Are Any ‘NCIS’ Characters Mentioned in 1st ‘NCIS: Tony and Ziva’ Episodes?

NCIS: Tony & Ziva exists in the same universe as NCIS, but did the spinoff series bring in any OG stars for its first three episodes?

Warning: Spoilers below from season 1, episodes 1, 2 and 3 of NCIS: Tony & Ziva.

Tony & Ziva premiered on Paramount+ Thursday, September 4, with three episodes. During the series debut, fans were reintroduced to Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) years after they both left NCIS as special agents.

When the show begins, viewers see through flashbacks the moment the pair met at NCIS in Washington, D.C., in 2005. Glimpses at their love story then unfold, including their reunion in January 2020 after Ziva was on the run following an attempt on her life and that of her and Tony’s daughter, Tali (now played by Isla Gie), in 2016.

As the episode continues, Tony and Ziva’s — who are not romantically together in present day — daughter’s life is threatened when villain Pierre Galimard (Emmanuel Bonami) breaks into Tony’s cyber security offices and forces him to hand over a hard drive (called 9.4) that can help bad guys steal money, infiltrate Interpol and take over hospital systems.

Tony doesn’t panic while being held at gunpoint; instead, he manages to get a message to Ziva, who is now the founder of a language school, by using “NCIS” as a clue.

Tony claims that the code phrase for clearing his servers is, “We cherish NCIS so much.” Instead of NCIS standing for Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the encryption stands for “No Country Is Safe,” which tips Ziva off that their daughter is being followed.

She jumps into action and safely secures Tali while Tony gets his office out of standoff with the bad guys without any fatalities.

Elsewhere in the episode, Tony and Ziva use their NCIS badges, which are no longer valid, to get answers about a hack at a French hospital. (They are on the hunt to find out who in Interpol is dirty and who framed Tony for stealing millions from the agency.)

It isn’t until episode 3 that Tony and Ziva reference their past as special agents at NCIS while investigating 9.4’s next target.

“This is strange. I feel like we’re back at the job. Like we should be calling McGee, and saying, ‘Hey handle this,’” Ziva said during the episode while waiting to meet the CEO of Reigning Fire, a possible target because of its drone technology, and referring to former coworker Special Agent Timothy McGee, played by Sean Murray.

Tony laughed, asking, “Yeah, how’s that going to go? [We just call and say], ‘Hey, probe how you been? Sorry to do this to you, but you know that red notice? Ignore it. It’s just a big misunderstanding.’”

Tony, who called McGee “probe” throughout his 13 seasons on NCIS because he outranked the agent, confessed to Ziva, “Besides what can he do from D.C.? Time is a ticking.”

Unfortunately, McGee doesn’t make a cameo in the flesh.

New episodes of NCIS: Tony & Ziva air on Paramount+ Thursdays.