For over two decades, CBS’s NCIS has maintained its status as a television powerhouse by mastering the art of the dramatic exit. From the explosive shock of Caitlin Todd’s death to the quiet, dignified departure of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the show understands that the departure of a beloved character can define an era.
In Season 23, a new, more insidious, and far more painful kind of exit is playing out—one that is not marked by a bullet or a boat trip, but by the slow, quiet erosion of a character’s defining qualities and screen time. The character in question is the irreplaceable and iconic forensic scientist, Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, played by the legendary David McCallum.
While Ducky’s physical presence has been diminished since the late teens seasons due to McCallum scaling back his role, Season 23 has pushed this absence to a new, structurally painful level. The show is not just writing Ducky off-screen; it is subtly dismantling the emotional and intellectual role he once played, effectively killing one of its best characters in the slowest, most agonizing way possible—through narrative obsolescence.
⏳ The Slow Fade: Ducky’s Diminished Role
Ducky Mallard was, for much of the show’s history, the intellectual conscience and historical anchor of NCIS. His extensive knowledge of history, anthropology, and obscure facts often provided the crucial, outside-the-box clue that unlocked a case. His relationship with Gibbs was the emotional cornerstone of the series.
The Narrative Erosion in Season 23
Season 23 has formalized Ducky’s absence in ways that hurt the team dynamic:
- Reduced Physical Presence: Ducky is rarely seen in the squad room or the autopsy bay. His appearances are now largely confined to brief, often pre-recorded video calls or short, isolated scenes at his home or a library. While understandable given McCallum’s age and reduced filming schedule, the nature of these appearances is the real problem.
- The Loss of the Autopsy Scene: The autopsy room was Ducky’s stage. It was where he and Gibbs shared their deepest, most meaningful conversations, and where the team gathered to exchange morbid banter. Now, that emotional and intellectual hub is ceded entirely to Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen). While Palmer is a fantastic character, the autopsy scenes lack the historical gravitas that Ducky’s presence provided.
- The Historical Void: Crucially, the show is no longer relying on Ducky for his unique insights. Any historical or procedural context that once required Ducky’s obscure anecdote is now either delivered through exposition by a younger agent or found via a quick search by McGee. The narrative has learned to circumvent Ducky’s genius, making his contribution non-essential.
The effect of this quiet erosion is that the team functions perfectly well without him. While that proves their growth, it robs Ducky of his narrative purpose, which is the slow death of a beloved character.
💔 The Emotional Toll: The Loss of the Anchor
Ducky’s greatest contribution was never just forensic science; it was his relationship with the team, particularly his profound bond with Gibbs.
The Gibbs Vacuum
- The Moral Compass: Ducky was the only character who could effectively call Gibbs out, offer him complex emotional support, and share a history that predated NCIS. His presence validated Gibbs’s choices and provided a grounding force for the entire agency.
- The Unfilled Role: Since Gibbs’s departure, Ducky’s role as the emotional anchor has been passed around, but never consolidated. Parker (Gary Cole) has a different, more professional dynamic with the team, and while Palmer serves as the heart, he lacks the institutional history to replace Ducky’s counsel.
- The Quiet End: By slowly reducing Ducky to a series of detached, brief appearances, the show risks reducing his character from an intellectual giant and emotional cornerstone to a cameo—a painful end for one of the most developed characters in the history of the franchise. It’s a death by a thousand narrative papercuts, where the character fades out of necessity, not drama.
📈 The Narrative Necessity: Paving the Way for Palmer
While painful for classic NCIS fans, the slow reduction of Ducky is a necessary, albeit brutal, step in the evolution of Dr. Jimmy Palmer.
The Rise of the Successor
- Jimmy’s Authority: As Ducky steps back, Jimmy Palmer finally assumes the sole, unambiguous authority of Chief Medical Examiner. This promotion allows Palmer to shed the shadow of his mentor and fully mature into his role, contributing his own unique blend of warmth and expertise.
- Brian Dietzen’s Presence: Brian Dietzen has been delivering masterful performances, particularly in the emotional arcs following his character’s personal losses. The show is investing heavily in Palmer as the emotional core, a shift that cannot fully happen while Ducky remains actively involved, even marginally.
- A Clean Break: By slowly phasing Ducky out, the show avoids the high drama of a sudden death, which might overshadow the cases and the main team’s development. It provides a gentler, more realistic transition of authority in the ME’s office.
However, the speed and clinical efficiency with which the show is now implementing this transition in Season 23—treating Ducky’s intellectual insights as disposable—is where the “quiet killing” becomes evident. The writers are making a strategic choice to de-prioritize the wisdom of the past in favor of the momentum of the present.
🔑 Conclusion: Preparing for the Inevitable
The Season 23 arc for Ducky Mallard is a masterclass in the “slow fade”—a quiet, narrative killing that prepares the audience for the inevitable. The show is systematically removing the character’s operational and intellectual utility, ensuring that when the time comes for actor David McCallum to officially depart, the structural shock to the team will be minimal.
While this ensures the show’s continuity and elevates Jimmy Palmer, it comes at the cost of denying Ducky the powerful, dramatic exit his decades of service deserve. For fans, every episode where Ducky appears briefly, but contributes minimally, feels like a painful reminder of the character’s slow march toward narrative obsolescence. We are witnessing the slow, quiet death of a legend’s role, and NCIS is making sure that by the time the final goodbye comes, the audience has already been conditioned to his absence.
