Last night, NCIS aired an incredibly emotional episode that served as a tribute to David McCallum, who portrayed Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard on the show for many years.
The episode began with Dr. Jimmy Palmer, portrayed by Brian Dietzen, arriving at Dr. Mallard’s house to bring him coffee, only to discover that Ducky had passed away in his sleep.
Rather than immediately jumping into the usual fast-paced opening sequence, the show took a different approach. The opening scene slowly transitioned into the opening credits, with the theme song played at a slower pace than usual. This deliberate decision was made to honor the somber tone of the episode.
Brian Dietzen, reflecting on the episode, discussed the challenges they faced in deciding how to proceed after the emotional opening scene. He felt that it wouldn’t have been appropriate to abruptly shift to the typical explosive and action-packed opening. Slowing down the introduction was, in his view, a beautiful way to start such a poignant episode and pay tribute to David McCallum and his character, Ducky.
Dietzen expressed his satisfaction with how they honored McCallum’s memory and character and invited others to share their thoughts if they agreed with him.