I Loved NCIS: Tony & Ziva Bringing In A Killer Robot Dog, But I Didn’t See The Wild Way It Was Filmed Coming

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Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS: Tony & Ziva episode “Fire Sale” are ahead!

The latest episode of *NCIS: Tony & Ziva* on Paramount+ featured an even more intense situation than viewers have seen before. At a weapons expo in Paris, a character named Jonah Markham hacked into Gunner, a robotic dog, and programmed it to target Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David. Maximillian Osinski, the actor who plays Boris Peskov, recently spoke with TopMob about the exciting robot dog scene and the effort that went into creating the setting for it.

Before the upcoming TV show “Fire Sale” airs in 2025, I spoke with actor Osinski – known for his roles in shows like *Ted Lasso* and *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.* – about his work on *NCIS: Tony & Ziva*. He described how, in the show, his character infiltrated a weapons expo alongside Tony, Ziva, and Claudette, and explained the process of creating the robotic dog featured in that scene.

Filming those scenes takes a lot of time, and the final result on screen is always more impressive than watching it being shot. For example, the robot dog looked fantastic in the finished product, but on set, it was actually an actor in a green suit doing a lot of physical work to help create the effect later in post-production. I wasn’t even there for those shoots.

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Reigning Fire’s CEO, Aaron Graves, recently unveiled Gunner, their newest robotic weapon. However, Jonah Markham, seeking revenge on Graves for his family’s death, seized control of the robot and began systematically eliminating Reigning Fire’s security personnel. Graves ultimately deactivated Gunner with an electromagnetic pulse, but this also wiped the data recovered from a nearby drone that had witnessed the murder of Henry Rayner-Hunt.

It’s too bad Maximillian Osinski didn’t get to see the actor in the green suit stepping in for the robot dog during filming, but I’m happy with how the movie turned out. The actor also shared that the scenes set at the weapons expo weren’t filmed at an actual convention center. A lot of work went into building that set, where everything went chaotic because of a malfunctioning machine. Osinski went on to say:

The atmosphere on set was great, largely because of the huge, realistic convention center we built in the studio – complete with actual trucks and drones. It really brought the scene to life and raised the tension. However, filming those scenes took days, jumping between different parts of the set. It was strange sometimes being in the same space but not seeing Michael Weatherly or Cote de Pablo for a whole day, as they were filming on the other side of the room.

Okay, I’m really hoping we don’t see any more of those Gunners in the last two episodes of *NCIS: Tony & Ziva*! They’re tough to take down without something like an EMP, and regular guns just aren’t cutting it. It looks like Jonah Markham totally got what he wanted with that robot dog. He’s using his power as head of INTERPOL to keep Aaron Graves ‘safe,’ and he’s even trying to make it look like Tony and Ziva were the ones who attacked! Now that Tony’s on Jonah’s trail, and Jonah left Martine behind, I’m really hoping Martine will finally switch sides and help our heroes. I’m just worried about Dejan Lazar though – please let her *not* have been the one who shot him!

The first season of *NCIS: Tony & Ziva* ends on October 23rd, and it’s currently unknown if the show will be renewed for a second season. However, fans of the *NCIS* franchise have other options: new seasons of *NCIS*, *NCIS: Origins*, and *NCIS: Sydney* will premiere on CBS on October 14th. Hopefully, *Tony & Ziva* will also get another season around the same time.

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2025-10-09 15:09