NCIS: Tony And Ziva Finale Recap And Ending Explained: What Happens To 9.4?

Despite being predictable and pretty straightforward, the finale of the first season of NCIS: Tony and Ziva is much more memorable, wholesome, and enjoyable than viewers would have expected it to be. The aspect that I liked most is that, unlike most of the similar shows, which prioritize setting up stakes for future storylines before concluding the ongoing story on a satisfactory note, the ending to the first season of Tony and Ziva is self-contained, simple, and hits all the right notes, which will make Tiva fans happy. Previously, Markham aimed to take over Graves’ Reigning Fire server room in his private compound in Isla Zafira in order to assume absolute control over his global weaponry but failed to obtain the pass code to access it after Martine shot Graves to death. Despite walking straight into the trap set by Markham, Tony luckily survived the destruction of the compound building and was reunited with Ziva, Claudette, and Boris. Martine, who installed a Trojan to override 9.4 by handing over Lazar’s laptop to Markham, sought assistance from Ziva and proposed joining hands against the rogue Interpol chief. In the final moments of the last episode, Sophie failed to protect Tali, who was kidnapped by Jonah’s men, and saving their daughter is of utmost importance for Tony and Ziva during the final showdown.

Spoilers Ahead

Early on in the finale, Jonah calls Tony and Ziva to make his demands clear: if they want to see Tali safe, they have to surrender themselves. Martine, who had bugged Jonah’s phone, learns about this and once again approaches Tony and Ziva and offers them help to rescue Tali if they agree to help her to take down Markham. From traffic security footage and the layout of the island, Boris quickly deduces that Markham must have kept Tali in one of Graves’ black sites near a lighthouse, and it is decided that Sophie and Martine will go to rescue Tali. No one in the team, especially Tony, is at all convinced about Martine’s change of heart, but given how their options are limited, they have to take a chance on her. Martine further reveals to Boris and Claudette about Lazar’s digital fortress, which is also located on the island, from where they can work to exploit the 9.4 flaw and take control over it with Lazar’s help. 

According to their plan, Tony and Ziva surrender themselves to Markham and learn about the predicament of not being able to access Graves’ server. Markham fully commits to making Tony and Ziva scapegoats for all the crimes he has committed and even offers them a script to rehearse everything that they need to present as a confession to the police. Markham gets busy making several unsuccessful attempts to correctly guess the passcode to Graves’ vault. In the meantime, Sophie and Martine take down Markham’s men and rescue Tali and bring her to Lazar’s digital fortress, where Claudette and Boris are already trying to override 9.4 to take control of Graves’ server once Markham gets access to it. Martine sends a signal to Tony and Ziva to convey the success of their mission; they too manage to break out of Markham’s captivity. 

Things take a wrong turn after Jonah learns about Martine’s involvement in Tali’s rescue and sends drones after her. As Lazar’s fortress is raided by Markham’s drones, the team gets separated, and Boris takes Tali to the safety of the underground tunnel network. Martine, Claudette, and Sophie get cornered and captured by Jonah’s men. 

While being on the run from Markham’s men, Tony and Ziva have an argument over a discussion over their future course of action. Ziva is adamant in her decision to kill Markham to offer their daughter a safe future and get rid of the target on their back, while Tony fears the repercussions of such a decision, as he thinks it can tear their family apart all over again. During their argument, the duo accidentally deduce the passcode to Graves’ safe by taking a look at the Reigning Fire weapon galore crafted on the outside of his compound. On the other hand, Boris begrudgingly follows Tali as she remains resolute about returning to Graves’ lair to rescue the rest of the team.

Tony and Ziva decide to provide Markham the access code by once again surrendering themselves, knowing that the moment he uses 9.4 in Graves’ server, he will lose control. Markham gathers the captive team, manages to access Graves’ server, and shares his plan of taking over the defense of all the nations, warmongers who use Reigning Fire’s weaponry to kill innocents across the globe. His goal was never limited to taking down a single war profiteer, as Jonah recognized the rot of the system itself cannot be cured unless he assumed total control. Martine shares the obvious irony that while doing so, Jonah will inevitably assume the same position as Graves and will inadvertently get himself entangled in the loop of violence. However, Jonah is too far gone to backtrack at this stage; he uses 9.4 on Graves’ server, and upon noticing Tali and Boris trying to access the lair through underground tunnels, he sends his crew after them. 

Just as 9.4 takes over Graves’ server, Jonah Markham himself becomes the prime target of Graves’ drones, as the Trojan horse plan hatched by Lazar, Boris, and Claudette comes to fruition. Chaos erupts as Jonah and his men try to destroy the drones. The Interpol chief tries to escape, driving the same jeep where Tali has taken cover, while Tony and Ziva chase after him. Boris takes out 9.4 from the server and destroys it, so no one gets to use this powerful tool to wreak havoc any further. Fortunately, the drones are taken care of, and Tony and Ziva manage to corner Jonah after rescuing Tali, who delivers a much-deserving beatdown to Markham. 

Jonah Markham is arrested, and Tony, Ziva, Tali, and the rest of the team are back in Paris. Martine surprisingly assumes her position in Interpol—as if she didn’t orchestrate a large-scale global terrorism plan merely a couple of days ago. Still, she has redeemed herself somewhat after helping the team in taking down Jonah, and her path of redemption continues as Martine helps Lazar to reunite with his long-estranged son. It is hinted that Martine orchestrated Jonah’s murder in prison and staged it as suicide to evade investigation by the authorities. Her morally complex nature leaves a question of whether she has given up her crooked ways for good or not. Boris gets a heartache as it is revealed his beloved wife, Fruzsi, has conned him and fled after robbing his entire fortune, which is such an unexpected development given how she turned out to be quite a likeable character during her brief appearance in the series. Tony assures Boris that he can always opt to work in his private security company, which indicates that if a second season is made, we will get to see more of Boris’ funny antics. 

We meet Dr. Lang’s boyfriend, child psychologist Archie, once again, who is helping Tali to cope with the experiences she recently had. At least for now, the family is reunited, and Tony and Ziva take this chance to share the news with Tali that they are back together once again. To make her parents aware of how their random surprises catch her off guard, Tali pulls a prank by pretending to call her boyfriend while speaking with Sophie—and Tony’s reaction to it is priceless. 

The first season of Tony and Ziva ends on a bittersweet note, as Ziva gifts Tony a framed picture of Henry and Tali together. She had struggled to accept that Henry was more of a family to her daughter than she was, at least initially. When Henry sacrificed his life to protect Tali, it moved Ziva, and she saw the error in her ways. Tony is moved by Ziva’s gesture to acknowledge Henry, and it holds much more importance in the context of the narrative compared to the montage of the couple rekindling their lost love throughout their journey in the series.