"Palmer" almost(!) hired the perfect assistant...

'NCIS' Recap: "Jimmy's" Search For An Assistant Continues!

The most recent NCIS episode had us hoping for a while that "Jimmy Palmer" would finally get a medical assistant to help him out, but the perfect candidate turned him down! Meanwhile, "Gibbs" and the rest of the team are busy investigating a fatal accident at Quantico’s Marine Warfighting test lab.

Episode 13 of NCIS' 17th season ("Sound Off") saw "Gibbs" and the team dive into the world of tactical drones (or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UAVs) and other advanced military weaponry.

Together with "Torres" (Wilmer Valderrama), "Bishop" (Emily Wickersham) and "Kasie" ("Diona Reasonover"), "Gibbs" eventually solves the murder case of "Danny", a retired gunnery sergeant who's killed when a weapon's test by a company called LanWar goes terribly wrong.

It turns out the initial suspect "Diana" (played by Katie Leclerc from Switched At Birth) was actually framed and the whole murder was a corporate cover-up by the company's chief weapon's developer.

NCIS: "Jimmy" found the new "Ducky"!

But the real interesting thing about season 17 episode 13 was "Jimmy Palmer's" (Brian Dietzen) continued search for a medical assistant - he's been doing the work of two medical examiners on his own and needs a helping hand.

He eventually stumbles upon the perfect candidate: Bow tie, British accent and horn-rimmed glasses. "Palmer" is immediately taken with "Christopher Crane" (Peter Graham), who pays real tribute to David McCallum's retired character "Donald 'Ducky' Mallard".

They have been married for over 50 years!

'NCIS': This Is David McCallum's Second Wife Katherine

Unfortunately, as "Palmer" offers "Crane" the job right away, he turns him down by saying that "one has to fully appreciate his own abilities before he can truly know what type of help to seek."

So no luck for "Jimmy" - what a shame, we would have loved to see "Ducky 2.0" join the team!