'NCIS' Pays Tribute to David McCallum's Role as Dr. Donald 'Ducky' Mallard

The tribute to David McCallum’s passing was the Feb. 19, 2024, episode “The Stories We Leave Behind,” which memorialized the last original NCIS cast member, who died on Sept. 25, 2023, of natural causes at age 90.

As a result of the multiple strikes that year, the memorial episode, putting both McCallum and chief medical examiner/NCIS Historian Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard to rest, had to be delayed.

“One of the things that was really important to us was to highlight not just his interactions with our current roster on NCIS but also to highlight his interactions with past members of the NCIS family as well, so it was nice to be able to highlight some of those classic scenes and format the story and form the story around those,” Brian Dietzen (Jimmy Palmer), who co-wrote the episode told Parade at that time.

Related: NCIS’ Brian Dietzen Teases What’s in the Tribute to David McCallum and His Alter Ego Ducky Mallard

In tonight’s “The Trouble with Hal” episode, tribute is paid to Ducky once again when there is some dispute over what should happen to his office, which has lain unused for a year.

“I want to turn Ducky’s office into a state-of-the-art gym,” Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) declares.

“We already have a gym,” Knight (Katrina Law) responds.

To which Torres says, “But that gym is barely a gym. It needs an upgrade. He has all those big windows and the high ceiling. I know exactly where to put the kettlebells.”

Torres is asking his co-workers to sign a petition that was requested by Director Vance (Rocky Carroll) to see what opinions the other staffers have on what should be done with the space.

McGee (Sean Murray) suggests that Jimmy Palmer might not like the idea, but Torres points out that Palmer works out, too.

“Yes, but he might also be too sentimental about Ducky’s office to want to change it to anything. Don’t you think, Jess?” McGee asks, putting Palmer’s ex-girlfriend on the spot.

“Uh, I don’t know. You should ask Jimmy,” she says.

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But to everyone’s surprise, when Torres asks Palmer what he thinks about putting Ducky’s old office to a new use, Palmer thinks “it’s great.”

“I’m not sure how many people would actually use it, but Dr. Mallard wouldn’t want his office just sitting idle forever,” he says.

Then Knight asks, “I wonder what Ducky would want?”

And Palmer says, “Knowing him, he would want it to be whatever helps us do our jobs better. Other than that, I can’t imagine anyone minding the change at all.”

The person who actually objects is Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonver). She tells Torres, “No offense to your gym idea, but shouldn’t Ducky’s office be preserved as a memory?”

“As a museum?” he asks.

“I know it’s irrational but Ducky’s the one who brought me into NCIS so forgive me if I’m sentimental,” she answers.

Kasie promises to consider the idea but later when she runs into Palmer in Ducky’s office, it turns out she has already been secretly using the space for a daily 10-minute meditation.

“You know I’m a big fan of anything that gives inner peace,” Palmer reassures her.

“And that’s what Ducky gave me,” Kasie explains. “He taught me the value of ohm time. This office is the perfect place to do it. That is until now.”

But Palmer has doubts that Vance would approve an NCIS meditation room, so he suggests that Kasie get a consensus from her fellow workers as to possible uses for the space.

Palmer doesn’t have an idea for its use, but just wants the file cabinets to remain because he sometimes pulls Ducky’s old files, which he finds helpful. McGee would like a desk away from the hubbub of the orange room when it gets too noisy like Grand Central Station, and Parker would like somewhere to have lunch away from his desk.

Related: Wilmer Valderrama Says NCIS Will Return With New Romance and More Humor

Later, we find out Torres’ real reason for wanting to turn the office into a gym when he shares his thoughts with Knight.

“You carry around a hammer long enough everything starts looking like a nail,” he tells her.

“I have no idea what that means,” she admits.

“Almost getting killed in my last undercover operation made me start thinking about the future,” Torres explains. “That’s why I’m pushing so hard to get a better gym at work. I’m training hard.”

“To become a better hammer?”

“Not for nails or bad guys,” Torres continues. “That’s the side effect. The reason that I’m working out so hard is I’m trying to get my mind right and get back out there, back in the game.”

“The game?” Knight asks.

“The love game,” Torres says. “It’s been too long since I’ve had a special person in my life, so I was thinking if I could get myself back out there again maybe I could find that person. In order to do that, I really want to put my best self out there.”

Knight smiles, and says, “I want you to know, I fully support this mission.”

In the end, Ducky’s office is turned into the “Dr. Donald Mallard Memorial Multi-Purpose Room,” where one spot has updated workout equipment, another has a table by the window to enjoy lunch, there is a meditation spot, and the file cabinets are still in place.

“I think I love it,” Palmer says on seeing it.

Vance suggests the name is too long, and Kasie admits, “I’ve been thinking of some nicknames, like the Duck Pond or Ducky’s Den.”

Palmer suggests, “How about just Ducky’s?”

Vance says, “As in ‘meet me at Ducky’s?’”

And that will be the name going forward.

NCIS airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Streams next day on Paramount+.

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