NCIS: Tony & Ziva Creator Unpacks The Season 1 Finale's Game-Changing Twist

NCIS: Tony & Ziva wrapped its first season with a finale that went big on emotion and bigger on fireworks. It also finally pulled the curtain back on that shadowy 9.4 program the whole season kept circling. Showrunner John McNamara just walked through what 9.4 actually is, why one character suddenly switched allegiances, and where things stand on a possible Season 2.

Finale in a nutshell

• After a season of frame-ups and betrayals, Tony and Ziva teamed up, took down Jonah, and got their daughter Tali back.
• The mysterious 9.4 isn’t a magic doomsday box — it’s a tool with a nasty bite, and someone found a way in.
• Lazar, a gifted coder, discovered a backdoor, which the team used to turn 9.4’s own design against it.
• Martine, who had been riding with Jonah, flipped sides at the eleventh hour — for reasons that make more sense once you hear McNamara’s logic.
• Season 2? McNamara likes the cast’s bench depth but hasn’t heard a peep about renewal yet.

So what is 9.4, really?

McNamara told Parade that 9.4 wasn’t built to be good or evil. It’s a piece of tech — dangerous in the wrong hands, useful in the right ones. The concept came from a blend of research and imagination, and he leaned into the idea that something designed to attack might not be built to protect itself all that well.

'9.4 is just a tool. It all depends on who is using it.'

That design choice paid off in the finale: if you create an offensive system with paper-thin defenses, it’s only a matter of time before someone figures out how to slip through.

The Lazar backdoor

Enter Lazar, a brilliant programmer who spots a vulnerability baked into 9.4. That hidden entry point lets Tony and Ziva’s team poke at the system until it collapses in on itself. It’s a classic high-tech caper move — less sci-fi, more clever exploit — and it fits the show’s grounded vibe.

Martine’s last-minute turn

If Martine’s switch shocked you, that was the intention. McNamara calls her a 'survivor' — someone who was actually being straight with Jonah, only to realize he wasn’t returning the favor. Once that clicked, she chose self-preservation over loyalty and helped Tony and Ziva. It’s messy, human, and, yeah, a little ruthless.

Season 2 status

On the future of the show, McNamara appreciates the ensemble he’s got and thinks the cast is stacked. But for now, there’s no official word on a pickup. Translation: hopeful, not confirmed.

The Hitchcock factor

McNamara also tipped his cap to Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest as a tonal touchstone. If you felt the classic romantic-suspense DNA in the chase dynamics and the will-they/won’t-they tension, that was very much on purpose — and a nod to a filmmaker he says set the bar for this kind of thing.