NCIS (TV Series)

Keep Going (2017)

David McCallum: Donald Mallard

Quotes 

• Jimmy Palmer : Listen, Ryan, I never thought that I would be a hero. Especially after I screwed up really bad a couple of years ago when I chickened out, but... then a very good friend of mine set me straight.

  [flashback] 

  Donald Mallard : Yeah, there was a time when I thought I would be an archeologist.

  Jimmy Palmer : Yeah? What happened? Why did you decide to go to medical school?

  Donald Mallard : Well, although archeology carried a certain romantic appeal, I soon realized it wasn't in my bones, so to speak. You have to decide what's in your bones, Mr. Palmer.

  Jimmy Palmer : Not a spine.

  Donald Mallard : Nonsense. You just have a... a... well-developed sense of self-preservation. You're training to be a medical examiner, not an NCIS field agent. I have no doubt that you have it in you to die a hero's death, but for the time being, I'd appreciate it if you could stay alive to help me examine the dead.

  [return to present] 

  Jimmy Palmer : And with that very healthy sense of self-preservation, I ask you to please stay alive, so that we can both die like heroes a very long time from now when we're old and gray, all right?

  Ryan Smith : My dad was 53. He was an actual war hero. Thanks to me, he didn't die like one.

• Jimmy Palmer : Breena took Victoria up to her aunt's house in Syracuse this week, so I am a swinging bachelor.

  Abby Sciuto : That explains it.

  Jimmy Palmer : Explains what?

  Abby Sciuto : Your lack of swinging lately. You've been pouting for days.

  Jimmy Palmer : Have I?

  Abby Sciuto : Yeah.

  Jimmy Palmer : Huh. So much for my poker face.

  Abby Sciuto : I mean, it's understandable. You miss them when they're gone.

  Jimmy Palmer : Yeah, especially this time of year.

  Abby Sciuto : Getting your midwinter blues?

  Jimmy Palmer : It's not blues. It's just... blah. It's darker, it's colder, minor annoyances seem bigger. I start questioning everything from politics to "why did I these itchy socks today?".

  Donald Mallard : Forgive me, Mr. Palmer, but I can't resist the urge to give you one of my all-time favorite pieces of advice. If you're going through hell, keep going.

• Abby Sciuto : Poor Jimmy. What can we do?

  Leroy Jethro Gibbs : What do you mean?

  Donald Mallard : To help Mr. Palmer. I need to get back there.

  Leroy Jethro Gibbs : We all gonna fit on the ledge and hold hands? You want to help Palmer? Do your job.

• Donald Mallard : The captain suffered a crushed parietal bone, which killed him instantly. Poor fellow literally never saw what hit him.

• Donald Mallard : Forgive me, Mr. Palmer, but I can't resist the urge to give you one of my all-time favorite pieces of advice: If you're going through hell, keep going.