Henry’s death in NCIS: Tony & Ziva episode 5’s ending began showing its aftereffects in episode 6, highlighting how much of a weakness it is that Tony & Ziva lacks something NCIS’s MCRT team always had. Happening right after Tony and Ziva had realized Henry wasn’t the mastermind behind their precarious position, Henry’s death was brutal and happened too soon.

The threat Sophie and Tali were under didn’t let Tony and Ziva thoughtfully address the magnitude of Henry’s murder at Markham’s hand, nor the fact that Henry let them go so that they could save Tali. However, the cracks started to show in Tony & Ziva season 1, episode 6, magnified by the titular duo’s lack of a cohesive team.

Being The Only One To Mourn Henry Makes His Death Harder Than Any In NCIS For Tony

Tony’s friendship with Henry always meant he would be hit the hardest, but how badly Tony took it brought out a previously unseen side of him, one that Tali noticed and that was embodied by his lashing out at Ziva, despite her being supportive. Henry’s death did more than destroy Tony’s new normal after all, depriving him of his friend.

Being on the run and trying to protect Tali indubitably made the situation worse, but the stark reality Tony & Ziva highlighted was how alone Tony was in mourning his friend Henry. Tony’s reaction was out of character for NCIS audiences and Tali alike, who was worried enough to offer him support, thus exemplifying the full extent of Tony’s grief.

Tali seeing Henry as her uncle meant she could have understood Tony’s pain, but their difference in age and relationship still meant she didn’t fully grasp what Tony was going through. Ziva never leaning on Henry and being jealous of his relationship with Tali also acted as a barrier between her and Tony, effectively leaving Tony alone in his grief.

Henry’s Loss Emphasizes How Different Tony & Ziva’s Team Is From NCIS’s

Tony can’t even rely on his and Ziva’s haphazard team for support, as it was formed out of necessity. Like using Boris and Fruzsi’s wedding as a trap hit Boris and Fruzsi more, leaving Tony and Ziva unperturbed, Henry’s death doesn’t mean something as big for Tony and Ziva’s team as it does for Tony and his family.

Not sharing the grief inevitably impacts Tony negatively as a result. Of all the NCIS characters dying too soon, Henry did so at the worst possible time for Tony to process the loss smoothly. Thinking back to the NCIS deaths that affected the entire MCRT team and not just Gibbs and a few others, Kate’s murder comes to mind.

Kate’s death in NCIS season 2’s finale shocked audiences and characters alike, but the MCRT team was able to process Kate’s loss as a team in NCIS season 3’s premiere. Even if only linked by their dangerous job, going through losing Kate together made her death easier to digest for Gibbs and the others, especially after Kate’s murderer was killed.

Tony and Ziva forming their team due to the circumstances they all found themselves in – Boris and Fruzsi implicated through the 9.4, Claudette and Sophie being employed by them – doesn’t give Tony the same support he had when he lost Kate. This makes Henry’s death crueler, and it highlights how NCIS: Tony & Ziva’s team pales in comparison to NCIS’s.