Contains spoilers for “NCIS” Season 22, Episode 3 — “The Trouble With Hal”
“The Trouble with Hal” is all about the unexpected. Whether it be a squatting situation that turns into a murder investigation that leads the team to tangle with a sharp-witted antiques collector, or Jessica Knight (Katrina Law) and Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) coping with the lingering threads of their relationship as they forge ahead with their friendship, the universe keeps throwing the team curveballs.
The death of Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum) has been the biggest curveball the team at large has ever had to deal with. Ducky left behind an enormous legacy — and his office at MCRT, which the team has frozen in stasis since his passing. It’s been months, and it’s time for them to repurpose the space into something new. Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) wants to turn it into a gym; Palmer thinks it ought to be turned into a work-related common space and doesn’t want Ducky’s old files to be thrown away; Kasie Hines (Diona Reasonover) wants a meditation room, and Alden Parker (Gary Cole) just wants someplace to eat in peace that’s not his cubicle. The end result is a compromise that’s a touching tribute to Ducky that fits all of their needs; The Dr. Donald Mallard Memorial Multi-Purpose Room.
The show’s tribute to Ducky brings the gang together
Ultimately, the space is turned into a multi-use room that ends up pleasing everyone on the team and incorporating their suggestions. The Dr. Donald Mallard Memorial Multi-Purpose Room — called “Ducky’s” for short – has space for Kasie to meditate, Parker to eat, Jimmy to work, and Nick to work out. It’s the kind of gesture toward unity that Ducky would be so proud of, and thus a fitting way to memorialize him.
This permanent tribute comes after February’s “The Stories We Leave Behind,” which saw Ducky die offscreen after David McCallum passed away in real life at the age of 90. In the episode, the team takes care of Ducky’s final case while attending a memorial service for him. Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) returns for the service, presaging his character’s spin-off and showing just how much Ducky was loved by his colleagues — and will always be remembered by them, now that Ducky’s is permanently opened.