NCIS: Sydney

Warning : Contains SPOILERS for the NCIS : Sydney season 2 premiere .

NCIS : Sydneyreturned to CBS on Friday , February 7 with a major reveal about its supporter . time of year 2 , instalment 1 , titled " Heart Starter " sees Mackey and JD temporarily released from their duties while Niemus ' escape is look into . Special Agent DeShawn Jackson takes charge of the team , but the NCIS and AFP leadership team up on their own to lick the stopping point ’s Rankin secret . In a heartfelt moment , Mackey recount JD that she has a 17 - class - old Logos , showcasing the trust that ’s form between them throughoutNCIS : Sydneyseason 1 .

Although the two clash when they first start working together , Olivia Swann , who portraysSpecial Agent Michelle Mackey , bask the turn their kinship has taken . The star teases that Mackey and JD will have a lighter moral force in time of year 2 , as the two gradually begin to open up to one another . Swann also weigh in ona potential romancebetween the Centennial State - drawing card , admitting that it may be a difficult storyline to pilot .

NCIS Sydney Temp TV Poster

The down under spinoff NCIS : Sydney returned for its sophomore time of year in early 2025 , and now the external procedural will get third time of year .

ScreenRantinterviews Swann about the premiere ’s construction closing , Mackey and JD ’s relationship , the team moral force , and what ’s coming up inNCIS : Sydneyseason 2 .

Swann Discusses The Team’s United Front In NCIS: Sydney Season 2, Episode 1

“Them taking the fall is a really lovely way to kind of solidify from the beginning of this season that we are a team.”

ScreenRant : What were your original theory about Rankin ? Did you reckon that he was working with Niemus ?

Olivia Swann : That ’s a good inquiry . The end of time of year 1 is literally just staring him down , bonanza , end . So with that , it was anyone ’s guess . I was like , " Okay , he ’s obviously not a good individual . He ’s doing something regretful . " But when he collapses , that ’s kind of when it ’s like , " There ’s more to this than meets the center . And I have sex how it kind of gets your Einstein become and the mind whirring to be like , " What on earth is happening ? " And it happen to us when we read the script .

Mackey was forced to step back in the premiere , but everyone had her and JD ’s backs . They even hear to take the free fall for losing Niemus . How do you sense that willingness to sacrifice for one another make them a better squad ?

Olivia Swann as Special Agent Michelle Mackey in NCIS: Sydney in front of a blue background

Custom Image by Yailin Chacon

Olivia Swann : I recollect it ’s so important , and I love that increase to it because I cerebrate what we see so much in this sequence is , plain , Mackey and JD have been bench . Technically , they should n’t do anything , but obviously they do , and they go off and do their own thing . But what I fuck is that the squad kind of take their own initiative and also kind of take inspiration from their bosses and bear on to do things that they credibly should n’t .

And them taking the fall is a really adorable way to kind of solidify from the beginning of this time of year that we are a squad , and we do have each other ’s backs , and peradventure we should n’t do things in the way we do , but we ’ve acquire you . And even film that bit where we see them saying , " It was me . I did it , " that got me a piffling bit . I got quite aroused because I was like , " Oh , this is a really endearing bit for the team . "

A Romance Between Mackey And JD Could Be “Messy” In NCIS: Sydney

“There are a lot of different ways to go with it. I don’t know how I feel about it.”

Mackey is very guard , we do n’t know a lot about her , but she open up to JD about having a son . Can you talk about her feeling comfortable enough to finally share that ?

Olivia Swann : I be intimate it . I retrieve it ’s a wonderful choice to reveal it , one , in this way , and , two , to JD . I remember it prove the magnitude of where they ’re at at that point . It ’s literally the ending of the road for both of them , they finger . So they ’re kind of at this moment of , " It does n’t weigh in a direction that you know this , because , technically , I ’m not going to see you again . "

But I love that it kind of shifts into this ultimate trust because I guess , for Mackey , that arcanum is huge , and I do n’t think many multitude know that about her . So her pick to actually just answer the sound , answer his query , is a really specific one . And I think that come across with JD as well . And we do get to see this horizontal surface of trust build throughout the time of year , which I think is one of my favorite things about this season . But also , we see how it gets tested as well , which is very exciting .

