CBS Network

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RE: Ziva David/NCIS

Dear CBS and Les Moonves,

Bring back Ziva David. That is about as plain and simple as I can be but I shall expound. You have one of the better shows on network television, NCIS. It's been on for 13 seasons now and has been the number one show for just as long. For a show to run that long you couldn't ask for anything better. In this season 13 finale, it was watched by close to 18 million people as we tuned in to see the farewell to a most beloved character, Tony DiNozzo. We also were witness to the shocking revelation that another beloved character had been killed off, Ziva David. This begs the question of, why? What did Ziva David ever do to deserve such disdain to be killed off screen? This brings up so many questions with no answers to satisfy a legion of fans for Ziva David and a legion of fans for the relationship of Tony and Ziva.

NCIS has killed off many characters in the past and if it wasn't for the fact that they have dribbled it out over the course of the show, you would have to make the claim that the volume of beloved characters that NCIS have killed off was reminiscent to The Game of Thrones' Red Wedding minus the grog and crossbows. Let's go over the list shall we. There was the original member, Caitlin Todd, shot through the head; Jenny Shepherd, killed in a hail of gunfire; Jackie Vance, death by drive-by hail of gunfire; Tom Morrow, bullet to the back of the head; Diane Gibbs-Fornell, bullet to the head, Ned Dorneget, killed in a terrorist explosion; Eli David, death by drive-by hail of gunfire; and there have been other ancillary characters bumped off over time that you would at least acknowledge their contribution to a story line. But killing off Ziva David was just so unnecessary.

Tony was giving his swan song to the series and it was no surprise that him and Ziva had a “very fond farewell” that produced a child, at last not to me. In fact, it was perhaps the only true evolution of things with their character as their relationship had its ups and downs and emotional ending. So when the story played out that Ziva had perished in the farmhouse and Tali was introduced as Tony and Ziva's daughter, the viewers were displeased and pleased by the outcome.

We watched as Tony got to know his daughter and as we watched, we started to dissect every nuance and word of what was being done and what was being said. Any sentence structure was examined for content and meaning. When Tony said, “Ziva loves Paris.”, he said it in the presence tense and by that interpretation, Ziva was not dead. After all, nobody ever said they found a body in any of the finale, only that she was just dead as extolled by Gibbs. You are asking viewers who watch a procedural show to negate the facts as there was no discussion of a body and if there is a body, no dental records and if there was a body then why wasn't it examined because there should be one in a fire that would burn unevenly with a temperature around 1100 degrees Fahrenheit and not the 1800 degrees a body needs to be cremated for a period of time.

And then there is the fact that Tali was in a burning building and yet she comes out unscathed. What about smoke inhalation? If the farmhouse was truly engulfed by fire for even fifteen minutes of time and was in a remote area away from any fire apparatus, then the entire building would have burned down. So here is where the viewers, who are smart by the way, come to analyze this particular chain of events, the mortar hits the building and knocks Ziva out of bed. She is a mother. Her instincts is to save her child. She is also a former Mossad agent. Once a Mossad agent is always a Mossad agent. She rescues her child but realizes that she has old enemies as does her father. She needs to protect Tali and the only way to do so is to send her back to the States with her father.

And while Tony is dealing with being a new father, the other clues are spilling forth by way of Tali's go bag. This little bag has so many clues in it that if you watched this show over the years and have learned anything, it's the clues that are right in front of you that are nicely hidden. Who packed Tali's go bag? Tony said, “You mom sure knows how to pack a go bag.” But she is suppose to be dead, right? Tali wants her favorite stuffed toy and it's right there. How would anyone know this? And then Tony finds Ziva's scarf. Why would anyone pack that? Nobody wouldn't. Only a mother would pack these things, things that were perhaps a jumbled mess after a fire but grabbed up before then while escaping a fire. And then there was the framed photo of Tony and Ziva in Paris. Why was that in her bag? These are mementos that people would hold on to that have special meaning to them. Again, who would pack such articles, only a mother. Was the picture frame a clue as to where Ziva is?

Tony has this talent of finding Ziva after she leaves clues behind for him to find. The picture frame say that she will be in Paris. So, CBS, in order to qualm the outrage of so many Tony and Ziva shippers, when the fall season comes back, we have to have an answer to this story line. It needs to be wrapped up in a way that will satisfy the fandom. I'm sure you've heard the outrage over Ziva and it's a rightful outrage. With all that is going on in this real world, we wanted and deserved an ending that was worthy of the Tony and Ziva journey in this television world. Right now, there is no balance of the scales with this pairing. It means more to a lot of fans if balance was restored because people have been literally crying over her death and the sadness it evoked. If you watch any YouTube video of these two, it's downright depressing after the fact. 

 Why would you want to endanger the mental health of so many people? A lot of them are saying that they are done with NCIS after what happened to Ziva and I don't blame them. But you can correct this, just give us five minutes where Tony finds his true love. It can be with still pictures or a camera phone video or just a letter from Tony to McGee saying that he found her. If you can do that, you will make so many people happy and we can comfortably close that chapter with Tony and Ziva. They deserve that happiness as do we.

Cordially,

Bobbie L Washington