NCIS fans are missing a beloved character from the early seasons of the show
NCIS fans are demanding the show bring back a beloved character from the earlier seasons.
In a NCIS subreddit thread made on Sunday, January 5, a fan urged the CBS police procedural to “Bring back Gerald Jackson.” The fan who started the thread furthered said that, “he got a raw deal and write off. Would be great if they had a case that had old notes of Ducky’s they needed to reference that pre dated everyone and Jimmy and McGee had to call Gerald.”
Gerald, portrayed by actor Pancho Demmings, was a former assistant of the late Medical Examiner Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum) and was prominent in season one to season three. Fans took to the comments to agree about the short-lived fan-favorite and others expressed why they thought the show “replaced” him with James “Jimmy” Palmer (Brian Dietzen).
One fan said, referring to the tribute episode to Ducky in February 2024: “It would have been nice to have included him in the Ducky episode.” A second fan agreed with the sentiment of it being “nice.”
Another said: “I liked Gerald but I see why ‘they’ replaced him with Jimmy. Gerald listened to music while Ducky was talking, and was generally not respectful. He was a goof-ball, at a time when there already was a goof-ball, Tony. The Jimmy dynamic of him being nervous and in awe of Ducky gave us more interesting tension. Still would have liked to have Gerald continue, though. Perhaps his character could have developed to have more respect for ducky.”
Although one fan didn’t see the need for his return: “Why? What would the point be? He was only in 15 episodes throughout seasons 1-3. No one would even know who is.” Another fan disagreed, stating, “Well, Gerald worked with Ducky for two years.”
The last episode Gerald appeared in was Kill Ari Part 2 in season three which followed the team looking for Ducky who was kidnapped by Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin), rogue Mossad agent and the half brother of Ziva David (Cote de Pablo). The rogue agent had taken Gerald hostage in Kill Ari Part 1 and after the two-part episode, Gerald was not seen again.
Pancho, who played Gerald, spoke about the “burning question” about what happened to his character in an interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet in 2020. The actor provided insight into how the departure of the character had to do with the show writers.
“Initially, I think they were looking at extending my storyline,” Pancho said to the outlet. “Even in the episode where I come back, Gerald says ‘I’m going to be back to autopsy next week,’ but at that time, I guess they ended up choosing to go in another direction.”
“It wasn’t anything that I chose myself, as is part of the business. Sometimes that’s just what happens as a result of different storylines developing on whatever show you’re part of,” he added.
Pancho expressed that he would be down to reprise his role if the show calls for it and would also love for fans to get closure.
“I would love, for the sake of the fans, for the producers to maybe revisit Gerald’s story and give them closure or some extension of what that storyline is, but that is something that’s up to the powers that be,” he said. “I would be more than happy to reprise that role, but that is something that if the fans are curious about it, they might be able to reach out to the show and ask what’s happening with Gerald.”