Welcome back toNCIS, Michael Weatherly. The original series star is returning to the mothership in Season 24 for what’s being described as a “season-long arc,” though an episode count (and debut) has yet to be announced.
It will have been 11 years since he was a series regular and two since he last appeared on the drama. But since then, he and Cote de Pablo did lead their own spinoff on Paramount+,NCIS: Tony & Ziva. Ahead of Weatherly bringing Tony back to the NCIS team, we take a look below at where we left the former detective and agent and now head of a security company.
Why did Tony leave NCIS?
At the end of Season 13, the team learned that Ziva (de Pablo) had been killed — and she had never told Tony they had a daughter, Tali. Tony decided to leave the agency to raise her. He moved to Paris, where Ziva eventually joined her family after the Season 16 finale revealed that she had faked her death.
Why did Michael Weatherly return to NCIS in 2024?
Tony returned to D.C. for the tribute episode to the late David McCallum and his character, Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, in Season 21. He joined Dr. Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) in the morgue, greeting him as “autopsy gremlin.” He added, “Are we here to celebrate a great man or what? And I figured Duckman would want a little DiNozzo magic at his party.” It was something he “wouldn’t miss … for the world.” Tony also disagreed, when Palmer said that all they had were the stories they left behind: “We also have the lives we touch while we are here, the people we leave behind. He had a good friend in you.” Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) also joined them for the scene (and a McHurry nickname).
What happened onNCIS: Tony & Ziva?
The first and only season of the spinoff showed, in flashbacks, Ziva reuniting with Tony and Tali and the challenges that came with that for her; she even went to therapy for her PTSD. Tony and Ziva briefly got back together — and even nearly married! — before splitting up sometime before the present-day story. However, when his security company was framed, they went on the run together, finding that the spark between them was very much still there (and perhaps burning brighter than ever).
Where didNCIS: Tony & Ziva leave Tony?
Tony and Ziva successfully cleared their names and saved Tali (Isla Gie), whom Jonah (Julian Ovenden) had kidnapped, in what ended up being the spinoff’s series finale. Tony and Ziva were officially back together, with their daughter’s blessing, and the series ended on a touching note: Ziva gave Tony a framed photo of his late best friend Henry (James D’Arcy) and Tali together. (Ziva and Henry never got along, and she found it much easier to suspect he was behind framing them than Tony did.)
Tony’s company was once again up and running and thriving, with hacker Boris (Maximilian Osinski) even likely joining him and Claudette (Amita Suman) there.
NCIS, Season 24, Fall 2026, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS