NCIS: Origins Just Rewrote 2 Key Pieces of NCIS Lore With the Franchise’s Best Characters

The Leroy Jethro Gibbs-focused NCIS spinoff rewrites two essential pieces of franchise lore, as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard returns in NCIS: Origins Season 2, Episode 3, “The Edge.” The actor who played the beloved Medical Examiner on NCIS, David McCallum, passed away in 2023. NCIS paid tribute to the actor in Season 21, “The Stories We Leave Behind,” honoring McCallum as Ducky passed away on the series, and his colleagues remembered him. That said, NCIS: Origins had the rare opportunity in the franchise to bring back the character.

Doubtlessly one of Gibbs’ (Mark Harmon) dearest friends on NCIS, Ducky has a rich history in the franchise, and a younger version of him appeared throughout the original series. Adam Campbell played a younger version of Ducky in the flagship series alongside Sean Harmon’s younger version of Gibbs, and the same actor revived the character for NCIS: Origins. “The Edge” shows one of the earliest chapters of Gibbs and Ducky’s friendship, with the installment serving as a love letter to one of the best relationships from the franchise.

NCIS: Origins Season 2, Episode 3, “The Edge,” Brought Back Donald “Ducky” Mallard

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The second season of NCIS: Origins has been off to a solid start, with Lala Dominguez (Mariel Molino) returning to the team after her car accident and young Gibbs (Austin Stowell) dating Diane (Kathleen Kenny), who becomes his second wife. The team is back together again after a shake-up between Seasons 1 and 2, but something rattles Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid) again as the team returns to their fieldwork. In “The Edge,” NCIS Headquarters sends Mr. Mallard to observe Camp Pendleton’s NIS office and deduce whether they need their own ME.

The newcomer’s presence causes tension with Franks, but Ducky quickly wins over each member of his team, proving that he doesn’t have ulterior motives. The doctor’s presence establishes a new connection between the younger version of Ducky and Gibbs’ characters, marking the first time that Campbell’s Dr. Mallard and Stowell’s younger Gibbs have appeared on-screen together. The episode has heartfelt nods to McCallum’s legacy, such as the actor’s song, “The Edge,” playing as the character is introduced. The song also doubles as the episode’s title.

Ducky’s Appearance In NCIS: Origins Rewrote Vital NCIS Franchise Lore

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Dr. Mallard’s appearance changes an essential element of NCIS lore. Ducky and Gibbs, whom he calls “Jethro,” spend quality time together while the ME is conducting his autopsy in a shipping container outside the office. Gibbs offers Ducky a definitive piece of advice at the end, telling the doctor that he worked well when he just spoke directly to the victim rather than into a recorder, as he was taught. Ducky’s talking to his patients was key to McCallum’s character, and NCIS: Origins explains that Gibbs inspired the trait a decade before the original series.

In turn, Ducky inspires Gibbs to build his boat. NCIS: Origins Season 2 has established that Gibbs doesn’t know what to do with the wood he purchased, intending to make something. When Dr. Mallard gifts Gibbs a ship in a bottle at the end of the installment, Gibbs takes another look at the stack of boards, seemingly marking his epiphany to build a boat. Gibbs’ hand-carving his boat was a key character trait, as was Ducky’s ability to talk to his patients. NCIS: Origins, by overlapping those formative aspects of the original characters, inherently changes them and adds new weight.

NCIS: Origins Can Smooth Out The Plot Holes In Gibbs & Ducky’s Friendship Timeline

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Despite the prequel rewinding the clock, their encounter in NCIS: Origins isn’t the first time fan-favorite characters Ducky and Gibbs have met. As NCIS establishes and Origins confirms, the pair first met in 1980. They later had a rich friendship on NCIS, having both established careers at NCIS Headquarters in Washington. That said, the prequel could help smooth out some plot holes in Ducky and Gibbs’ longstanding friendship. It was established that they had a series of encounters throughout the 1990s. However, in NCIS Season 3, “Hiatus,” when Gibbs wakes from a coma, he doesn’t remember Ducky from his past.

In the double-episode NCIS Season 3 finale, Gibbs has lost a significant portion of his memory, but remembers his life up to the early 1990s when he experienced his first coma. However, when he sees Ducky, he has no recollection of him, despite the pair apparently meeting earlier in the 1980s. It would have made more sense for Gibbs not to recognize Ducky at all when they met in NCIS: Origins, consistent with Gibbs not recognizing him when he had the same memories in “Hiatus” that he had in 1991. However, the prequel didn’t go that direction.

Another infamous NCIS plot hole occurs after Gibbs’ coma in Season 4, after the team learns about what happened to Gibbs’ wife and daughter, Shannon and Kelly, and Ducky confronts Gibbs about not telling him that he had a family. NCIS establishes in flashbacks that Gibbs and Ducky have a formative conversation, during which Ducky encourages Gibbs to pursue his love for his first wife, inspiring him to propose to and marry her. Ducky not knowing about Gibbs’ first marriage at all seems a bit odd, but at least NCIS: Origins didn’t make it worse by having them discuss it.

NCIS established that Ducky and Gibbs had more run-ins throughout the 1990s, as they overlapped at NCIS. In bringing back young Ducky, the prequel series can smooth out the plot holes that NCIS created in its timeline. For instance, after seeing Ducky in NCIS: Origins, with the context of Gibbs trying to move on, it’s a bit easier to understand why Gibbs didn’t tell him about Shannon. All that said, hopefully Ducky’s future appearances bridge existing gaps in franchise lore rather than widening them, creating satisfying answers for longtime fans of the franchise.