting for our heroes to win despite any empathy we have for Markham?
MCNAMARA: Well, I think you put it perfectly. I empathize with him. I agree with a lot of his views. I just don’t think you should kidnap children or steal money from your boss, try to kill your antagonist. So you’ve really, absolutely, perfectly identified what I like. I mostly agree with his motives, and I completely disagree with his acts, and he has to be stopped.
Why did you decide to end Season 1 with Tony and Ziva’s decision to start dating again? Did you consider prolonging that a bit more?
MCNAMARA: Well, to me, it was always a love story. All the thriller components were to put them together. I hoped for the end of the season, after 20 years, let’s give them a chance.
We shot a slightly different ending. It was a cliffhanger, and personally, especially when it’s often a year or more between seasons in streaming, I think I would have been really pissed as a fan. It was a good cliffhanger, and we’ll probably use some of the footage in Season 2. It was slightly edgier, slightly darker. I really liked that ending. Michael and Cote do an amazing job.
Throughout the season we see Tony and Ziva unpacking a lot of their individual traumas, which previously have really prevented them from having a healthy relationship. What do you think makes things different this time?
MCNAMARA: I think it’s having not only survived this incredible set of circumstances, but they realize, because they work well together, because they’re good parents, that they really could make it work. Episode 9, when Ziva thinks Tony’s dead, it sort of unleashes a lot.
Is that a dynamic you plan to continue to explore?
MCNAMARA: There’s kind of a false trope in the way most romantic movies or books are played at the end, which is “happily ever after.” What I’m doing is just “ever after.” Even if they get married, their issues aren’t just going to go away.
I thought it was hilarious that, for much of the season, Tali is completely uninterested in seeing her parents back together. What made you decide she would be the sort of voice of reason?
MCNAMARA: From the moment you meet her in the pilot, I think she sees very clearly who they are, and she’s very sanguine that they’re not together, and I think her life is easier having parents living apart.
What made you want to give her a bigger role in the back half of the season, to the point where she’s actively at times helping her parents complete their mission?
MCNAMARA: I just thought it’s a natural growth. She’s the daughter of two really dynamic people, and she’s inherited a lot of that dynamism and fearlessness. Isla Gies was such an amazing actor. The more I watched her dailies, the more I kept saying, “Let’s fight more. Let’s play more.” In Episode 6, where she’s in the safe house and it was attacked—that, to me, was a real turning point.
Yes, I remember thinking how calculated it was for her to decide to go for the EpiPen instead of escaping. That moment wasn’t your typical ‘kid acts impulsively and messes up the mission’ type of scene. She really thinks about it and weighs her options. How did you know you’d want to develop her character in that way?
MCNAMARA: It started with the pilot, and then, as always happens, when you get in the writing room, there’s a lot of discussion. Everyone who’s a parent… we brought a whole lot of our experiences. One of the most terrifying things is just like, “You, don’t be like me, don’t be like mom.” But it’s inevitable.
The finale also sets up for Boris to return in future seasons. Did you always know you’d bring him back? How did the cast of characters around Tony and Ziva come together?
MCNAMARA: I felt like Tony would definitely need a Claudette, because he’s a techno idiot. He’s running a high-tech company, so she’s really the brains of how you execute. I always thought it’d be interesting to have two coders who don’t like each other, and then slowly grow to have mutual respect. Lara Rossi’s character, it just made sense to me that Ziva would insist that Tali have a bodyguard. Lara really brought a ton to that role. She’s so good at the physical stuff—I didn’t know that when I cast her.
I watched the way that she and Isla were in the pilot. It was them running across the street and almost getting hit by a car. It was not the stunt team. It scared the sh*t out of me.
How are you feeling about Season 2? Have you started ideating?
MCNAMARA: I’m not Jewish, but I’m married to a Jewish woman, and my son is Jewish. There’s a great Jewish word, kennehora. Don’t curse the future… So I obviously think about it, but I am really, really superstitious about these things.
Sometimes a smart executive or friend or my wife will trick me into talking about it. I have a sense of how to start something for Season 2. I talked a little bit with Michael and Cote. We had dinner where I kind of sketched out some big ideas. But I really — it’s so stupid, because I’m an atheist — my only spiritual belief is, don’t count your chickens.
