[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for NCIS Season 22 Episode 3 “The Trouble With Hal.”]
We still miss Ducky (and David McCallum), and NCIS reminds us just how much we do with the latest episode, starting with Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) wanting to turn his office into a state-of-the-art gym!
Ducky’s office has remained untouched for almost a year, and so Torres wants to take advantage of the space. He’s talked to Vance (Rocky Carroll), who told him to run a petition to see how many people like the idea. McGee (Sean Murray) knows Palmer (Brian Dietzen) won’t like it. While he works out, “he also might be too sentimental about Ducky’s office to want to change it to anything,” McGee points out. Doesn’t Knight (Katrina Law) agree? The awkwardness around Knight and Palmer’s breakup continues, with her saying she doesn’t know.
As soon as Palmer talks about how “the only constant in life is change,” Torres uses that as his in to bring up Ducky’s office. To his surprise, Palmer’s heard about his plan, and it “sounds great.” He may not be sure if many people would use it, the ME continues, “but Dr. Mallard wouldn’t want his office sitting idle forever.” So what would Ducky want his office to become? “He would want it to be whatever helps us to do our jobs better.”
CBS
But Kasie (Diona Reasonover) is against the change, wanting his office to be preserved in his memory. “I know it’s irrational,” she admits, “but Ducky is the one who brought me into NCIS, so forgive me if I may be a tad sentimental.” (Torres calls her stubborn.) Palmer later finds her in Ducky’s office, meditating; since Ducky gave her inner peace, his office is the perfect place to do it. He’s the one who gets her asking everyone what they’d like it to be, and she starts with him. He just wants a place for Ducky’s old paper files because they still come in handy. Parker (Gary Cole) wants somewhere to have lunch. McGee wants a separate workstation away from his desk.
In the end, the office becomes Dr. Donald Mallard, Memorial, Multi-Purpose Room. Torres can work out in one corner, Parker can have his place to eat in another (as he does with Knight), Kasie can have her meditation corner, Ducky’s files are still there, etc. What would Ducky think? “He’s here. He loves it, too,” Palmer says. It does need a nickname, such as The Duck Pond or Ducky’s Den or… just Ducky’s, as Palmer suggests. The only one not there to see it is McGee, who’s busy looking up LaRoche, the shady new deputy director, at his desk.
Elsewhere in the episode, Knight tries to get Parker to open up about what he saw on the ship (Lily), but he says he’s not ready to talk about it. Plus, Torres reveals to Knight why he’s pushing for the gym: After almost getting killed on his last undercover op, he started thinking about the future. He’s working out so hard because he’s trying to get his mind right and get back out there, in the game—the love game. It’s been too long since he had a special person in his life, but if he’s going to put himself back out there, he wants to put his best self out there.
What do you think of what the team did with Ducky’s office? What’s your theory about Lily? And what are you hoping to see with Torres’ (eventual) new love interest? Let us know in the comments section below.
NCIS, Mondays, 9/8c, CBS