Berlin (NCIS)

[2] It carries the storyline surrounding the deaths of Ziva's father, Mossad Director Eli David, and Vance's wife, Jackie, who were both killed off in the January episode "Shabbat Shalom".

[4] The main cast includes Mark Harmon as team leader Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Weatherly as Senior Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo, Cote de Pablo as Mossad Liaison Officer turned NCIS Agent Ziva David, Pauley Perrette as Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto, Sean Murray as Special Agent Timothy McGee, David McCallum as Autopsy Technician Donald "Ducky" Mallard, Rocky Carroll as NCIS Director Leon Vance, and Brian Dietzen as Medical Assistant Jimmy Palmer.

[3] He approached Rocky Carroll and Cote de Pablo about the potential storyline, as well as Paula Newsome and Michael Nouri, who portray Jackie Vance and Eli David respectively.

[3] De Pablo was interested in the idea, seeing the ramifications of it as something that had not been explored with her character before,[5] and Carroll agreed that the death of Vance's wife would dynamically change his role in the series.

[3] The plot twist, initially advertised as a "huge Ziva story" that would "rock Vance's world",[6] culminated in Eli and Jackie being shot to death in a house attack in the 11th episode of the season, "Shabbat Shalom".

[7] Ziva begins to seek revenge with Vance's support, covertly attempting to track Bodnar's location after he escapes arrest and goes into hiding.

In the episode directly prior to "Berlin", Tony confronts her about her behavior, prompting her to approach Gibbs about going to Rome to apprehend Bodnar, where he is believed to be located.

[8] As the episode opens, Mossad Officer Amir Mantel (Dove Meir) is shot dead at point blank range in an American parking garage.

At NCIS headquarters, Ziva cancels plans to pursue Eli David's killer, Ilan Bodnar (Oded Fehr), in Rome, having come to the conclusion that he will relocate to Berlin shortly.

[9] Elbaz informs Gibbs and Director Vance that five Mossad officers went rogue following Eli's assassination in support of Bodnar's attempted coup d'état.

Also while on the plane, Ziva explains her rationale for changing their destination: her father had told her to convert all funds to diamonds with a dealer in Berlin should she ever need to go into hiding.

[9] Meanwhile, Gibbs and Vance order McGee to hack into the Mossad database, discovering that all five operatives Elbaz had claimed were rogue are still listed as active members and that Mantel was the only traitor.

Vance and Homeland Senior Division Chief Tom Morrow (Alan Dale), while angry about her deception, decide to look the other way.

Following the two-part episode arc in January surrounding the killings and the immediate aftermath, show runner Gary Glasberg decided to pull away from the storyline for a few months to focus on the typical police procedural work that the NCIS team is normally shown doing.

The writers returned to the plot in "Chasing Ghosts", the episode before "Berlin" by revealing that Ziva had been searching for Bodnar on her despite being told not to, intending to kill him as revenge.

So when our fearless leader, Gary Glasberg, teamed us up with orders to add another chapter to this Tiva [Tony and Ziva] saga, we jumped at the challenge.

And it all started with Tiva…[10]"Berlin" marked the first appearance of Eli David's killer, Ilan Bodnar, played by Oded Fehr, since the January episode "Shiva".

[14] Sirtis, who formerly portrayed the main character Deanna Troi in the Star Trek enterprise, indicated that she enjoyed working with Mark Harmon and said that he welcomed her to the set by bringing her breakfast on the first day of filming.

[11] He added that the characters' relationship would be tense and complex; their background and the reasoning behind Ziva's animosity towards the new Mossad director would be explained in the final scenes.

"[2] Before the episode aired, a photograph depicting Tony and Ziva dancing while in Germany was released and promoted,[15] and Glasberg commented, "This is a very personal moment of vulnerability where her guard goes down and she lets herself melt into his arms.

[21] In a TV Fanatic round table, Steve Marsi added, "What an emotionally loaded quote from the Eli flashback, followed by the much-anticipated present-day dance.

[22] Michelle Calbert from TV Equals praised the storyline and agreed that Marina Sirtis performed well in the role, saying that she found Orli to be a more likeable character than Eli David.