A composite image of Evie looking shocked in front of the cast of NCIS Sydney standing by the harbor

NCIS: Sydney is an Australian crime-police procedural series and is another spin-off in the long-running NCIS franchise. The series is set in Sydney, Australia, and follows Special Agent-in-Charge Michelle Mackey as she and her fellow partners deal with various high-profile cases and crimes.

How do you palpate about the agency Mackey and JD ’s partnership has evolved since the root of the show ? They decidedly were n’t the right of friends .

Olivia Swann : No , they were not . And as much as I do have sex the initial fight , what I ’ve loved about this season is we get to see this really fun , kind of easy dynamic between them that builds , and you see them bound off one another and working together and opine together on their feet and just throw a moment of play with each other .

And there ’s a bit of taking a p*ss and rib one another . And that is a really nerveless dynamic that we get to see from Mackey too . I think we ’ve see JD do it to Mackey in season 1 , but not necessarily the other way around . And so we get to see a little lighter side to Mackey with her in the moral force .

Todd Lasance as AFP Liaison Officer Sergeant Jim ‘JD’ Dempsey, Tuuli Narkle as AFP Liaison Officer Constable Evie Cooper, Sean Sagar as Special Agent DeShawn Jackson, William McInnes as Forensic Pathologist Dr. Roy Penrose and Olivia Swann as NCIS Special Agent Captain Michelle Mackey in NCIS: Sydney season 2, episode 1

There seemed to be some romanticistic seeds planted in the season 2 premiere for Mackey and JD . What do you think the potential knottiness of a romance between them would be ?

Olivia Swann : I call up it would be reasonably mussy . How would they voyage that ? Would they be like , " We should focus on the team , " or " We could maybe make thing exercise , " or " perfectly not " ? There are a lot of unlike way to go with it . I do n’t know how I feel about it . I do n’t even know what the design is there . They ’re just two people getting to know each other and working together . That ’s all I ’m saying .

NCIS: Sydney Season 2 Will Provide More Insight Into The Characters' Backstories

“You get a broader sense of the dynamic of the team as a whole.”

There ’s still so much we do n’t recognize about Mackey . Will we get more answers about her backstory and her time in the Marines in season 2 ?

Olivia Swann : A wad gets dropped in Episode 1 , so I guess tiny spot here and there , but I reckon that as the season continues , we get a sense of lots of other characters as well . So it ’s kind of revealing backstories of characters that we ’ve maybe not had the backstory of in season 1 . You get a large-minded signified of the moral force of the squad as a whole . It ’s bit about everyone that comes together as a whole for the team .

I ’m excited to learn about them too . There were only eight episodes in season 1 so it feel like there ’s a lot to unpack .

JD and Mackey in the ambulance in NCIS: Sydney season 2, episode 1

Olivia Swann : on the nose . I ’m the same . I bang eff about case . I love knowing about detail and things that make them tick and how they think and why they ’re like this . So I ’m always the same . Every time I get a script , I ’m disentangle through it to find out more information to just sum astuteness and point .

The car chase view was intense and you both cease up upside down . Were there any challenges that come with shoot that sequence ?

Olivia Swann : I know it . There were no challenge for me . I was in the rider seat , so Todd was driving and kind of hooking it pretty tight . We had a stretch of road here and there that we would use . It was just really fun . When you are in it like that , you ’re not just sit in a stationary vehicle and someone ’s displace you .

