Here's how they kept Ziva's return a secret from the cast

Although supporters begged Côte de Pablo to come back NCIS, and some had predicted, the series and CBS had to do everything so that the return of the actress remains secret.

Generally, if a production does not want information to be disclosed about a scene, the show lets only a few key people know exactly what is happening and swears them all out of secrecy through non-disclosure agreements. disclosure. That's what was done on NCISbut the series went even further to keep Ziva David's return a surprise.

Now that we're all waiting to see how dangerous Gibbs is and why Ziva has come back to tell him, here's how CBS managed to make one of those big revelations. There were two basic maneuvers.

Mom was the word even to the NCIS crew

First, according to Cinemablend, the scene was never included in scripts or call sheets, ie documents that allow actors and the team to know if and when they should be on the set that day. Most of the actors in the show did not even know that Pablo had come back to his old pitch.

Only the showrunners had copies of the script with Ziva. The entire crew was already ready for the day and was not more knowledgeable. Only Mark Harmon and a small crew of technical staff remained on the board. The scene was shot late at night, with Pablo entering the studio through a back entrance.

At least the actors and the team will not be forced to be in the dark for the filming of the premiere of the season. The series confirmed that Ziva / de Pablo would return at least in the first episode of the new season to explain its re-emergence. It is unclear how long it will stay, but Popculture.com reports that the actress will no longer be a regular series.

Why Cote de Pablo left 'NCIS'

Now, a little bit of history is in order. Cote de Pablo was part of the show from 2005 to 2013, developing a very dedicated fan base. This fan base was crushed when De Pablo left the series. At first she did not explain the reasons in detail, but then she said she was not satisfied with the scripts and where they were taking Ziva.

NCIS wrote him off the show by killing Ziva in an off-screen mortar attack. However, there is an unwritten rule that if you do not see a body, a character is not necessarily dead (Strange things fans will want to keep this in mind).

Indeed, the show later revealed that Ziva was alive but was hiding to protect his family.

So when Ziva hurtled down the stairs to Gibbs in the season finale, a number of people said, "I knew it!

The false end of 'NCIS'

The secret around Ziva's return involved more than hiding script pages and using skeleton crews. In a trick that would make producers smile at the wonder of Game of Thrones, NCIS went so far as to draw a false ending. Star Rocky Carroll said in Cinemablend:

"So I learned that being in this area for a while, when something leaks, when a secret divulges is usually from the board. One of the things I really thought was ingenious is what they did … we shot a fake end. So, our last day of shooting in the series, we shot this fake scene that will never be aired to begin … So most people connected to our series did not even know that she was going to participate. "

Now that everyone knows, there is nothing left to wait until the premiere of season 17, which will take place in a little over two months, on September 24th. Perhaps then Côte de Pablo will be able to explain to us why she returned to the series.