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NCIS bid farewell to the late David McCallum in a recent episode with a touching memorial after the actor passed away in September at the age of 90.
McCallum had starred on the show since 2003, playing investigator Donald “Ducky” Mallard.
Titled “The Stories We Leave Behind,” the tribute episode — which aired on Monday night (Feb. 19) — shows Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) finding Ducky in his home, appearing to have passed away in his sleep. Dietzen co-wrote the episode with writer and executive producer Scott Williams.
“This is the episode no one wants to write,” Dietzen recently told Decider. “Because that means we’ve lost someone important to us.”
The episode shows the NCIS team solving Ducky’s last case which involved a soldier who was dishonorably discharged. Ducky’s detailed notes helps the team solve the case once and for all, clearing the soldier’s name and adding more victory for Ducky, even after death.
Michael Weatherly also reprised his role as Special Agent Tony DiNozzo after having left the series in 2016 after 13 seasons on the show. DiNozzo helps Palmer prepare for Ducky’s memorial with a bow tie, specifically in the style of the late, great investigator.
Dietzen recently spoke on why he was “honored” to write this episode for his longtime co-star.
“Having 20 years of friendship to draw from and knowing that there’s a lot of people out there that never even met the guy but felt like they knew him, and loved his work and loved him over the years, dating back to the ’60s,” he told Decider. “I knew that a lot of people felt the same way that I did about him, and I wanted to do honor to that.”
He explained that they opted to do an episode that felt more in line with the rest of NCIS as opposed to a montage that looked back on McCallum’s time on the show. “Thematically, [we] wanted it to be linked up to the themes of loss and the themes of thinking of the stories that someone has left behind,” he said.
“When we lose someone, what do we leave on this Earth? Those stories,” Dietzen added. “And sometimes those stories are embodied as human beings, such as with this case, [when] this Marine’s daughter is left behind.”
New episodes of NCIS airs on CBS Mondays at 9/8c.
