Tonight on CBS NCIS returns with an all-new Monday, February 19, 2024, season 21 episode 2 called, “The Stories We Leave Behind,” and we have your weekly NCIS recap below. In tonight’s NCIS season 21 episode 1, “Algún Día” as per the CBS synopsis, “As NCIS mourns the loss of Ducky, the agents find comfort in working on one of his unfinished cases involving a woman whose father was dishonorably discharged from the Marines.”
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In tonight’s NCIS episode, tonight was a special episode. It was dedicated to the life of Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard. The late David McCallum played this character with great distinction and it was time to say goodbye to him. However, the show made it peaceful. Jimmy visited Ducky’s home like he did every morning.
He thought Ducky had slept in. It wasn’t until he went to wake him that he realized that Ducky had passed in his sleep. It was therefore Jimmy that broke the news to the world. He informed NCIS that Ducky had passed. Ducky had still been NCIS’s Historian on record and many sent their donations to NCIS because they knew that was Ducky’s real home.
Every NCIS Office around the world sent flowers. This included their new office in Sydney. There were also magnolias from the New Orleans Office along with a beautiful wreath from the Hawaii Office.
Ducky was well-loved. Their office was so flooded with flowers that they’ve sent up a page where people could donate to Ducky’s charities. It was either that or deal with a bunch of thistles from Scotland. All of NCIS was in mourning. Jimmy went to Ducky’s office to see his treasures when he was confronted by an angry young woman.
This woman thought he was Ducky. She confronted him because she’s been calling Ducky’s number for days and she thought he had ghosted her. Her name is Serena Zawadski.
She wouldn’t give Jimmy time to breathe much less explain before she went tearing into him for ignoring her. Ducky had promised her that he could help clear her family’s name. It was the last case he’d been reviewing. He died within hours after agreeing to help her. Jimmy did eventually get around to explaining that he wasn’t Ducky and that Ducky had passed.
It was the worst bit of news for Serena. She thought she’d never be able to clear her father’s name. Only Jimmy agreed to look at Ducky’s files to help her.
Serena’s dad died overseas during deployment. She thought he died an honorable soldier until Councilman Berger namechecked her father during one of his rallies for his upcoming senate run. Councilman Berger called her father a traitor. He was trying to distance himself from Zawadski publicly because Zawadski acted as his bodyguard while his company was rebuilding infrastructure over in Afghanistan.
Serena didn’t know how her father really died until she talked to her mother. Her mother had told her story that he died a hero because the real story was bad.
Her father apparently was found shot to death in an Afghani brothel. He also had heroin in his system. Serena didn’t know any of that when she began writing her college entrance essays. The colleges now thought she was a liar and she thought her heroic dad was actually an evil man. Or she did until she reached out to Ducky. Ducky performed the autopsy on her father.
Ducky claimed that there wasn’t heroin in her father’s system. He would have pulled up the file only he passed that night. Jimmy then tried pulling up the file and he found most of it redacted. It was above his clearance. It was above Parker’s clearance. It was even above Director Vance’s clearance.
None of them could access that file. The most they could do was contact Councilman Berger and tell him to lay off slagging Zawadski. The councilman hadn’t known that the soldier had a daughter. And Parker noticed that the councilman seemed spooked when they said the autopsy didn’t show heroin.
Parker wanted to follow up on the latter. Once he got the councilman to agree to stop namechecking the dead soldier, he began to investigate what really happened overseas.
Serena also got a call. She got a call from someone claiming that her father died a hero and then they said “Semper Fi”. It was a known saying amongst Marines.
It also reminded Serena of all the Christmas cards she’s gotten over the years that said the same thing. They came with money and they were never signed. NCIS tracked down the person who made that call.
His name was Jonesy. He was former Marines. He served with her dad and he said that his friend would never betray the Marines. He refused to believe the official story.
He unfortunately suffered from paranoia and had tried to run when the NCIS Agent came calling because he thought the councilman sent them. Jonesy was living on the street. He just had a cot in a tent. He hasn’t been the same since he left the Marines and everyone figured he was struggling with PTSD. It wasn’t until they fed him as well as just plain talking to him that he opened up.
Jonesy signed Zawadski out that night. His friend did not leave base illegally. He went to go investigate Berger because Berger was helping the heroin dealers in Afghanistan smuggling things back to the United States.
He was doing it by using his family’s company as cover. Berger was quite powerful and he went back to the American base to tore out the page that showed Zawadski signed out with every intention of coming back. The next thing Jonesy knows was that his friend’s body was found in a brothel.
It was all a set up so that no one would ask why Zawadski left that night.
Only Jonesy’s word wasn’t going to be enough. They needed more evidence. They eventually found Ducky’s autopsy report and it showed that the chemical for heroin was found on him. Not in him.
This along with a freshly cleaned up Jonesy was enough to scare Berger into dropping out of the senate race. He won’t mention Serena’s father ever again. Serena’s father also received an honorable discharge from the Marines thanks to Vance pushing for one. And Serena will be receiving tuition assistance from the Marines fund for their fallen’s children.
Serena will get to start college like everyone else. Ducky lived up to his word. Then it came time for his funeral and everyone showed. This included Tony who helped Jimmy with his tie.
THE END!
