User Reviews

Let me get this out of the way, this episode is a well deserved masterpiece. This episode serves as the send-off for Ducky, as well as the memorial episode for his actor, David McCallum.

The episode shows the characters dealing with Ducky's death in their own ways. As they try to move through the case of the episode, it's clear that there's now a hole in the group that's hasn't been there before. Through flashbacks, the group describes their favorite memories of Ducky, displaying all sorts of emotions. Through this and other factors, the group express and comfort themselves, really showing how far they have come, not only as a workplace, but as a family.

The subplot of the episode shows the group dealing with an unfinished case of Ducky's, in which a woman seeks vengeance for a politician's views on her father's suspicious death. It has the team reflecting on and replicating Ducky's old habits and methods of work in order to solve the case. The acting from both the cast and supporting characters here is phenomenal, and each performance really fits the character's persona. Everything from the demonstration of political corruption, the showcase of a soldier seeking vengeance, the portrayal of innocent woman who just wants to clear her father's name, down to the emotions of a team going through grief, is done perfectly.

The writing itself is beautiful, which makes sense, because Brian Dietzen, who potrayed Ducky's assistant, cowrote the episode, along with longtime executive producer, Scott Williams. You can really tell that these two writers understand the relationships between the members of the group, evident by the many scenes of different characters interacting with each other on this emotional roller coaster of an episode.

In terms of other factors, such as directing and imagery, everything is amazing. I especially love the ending scene, where Jimmy, McGee, and Tony close up and leave the autopsy lab of NCIS to head to Ducky's funeral, the camera left in the dark, empty room, signifying the end of an era.

Speaking of Tony, his special guest appearance at the end of the episode felt surprising yet natural. The scene really does feel like old friends catching up and having a chat.

Overall, this episode truly displays the family of NCIS grieving a coworker, friend, and mentor, whilst honoring him by solving a case that stumped him. Everything, down to the plot, writing, acting, directing, and scenery, is done masterfully and truly honors David McCallum.

The case of the week for this episode was fairly "standard" one of what's the "real" truth, but, the episode offered up a very different, more important truth. It was a true tribute to both the character that many NCIS fans loved, Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, and more importantly, to the actor David McCallum.

Brian Dietzen, who played Ducky's assistant (and later his successor) Dr. Palmer, co-wrote this episode and made it his business to pay tribute to the man who was not only his character's dear friend, but his own dear friend. Using a combination of clips from David McCallum's 20 years of playing Ducky to help piece together both some answers to the case of the week but more importantly, piece together how to digest and handle the loss of someone who you can feel you knew for 20 years (if you were "just" an NCIS fan) or more.

In tribute to the character, there is a black wreath that "you know who that came from" obviously references Abby Sciuto, played by Parley Perrette who, though having left the show, did herself pay tribute to the actor when he passed. Additionally, Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, played by Michael Weatherly, returned for the funeral saying "I wouldn't have missed this for the world". Michael Weatherly himself had said that he had gotten David McCallum's autograph, one of only 3 he ever collected, the other two being Tony Bennett and Sean Connery. It was clear that Michael wanted to be there to honor David as much as Brian wanted to write Tony honoring Ducky.

All in all, a very warm and special tribute to a very special man.

I loved that they changed the music in the intro (for the first time in 20 years) to make it more solemn as they bid farewell to the only character who's been around since the first episode. This, I thought, was a wonderful touch to make the entire show a tribute and kudos to whoever thought to do this.

Everyone loved Ducky - and David McCallum. I went to a Q&A with the cast and crew at an event at the Paley Center many years ago and as the actors and crew each came on stage the loudest ovation and cheers went to David (we were also treated to a brief clip from an episode of The Man From U. N. C. L. E before the NCIS festivities began).

I thought the episode was thoughtfully written to reflect the special memories each character had of Ducky. Of course it was sad as we were saying goodbye to not only the character, but the actor. Both left an indelible mark on this world.

Great episode and tribute to David MaCallum don't know if anybody noticed during the homeless encampment scene looking for Jonesy, The name of the moving van company was called The Great Escape Van Lines!

That could not have been an accident, but I'm sure it was a tribute to David MaCallum being a cast member in the movie, "The Great Escape."

This episode was well done as to how they intertwined Ducky's life and how Ducky's detailed notes helped them solve one more case with Ducky's assistance.

It will be a less interesting show with Ducky's , but I'm sure and hope, the writers and producers will ensure they use flashbacks of Ducky's philosophical scenarios. RIP Ducky.

It was really spooky how I learned about his death, last year, at the height of the SAG/AFTRA strike. I was watching a Perry Mason rerun called "The Case of the 57 Millionth Frenchman," with David as the framed Frenchman. Later that evening, I'm watching the 6PM news and I go "Whoa!" when I hear about his passing!

Then, last week, ex-FBI Agent Cole gets the phone call from Jimmy Palmer. And I just know it's the segue to this past Monday night's episode.

The writers did a very good job balancing the need for a good framing store with their even greater desire to show their intended respect for the masterful job David did, playing Ducky Mallard, all these years. And making Ducky's thorough record-keeping being posthumously responsible for bringing down a murderous multi-millionaire-turned-politician (who'd been using his company's work in Afghanistan as a front for heroin smuggling) succeeded on all counts.

