Illya Kuryakin

There is a happy serendipity in connecting small dots.  The actor David McCallum, among all his other accomplishments, had two crowning TV hits.  First as the character Illya Kuryakin in the four year run of The Man From U.N.C.L.E from 1964-68 and then as the character Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, chief medical officer, in NCIS since the beginning of the show in 2003.  

I just caught two such small dots.  I am recuperating from foot surgery and still undergoing occasional powerful pain medicine when working (which is all cognitive thinking) is inadvisable.  Pain in combination with powerful pain medicine is not a conducive combo when puzzling through complex problems.

This recovery has been so prolonged that evening reading is flagging and I am resorting to old procedurals.  In this instance, Season 2 Episode 13 "The Meat Puzzle" of NCIS.  I have seen it before but only on this viewing caught the passing allusion.  One of the main characters, Caitlin Todd asks Leroy Jethro Gibbs, "What did Ducky look like when he was younger?" and Gibbs replies, "Illya Kuryakin".

Unreasonably satisfying, like being part of an inside joke.