Michael Weatherly Teases His NCIS Finale -- But It May Not Be Goodbye Forever

There's one Tony DiNozzo moment in next week's NCISseason finale that will leave fans saying "holy s---!" the morning after, according to star Michael Weatherly.

"I discovered an aspect of DiNozzo that had never been revealed before, and it truly surprised me," Weatherly said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday, speaking about his final episode on the show. "In that scene, I didn't recognize any Michael Weatherly at all, and very little Tony DiNozzo. It was more like DiNozzo to give Gibbs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation than this thing that he does in the last episode."

Weatherly predicts that fans will have an "overwhelmingly positive reaction" to the way Tony leaves the show, and added that he would "absolutely be open" to future guest appearances on NCIS or its Los Angeles and New Orleans spin-offs, all but confirming the theory that DiNozzo's ending will be a happy one.

How will Tony DiNozzo be written out of NCIS?

But will it be the one everyone is rooting for - with Tony and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) running off together? Weatherly won't say, but promises that the finale will be full of moments aimed at fans of #Tiva. However, that image of Ziva's house engulfed in flames at the end of the penultimate episode might not bode well.

"She's in the episode in a way that might be a little Shakespearean," he says. "But it's real. I think it's going to be a very exciting time for fans of that relationship."

After handing in his resignation, Weatherly says he didn't attempt to have any creative input on how Tony would ultimately be written out. "I'm a big believer that there are things you can control and things you cannot control. That was outside of the sphere of control, as far as I was concerned. I really wanted to leave it up to that creative team," he said. "I love Tony DiNozzo, but more importantly I love NCIS. His departure has to serve that primarily."

The NCIS Season 13 finale airs May 17 at 8/7c on CBS.

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