NCIS 21×02 “The Stories We Leave Behind” is an episode about memories, and about how sometimes the only way to keep someone alive is to tell their stories. This applies both to David McCallum’s Ducky and to the case-of-the-week. But it also applies to anyone we’ve ever lost, and most people who are reading this have lost someone at one point or another. Loss is, sadly, a part of life. We cannot avoid it. We can, however, control how we remember the people we’ve lost.
Just as we can control how we tell their stories, and how we live our lives after they are gone. Because life, well …it goes on. And legacy isn’t just stories, it’s well …people.
A life well lived is a life of memories, yes, but also a life of love. Of people you’ve touched and helped. People who will carry you with them, not because they have to, but because they want to. That is, in many ways, what Ducky leaves in this fictional world, and what David McCallum leaves in us, thanks to the character he created for over two decades.
The episode is, of course, a tribute to both McCallum and Ducky, but it’s also an episode about the NCIS team of today. Sure, Ducky has been around for over twenty seasons, and he’s worked with absolutely every character that has ever been a part of this show, but the flashbacks and even Tony’s presence at the end don’t overwhelm the hour — and they shouldn’t. NCIS 21×02 “The Stories We Leave Behind” can and does honor McCallum without forgetting which characters carry this show now.
There’s no better way for the show to do that than focusing the hour on Jimmy Palmer, if nothing else because there is no character that better exemplifies the spirit of Ducky better than Jimmy Palmer. Just like our dear Ducky, there has always been more to Jimmy than meets the eye, and just like our dear Ducky, Jimmy is the one character who will, sometimes, come up with the unexpected Hail Mary solution to the case.
He is also the character who was closest to Ducky in-show, and the one who gets to both find the body and eulogize the man. It is both a heavy burden and in some ways, a great honor. He feels both of them deeply. But, thankfully, Jimmy Palmer is not alone. He hasn’t been ever since he became part of this team.
And, if anything, as we say goodbye to Ducky, what remains, and what is reinforced in this episode is just that. There were multiple pictures in Ducky’s office, of different versions of the NCIS team. Once upon a time, we thought this show could not go on without the original team. And yet, it did. And then there was another change. And another. And here we are, in Season 21, and the show is still going strong.
Not just that, it’s fair to say the show is thriving. It’s endured change, and it will continue to endure because it carries the lessons and the spirit of those characters who have left. The good memories, the lessons, those stay. And if it hurts that some people are gone, that’s okay. We endure the pain because it’s a small price to pay for some of those characters we know and love to have peace.
Goodbye, Ducky. Goodbye, David McCallum. We shall miss you. But we won’t forget. You’ve taught us better than that.
Things I think I think:
- The way I wept at the opening scene. Even though I’d already watched it.
- When Jimmy says “Ducky.”
- The way he doesn’t even take Ducky’s pulse.
- The flowers from the New Orleans office! And the LA one! And the Hawaii one!
- And the conversation about how to celebrate him hit me hard too.
- Does getting chased through the woods count as a first date?
- The know/knew moment is such a poignant thing because it happens. It happened to me.
- Loss is, in some ways, universal.
- I’m crying again.
- But really, who doesn’t have a junk drawer?
- Cracking up on the inside was kinda funny.
- “We tell our friends we love them through our actions.”
- When Kassie tells Jimmy she loves him? No, I’m not okay, this episode is too much.
- “Change is the essence of life.”
- TONY!
- Okay, that made sense. And it made me cry again.
- As great as it was to see Tony again — and as much as I would have loved to also see Gibbs (or, you know, Ziva), I’m glad it was only at the end. The episode worked very well as it was.
- But also, Tony, some updates? How’s the family?!?!
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS 21×02 “The Stories We Leave Behind”? Share with us in the comments below!
I had the same emotional reaction from the opening scene to the last! Gibbs and Abby were there in flashbacks and Tony’s arrival at the end was the icing on the Ducky Tribute cake! My mother just celebrated her 95th birthday, but she lost several contemporary friends at the same time, so experiencing this episode was particularly poignant and powerful since we (NCIS Team) have been family friends for a couple of decades. I’m putting many of Ducky’s quotes in my journal – thank you for the article and mutual heartfelt sentiment!!
Sydney was also mention. Far east where I believe Knights Fahrer works was also mention.