NCIS Season 21 Shifts Following David McCallum’s Death: Brian Dietzen Reflects
David McCallum’s passing at age 90 last year significantly impacted the direction of NCIS Season 21. With plans still in motion for the new season, producers opted to dedicate a special episode to bid farewell to his character, Ducky, and commemorate his lasting influence on the show.
Long-time co-star Brian Dietzen, known for his role as chief medical examiner Dr. Jimmy Palmer, was tasked with co-writing the poignant episode titled “The Stories We Leave Behind” alongside Scott Williams. This emotional installment revolves around the NCIS team grappling with Ducky’s death while revisiting one of his unresolved cases involving a Marine dishonorably discharged, and his daughter.
Although Dietzen had contributed to the show’s writing before, he initially hadn’t planned to write for the abbreviated Season 21 due to the WGA and SAG strikes. However, McCallum’s unexpected passing reshaped those plans.
“Before David passed, we had that work stoppage with the WGA and SAG strikes, so I had said to Steven Binder and David North, our showrunners, ‘I don’t need to write this year,’ because we only have 10 episodes,” Dietzen explained to TVLine. “I didn’t want to insert myself. But then when David passed away, Scott Williams, my co-writer, volunteered to do this episode and he said to me, ‘I thought it was only right that you co-write with me.’ And then everybody in the room said, ‘Yeah, that’s perfect. That’s what should happen.’ And I said, ‘Absolutely, I’d be honored to.'”
The episode delves into Jimmy Palmer’s personal reaction to losing his longtime colleague, revealing that it was Jimmy who discovered Ducky’s lifeless body.
“Given Jimmy’s close working relationship with Ducky over the decades, it made sense that much of the story would be seen through his perspective and memories,” Dietzen noted. “And while McGee had also been there with him, what was truly important to Scott and me, and to the entire crew, was honoring Ducky’s impact on the larger team. Not just the current team featuring Parker, Knight, Torres, McGee, and Kasie, but also the teams that came before.”
As NCIS Season 21 unfolds, viewers can expect a heartfelt tribute to David McCallum’s legacy and a deeply emotional exploration of loss within the NCIS family.
