NCIS: Tony & Ziva season 1 episode 4 closed out the wedding trap, but opened up another can of worms that is likely to backfire on the good guys. The team doesn’t know who to trust in episode 5 after feeling betrayed by their Interpol connection and almost being trapped by Martine. Things are looking grim, but at least their daughter is safe.
Stakes are high as Tony and Ziva are undercover in the Supermax Prison in Austria. The mission takes viewers through all sorts of twists and turns, which have Tony and Ziva wishing they were back on Gibbs' team and solving Petty Officer cases instead of whatever Interpol has wrapped them up in. Despite all the danger, Tony and Ziva prove why they work best together, under one common goal to get out alive and return to their daughter.
The team steals a plane in NCIS: Tony and Ziva season 1 episode 5
The gang (Tony, Zva, Claudette, Fruzsi, and Boris) is walking through the Budapest airport in Hungary. Tony won’t be okay until he slaps Henry; he’s not sad anymore like he was a few days ago. Then Claudette says: We should not be stealing a plane. They are tracking Martine, so they shouldn’t be interpreted. Fruzsi has her keys, so her car is still at the church. Then Martine is on the phone, saying she lost everything! She finds out from the director of operations that the plane has already taken off. The gang stole her plane - hilarious, just like Tony said it would be!
The plane's setup reminds me of Criminal Minds, with the computer system displaying the missing Secretary-General of Interpol, Jonah (Oscar Zagreb). He was likely thrown in the cell by Henry and left there under the assumption that he was missing in action. This led to Henry stepping into the Secretary-General role and gaining more control over Interpol.
Boris is holding 9.4 malware and being a little cocky about how no one else can get to him because of his genius. Tony shuts down the genius showdown between Boris and Claudette with a reminder that they don’t need to be trapped like Jonah. The 9.4 malware should help them get in and out of the prison, if their mission is successful. Hearing Tony be serious lets everyone know that they aren’t playing around with this mission.
Supermax Prison Mission
Another inmate and Jonah are casually talking in the prison yard about the other inmate escaping and the detailed plan. Jonah shuts it down by informing the man that the prison has added more security. The man doesn’t understand how Jonah knows, since he’s only been in the Supermax Prison in Graz, Austria, for nine days. Jonah knows that the other man doesn’t belong in here because he talks about how his son had to find out terrible things about him at the trial. Jonah seems to be doing okay for an uncover Interpol agent stuck in prison. He laughs when the other man asks why he’s in there, and he says, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” no, he wouldn’t. For all we know, his own people threw him in prison to get him out of the way.
Ziva goes undercover as a delivery driver filling in for her brother, but he’s not in the prison’s system. She fakes a fire under the hood, and Tony watches from a car nearby as the masterpiece unfolds. This explains why they were stopped on the side of the road, Ziva fixing a van and then a car parked in front of it. The plan is in motion, as the tech support part of the team—Claudette, Boris, and Furzsi—are in Italy assisting Tony and Ziva.
Ziva succeeds in messing with the prison’s front gate computer system by plugging in 9.4 so that Tony’s uncover ID can access the gate. He’s a Central Intelligence Agency Employee, Agent Wilson Gregg. He rolls into the prison while the tow truck drops Ziva on the outskirts of the woods. She’s posing as security personnel; Erma Stroff's identity gives her access to the building.
Jonah’s betrayal
As Tony walks into the prison, passes the glass interrogation rooms, Claudette and Boris have eyes on him. Thankfully, Tony knows how to talk to keep up his cover while he follows the man to Jonah. Boris notices that Martine is walking in the prison and lets Ziva know. Well, this just got interesting. She has no tag, so they can’t track her. While they are trying to find her, Claudette locates the missing Reigning Fire drones.
The second Jonah makes eye contact with Tony, he’s shocked that they found him. But, Tony subtly reminds Jonah that they are being watched by the cameras and to be careful about what they say. They exit the room together. Jonah is just as confused as all of them about why Henry and Martine would put him in prison. Tony and Ziva, maybe, think it has to do with Jonah’s stolen Interpol money, that hospital that got malware, a bunch of self-driving killer cars, and a stolen Reigning Fire Peacekeeping Solutions drone.