I was a little disappointed, of course, that Pauly Perrette and Mark Harmon couldn't make uncredited guest-appearances alongside Michael Weatherly. But, the latter showing up to help Jimmy, with his bow tie, just before the funeral (followed by some nostalgic banter with McGee) was still a nice touch.

Adieu, Docteur Mallard. And RIP, Mr. MCCallum.

David McCallum had sort of fallen into the background the last couple of years on NCIS, but he always delivered in the scenes he was in and in many ways Ducky was always the heart of the show.

This is a tough loss regardless and NCIS did its best to do a tribute episode, while giving us a fresh case.

Tony returning for the funeral and a brief cameo was the right move. We don't know whether Gibbs showed up to the funeral or not so I guess we can pretend he did even if Mark Harmon did not appear.

A standout episode and one of the best scripted shows this week. NCIS and TV lost a legend, but this was a respectful tribute.

In a SHAMLESS plug for their other spin offs they drop all the other NCIS shows when they talk about the flowers from different NCIS offices. That was really tasteless and made me cringe. I was a MASSIVE fan of NCIS from the jump until Ziva, Tony, Abby, and Gibbs left. I came back for this specific episode and that terrible plug made me glad I dropped the show... such a shame. This episode gets a lot of credit because Michael Weatherly came back. Also... just to make it known, Gary Cole is a terrible replacement for Mark Harmon. RIP David McCallum... you were a legend and will always be remembered. I just wish they could have gotten Gibbs, Ziva, and Abby back to make it worth that AWFUL plug for the terrible spin offs...

What a loving tribute to Ducky and David McCallum, written by Palmer's actor, Brian Dietzen. Very touching intro, and the case was simple without being too over the top, which is what I feel McCallum would have liked. Ducky would be proud. You have a straightforward story where someone asked Ducky for help and his untimely passing caused the team to take up this request. The team recollects and reminisces on some of the great words of wisdom that Ducky had passed on. This shows that Ducky will never be gone and that his wisdom will be passed down to his coworkers, who became his friends and family.

Well folks, it's finally here. Dr. Mallard's goodbye episode. We all knew it was coming since the unfortunate passing of David McCallum. But it's here and it was amazing. In the previous episode, Jimmy calls the team to inform them about Ducky's passing. In this episode, we find out how and why. Now, the entire NCIS office is mourning the death of Ducky. I especially love the references to ALL the NCIS shows (including New Orleans) where each location sends flowers to the main location.

Not long after, Jimmy gets a visit from the daughter of a deceased soldier who was dishonorably discharged for deserting his troops and using drugs. She asked Ducky to help clear his name and help her get into a good college. But his unfortunate passing prevented him from finishing the job. Naturally, the team jumps in to help clear her father's name and finish Ducky's last case. Long story short, turns out a politician was involved to cover up his A55 with his involvement in drugs and pinned his crimes on the girl's father since he was his bodyguard.

This was a great episode and a great send off for David McCallum. This episode even included flashbacks to some of Ducky's best moments in the series. I would have given this episode a perfect 10 but I was disappointed that the politician didn't get arrested for his crimes. Instead, he suspends his campaign for Senate. He's a politician, they get away with just about everything. Of course, he probably made a deal with NCIS too. But no big deal!

At the end of the episode, we get treated to a surprise appearance by Tony DiNozzo himself, returning after eight years. I was surprised to see him return. It's great to see Michael Weatherly back on the show. Hopefully we'll see more of him on the show.

Great episode and RIP David McCallum 9.7/10.

Living under a rock like i do, I didn't know about David McCallum, until I watched this episode. It hit me like a rock. I was googling him straight away. There might've been some (or a lot) of tears.

There were some really good reminiscing scenes from previous episodes, with the usual Ducky quotes and stories.

The best line is from Kasie "We tell our friends we love them through our actions".

It was a touching moment at the end with the special appearance.

I think the only thing missing at the end was a long panning shot from the funeral with all the former cast members. Hopefully it didn't have anything to do with money or something else.

I knew how old David was. He looked great. He's the kind of guy you expect to live forever. 90 is a really good innings.

This episode is a wonderful tribute to both the character of Dr Donald 'Ducky' Mallard and the actor who played him, David McCallum. The flashbacks beautifully show what a integral part of the show Ducky was and provide an opportunity to reminisce about all the storyline he was part of. It also gave us an opportunity to mourn his passing.

The way the storyline allowed us to see how much Ducky meant to all the team as they worked to solve his 'last' case while linking relevant flashbacks along the way helped us, as viewers, to get some closure as the team also came to terms with their grief.

Really a beautiful and emotional episode.

I have been binge watching NCIS working on getting caught up. I finally saw this episode last week and it pulled at the heartstrings as i knew it would. Very well done. Great mix of the new cast and story line with the show's history.

I felt so bad for Jimmy when he found Ducky, especially since they spoke the night before and Jimmy put him off until morning. Weaving the mystery crime into this episode following Dr. Mallard's clues was wonderful. I was able to hold it together until Tony made his appearance I lost it and bawled like a little girl. It was the perfect ending to such a huge permanent loss in the NCIS family.

RIP David McCallum.