You totally nailed Tony as I see him (no pun intended). He's lost so much, the family he finally found after so many years of abandonment, and his reactions to Ziva weren't the best thought-out. Or thought-out at all. And Ziva being convinced that somehow things would just "get better" was in part because of her Tony-vision (she doesn't tend to be optimistic in other areas of her life, tho...)

This chapter was very much of the character development, not so much plotty, but we do set things up for the next series of events. In which these new character dynamics tend to complicate matters for our Ziva.

Thanks for your comments!