<P> Viewers speculated that Ziva's romance with Rivkin was "arranged" and something that she was "trapped" in . Tadros responded: </P> <P> "Well, with the underworld of espionage, you would never really know . They could easily have been paired and had to be in love and then had to learn to love each other...The way I've always approached it is that Rivkin loves Ziva . They've always wanted to add some suspense and mystery to all of it, but I would always say to the directors,' How could I not love her?' But he also has a job to do . And so does she . (Executive producer) Shane (Brennan) is a genius, so it's been a great pleasure to just go along for this ride . I'm excited to watch the finale (airing May 19) myself just to see how it all plays out!" </P> <P> Tony confronts a drunken Rivkin at Ziva's apartment in the episode directly prior to the finale . When he attempts to arrest Rivkin for killing the leader of the terrorist cell in Los Angeles and also an ICE agent (which Mossad leader Eli David later reveals was an accident), a fight breaks out between the two men which eventually results in Tony being forced to shoot Rivkin in self - defense due to the fact that Rivkin is about to stab Tony with a piece of glass . Though he had acted in self - defense, Rivkin later succumbs to his injuries and dies with his death having serious repercussions for Tony and Ziva's relationship, culminating in Ziva leaving NCIS to resume working for Mossad in the finale, "Aliyah". She is quickly assigned to take Rivkin's place on a mission to take down a terrorist in Somalia . In the closing moments of the episode, she is shown to have been captured and tortured nearly beyond recognition by a terrorist demanding information on NCIS . </P> <P> Brennan reportedly kept the cliffhanger ending a secret from most of the cast, saying that "those pages were only in one copy of the script". Shortly after "Aliyah" aired, it was assured that Ziva "will be back next season . But she'll be a changed woman ." </P>

When do tony and ziva fall in love