‘NCIS: Tony & Ziva’ Matches Up With Another ‘NCIS’ Spin-Off as It Receives Early Rotten Tomatoes Score

One of the most popular network procedurals of all time, the NCIS franchise now features several spin-offs, including the likes of NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: Hawai’i, NCIS: Origins, and more. Although the response has consistently varied for each project, the franchise’s latest has debuted to an incredible response across the board. NCIS: Tony & Ziva, possibly the most hotly anticipated spin-off to date, has officially debuted to one of the franchise’s best critical receptions.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which premiered its first three episodes this past Thursday, September 4, has debuted to a huge critics’ score of 88%. This score, supported by a strong audience rating of 72%, matched the score obtained by the Austin Stowell-led NCIS: Origins, which is many people’s favorite of the franchise. Not all NCIS shows have a critics’ score on the review site, although Tony & Ziva‘s audience rating is no match for the 2003 original series (82%). Moving from procedural to crime drama, the latest spin-off follows the pair of Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), with the official synopsis reading:

“NCIS: TONY & ZIVA picks up after Ziva’s supposed death when Tony left the NCIS team to go raise their daughter. Years later, Ziva was discovered alive, leading her to complete one final mission with NCIS before she was reunited with Tony and their daughter in Paris. Since then – and where we find them in NCIS: TONY & ZIVA – Tony and Ziva have been raising their daughter, Tali, together. When Tony’s security company is attacked, they must go on the run across Europe, try to figure out who is after them and maybe even learn to trust each other again so they can finally have their unconventional happily ever after.”

‘NCIS: Tony and Ziva’ is “Groundbreaking”

Early responses from critics and audiences to NCIS: Tony and Ziva have been impressive, but not only via Rotten Tomatoes. For Collider, Jasneet Singh awarded the spin-off an 8/10 in her review, citing irresistible chemistry and a blend of light-heartedness and emotion in the show’s atmosphere as positives. After calling it “groundbreaking,” Singh added, “There’s self-awareness mixed into Tony & Ziva. The characters and relationships provide something new while addressing the past, including potential complaints people may have had. It’s littered in the script too, with Tony aptly describing this as something between a “spy thriller and workplace comedy.” As mentioned, NCIS has become more intentional with the franchise, and the beginning of this spin-off bodes well for the rest of the season — hopefully, for Tiva fans too.”