As Tony says that the missing drones are in the prison, so does Jonah. Ziva rounds the corner, draws her weapon, only to have Martine draw a gun at her back. Jonah turns evil faster than I expected, and this switches from a rescue mission to a trap that Tony and Ziva walked right into.
Jonah removes his tag on the camera and then cuts the CCTV to Claudette and Boris. Martine takes the earpiece and threatens Boris.
Aftermath
After Tony is knocked out and Jonah points a gun at Ziva, they end up lying on a bed in the prison. Now, they aren’t sure who they can trust. Is Jonah the new devil, and Henry just wrapped up in it? Either way, they aren’t sure anymore. Tony jokes that this would be easier if this were a missing petty office in Rock Creek Park, and he says, “On it, boss,” pulling a laugh from Ziva. My heart aches for them as they look back on their days as NCIS agents.
Meanwhile, Martine and Jonah (now in street clothes) are in the prison’s office. Martine calls up Henry, who has a lead on Boris, but she tells him to stop looking because they have Tony and Ziva, and she’ll explain when he arrives. Jonah and Martine get 9.4 from the prison front gate computer. Jonah suggests that they do something to Tali to use Tony and Ziva further. But to Jonah’s (and mine) surprise, Martine says no. She begs him not to go after the daughter, he promises her because she has a better idea, cause she knows her. Second shock, they kiss, and he’s the only one who knows her.
Tony and Ziva’s escape
Tony is hoping Claudette can figure out the code he yelled before getting hit and save them. By a miracle, Fruzsi is the one who figures out the clues that lead Claudette to start planning how to remove Tony and Ziva’s tags so they can move freely through the prison system. Somehow, Martine and Jonah can’t be tracked while in prison, something that Tony and Ziva didn’t have. Even with undercover names, they were discovered. If Claudette removes their tags (now they’re real identities), maybe they can escape. They may not have the physical 9.4 in Italy, but they have all the data it sucked from the mainframe at the prison.
Tony and Ziva nod to each other as they hear the guards freaking out that the whole prison tag system has been compromised. They fake a seizure to call a doctor, and Ziva tasers the guard, but then, of course, Tony’s knee catches.
Martine and Jonah find out that all the tags are removed and they can’t track Tony and Ziva. Meanwhile, they’re running and call Henry as a last resort. None of it makes him happy, so Tony chooses to trust him and hopes that Jonah being involves surprises him. Henry says it does surprise him and gives him a stomach ache as he’s pulling up to the prison. He wants to trust Tony to by seeing some evidence, he doesn’t know that Martine was at the wedding even though he was there. Ziva warns him that he walking into a trap.
Jonah and Martine’s trap
Jonah commands all the cells to open after talking to the man from the yard. He wants to give Henry a rough time if he gets past the warden. Henry is definitely being played. Graves is the one who put the other inmate in; they put 9.4 into the stolen drone. Larza (the other inmate) built the drones for Graves. If Larza joins them, they’ll tell him what Aaron Graves did to them. Now he’s getting the prototype drone online.
Henry finds out the truth about Martine's whereabouts and kicks into action. Tony and Ziva fight together against the inmates, and Henry saves them. Finally, they are out of the prison, and Tony is thrilled to see his best friend. Tali’s scared voicemail to Claudette wipes their clean escape from their minds as they worry about their daughter. Meanwhile, the drone is set in motion.
Henry takes down Martine, Jonah, and Larza as they drive towards them after the escape from the prison. He calls for law enforcement and for Tony and Ziva to take the car to get Tali. Henry shoots the tablet with the drone launch, but it's too late, and missiles blow up the prison. Jonah stabs and shoots Henry, then proceeds to shoot at the car until they drive off to save their daughter.
NCIS: Tony and Ziva airs on Paramount+ on Thursdays.