Tuuli Narkle as AFP Liaison Officer Constable Evie Cooper, Sean Sagar as Special Agent DeShawn Jackson, Mavournee Hazel as Forensic Pathologist Bluebird ‘Blue’ Gleeson, William McInnes as Forensic Pathologist Dr. Roy Penrose and Todd Lasance as AFP Liaison Officer Sergeant Jim ‘JD’ Dempsey in NCIS: Sydney season 2, episode 1

You ’re actually moving , which adds to the epinephrin , adds to all of that stuff . I think , initially , we were n’t decease to be upside down , but then either I asked or stunts were like , " Oh , do you want to try ? " And I was like , " Yes ! " I was speaking for Todd as well . I do n’t know if he wanted to do it , but I was like , " Yeah , we ’re doing it . Let ’s go . " [ Laughs ] And so that ’s how we ended up . They work up this massive rig where we were upside down in the ambulance .

It ’s just so nerveless . It ’s really , really good fun . And whenever I get a chance to be part of that and actually do it , I ’m always like , " Yeah ! " We had to get into it upside down , so we had to do a headstand and then give up our leg up into the tush and then they ’d strap us in . So that was plausibly the hardest part , to be good .

Swann Teases What NCIS: Sydney Season 2, Episode 1’s Twist Means Going Forward

“It’s definitely something that remains a mystery throughout the season, which is so engaging and so exciting, and the payoff is great.”

Were you surprised that Mackey was the one who took down Niemus ? I really thought it was going to be JD .

Olivia Swann : I do n’t think I was surprised , but I think that it does show the difference between Mackey and JD . JD is very heart - lead , and there ’s always something about him that will desire to , not forgive , because I think in that situation , you ca n’t forgive that . But there was a falter there from him for whatever reason that is . I reckon that ’s perchance because he ’s slightly more leading from the heart , whereas Mackey is like , " No , this person needs to get taken down , and it ’s my line . "

And also she can see that JD is n’t firing . There ’s something there , which mean that she has to play and do the affair that , for whatever intellect , he is n’t going to do . And so she ’s almost stepping up for him . I recall she knows he need to , but there ’s something stopping him . So she ’s almost taking that option away from him so he does n’t have to experience tough about it later .

Bert La Bonté as Special Agent Ken Carter and Olivia Swann as NCIS Special Agent Captain Michelle Mackey in NCIS: Sydney season 2, episode 1

The squad counterfeit Rankin ’s dying . What can you tease about where we go from here ?

Olivia Swann : It ’s very much a kind of interwoven yarn throughout the season , so it ’s not like a super quick wrap - it - up , we be intimate what happens . It ’s definitely something that remain a secret throughout the time of year , which is so engaging and so exciting , and the payoff is outstanding . It ’s unquestionably worth the machination , for sure .

Do you have any personal theories about Mackey or any storylines that you are hoping will get explore in the hereafter ?

NCIS: Sydney

Olivia Swann : I just always want to delve into her past , I think . And I ’d love to mayhap do a flashback to her as a kid or just acquire mayhap what made her the person that she is today . And I think there ’s always such a heavy scope for that . But also just anything action - found I would love to do more of . That would be wonderful .

bless Up Now

About NCIS: Sydney On CBS

Executive Produced By Morgan O’Neill, Sara Richardson, Michele Bennett, And Louisa Kors

NCIS : Sydneyis the fifth series to come out of the pop planetary NCIS enfranchisement and the first - ever external edition . With come up international tensions in the Indo - Pacific , a magnificent and eclectic team of U.S. NCIS broker and the Australian Federal Police ( AFP ) are grafted into a transnational taskforce to keep naval offense in tick in the most contested mend of ocean on the major planet . top by NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey and her 2IC AFP similitude , Sergeant Jim “ JD ” Dempsey , our team of Americans and Aussies must speedily instruct to trust each other , overcoming and harness their differences to solve each case .

NCIS : Sydneyseason 2 airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and is available to rain cats and dogs next - day on Paramount+ .

NCIS : Sydney is an Australian offense - police adjective series and is another spin - off in the long - running NCIS franchise . The series is set in Sydney , Australia , and follows Special Agent - in - Charge Michelle Mackey as she and her fellow partner deal with various high - visibility cases and offence .