The episode is written by Christopher J. Waild, Gary Glasberg and Scott Williams and directed by Arvin Brown, and was seen live by 22.86 million viewers.

Shiva (שבעה), which literally means "seven" in Hebrew, is the week-long mourning period in Judaism for a "first-degree" relative: parent, sibling, spouse or child.

The episode opens depicting a young Ziva (Gabi Coccio) praying the Shabbat blessing over candles, with her father (Ben Morrison) standing next to her.

Various other family members, now deceased, are shown surrounding her, including her mother, older brother Ari, and younger sister Tali.

[3] NCIS Deputy Director Jerome Craig (Greg Germann) is brought in to temporarily replace Vance, and Eli's burial is delayed due to the investigation, causing Ziva further pain as Jewish law mandates that a person be buried within twenty-four hours.

[3] McGee contacts Gavriela Adel (Georgia Hatzis), a Mossad agent stationed in Jerusalem, who suggests Duane Gustafson (Forry Smith), an American millionaire who provides funding to an anti-Mossad group, as a potential suspect.

Still trying to console her, he brings her longtime Israeli friend Shmeil (Jack Axelrod) to stay with them and lets her sleep in his bed.

[3] Mossad Deputy Director Ilan Bodnar (Oded Fehr), described by Ziva as Eli's protégé, arrives at NCIS demanding answers and exasperated that Kazmi has not yet been charged.

Ziva, in turn, is infuriated that the team is sharing information with Ilan, a man who considered himself to be like a son to Eli, that was withheld from her, his blood daughter.

"[3] The NCIS team locates a bank account under the name of "Virtue" that allows them to track the man who hired the hitman while Ziva speaks to Ilan over video chat.

The episode ends with Jackie's funeral and Ziva mourning Eli in Israel, visiting the Western Wall, and planting an olive tree as Patty Griffin's "You Are Not Alone" plays in the background.

"The natural response to the murders of Eli David and Jackie Vance would be all about revenge", but the writers "realized that it might be better for [the] characters to take a breath".

[5] About the deaths of Eli and Jackie, executive producer Gary Glasberg told TVLine "this is something that we’ve been talking about for a long time".

[6] He also stated that Jackie's death illustrated the impact of collateral damage, saying, "One of the things I wanted to touch upon was when people do what our team does for a living as NCIS agents, it is easy to forget that there are civilian casualties that go along with it.

It's just a matter of balancing work with personal life...There's a real sort of clue trail that unfolds specific to Ziva and her world as to who's responsible.

"[7] On November 29, 2012, three other roles were confirmed for the episode: "a Mossad associate director"[11] (Oded Fehr); "an American businessman whose oil fortune burdens him with ties to the Middle East"[11] (Forry Smith); and "Gavriela, a sexy and smart Israeli informant for the CIA, played by Georgia Hatzis".

[11] In January 2013, Telegram & Gazette reported, "Gabi Coccio, 13, formerly of Holden, will appear at 8 p.m. Tuesday night on the CBS crime drama NCIS, which stars Mark Harmon.

Douglas Wolfe from TV Fanatic gave the episode 5 (out of 5) and stated that "The writers must be applauded: the story flowed exactly as it should have and there was a richness and depth to almost every scene.

"[21] Paulette Cohn of Xfinity called the choice to kill off two characters in one episode "bold" and speculated about the long-term impact: "Jackie’s death gives the 10-year-old series a chance to explore new territory and new storylines now that Vance is a widower...It will, of course, also be a very trying time for Ziva.

Her grief is compounded by the fact that Ziva has a very complex family history, including the loss of her sister and having had to kill her half-brother Ari.

"[21] Steve Marsi from TV Fanatic called the closing montage set to "Not Alone" by Patti Griffin "moving" and said that the entire episode was "heartbreaking and surprisingly complex".

Frankel expressed concern for the plot twist making Eli David's killer another Israeli, seeing Bodnar's overall motivation as the root of the issue.