NCIS: Sydney Season 3 review: nice and cosy – just how we like it

It’s the third season of NCIS: Sydney and everything is settled down all nice and cosy. Which is exactly how we NCIS fans like it. Not for us the relentless gruelling brutality of fighting mundane crime on the UK’s bleak streets, or even the endless strutting around in front of walls of computer monitors you get on the various FBI series (yes, there’s more than one). Just run around on the streets of sunny Sydney chasing some international terrorists and we’re all good.

Last season a trip up north to Darwin resulted in yet more dead terrorists – NCIS is not a series with a lot of time for courtroom hijinx – and the teeny-tiny possibility of romantic tension between leads NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann) and Australian Federal Police Sergeant Jim ‘JD’ Dempsey (Todd Lasance).

This kind of thing is way more dangerous than any string of mysterious explosions. Characters can survive gunshot wounds and shrapnel: once a relationship starts between main characters, it’s not long before someone heads for the door.

NCIS: Sydney – fish or fenanyl

Before we get any updates there, it’s time to play the Royal Australian Navy’s new quiz show: fish or fentanyl? They’re the two options for the cargo of a suspicious fishing boat on the Coral Sea, which is intercepted in a sequence that looks like a recruitment ad for the RAN – making a nice change from the usual US military promos the NCIS franchise occasionally drops in.

Turns out the cargo is refugees, plus a couple of mysterious US military aircrew. That means when they get into harbour NCIS will be involved, and away we go. Mackie is still recovering from what went on in Darwin, everyone else back at HQ is complaining about a security review that mostly seems to involve fixing the front door of the shed they work out of, and Blue (Mavournee Hazel) is still very much resigned from her job but as she’s still in the opening credits we haven’t seen the last of her.

NCIS: Sydney – Trigger Riggs

Someone who may or may not stick around is new bomb tech Travis ‘Trigger’ Riggs (Claude Jabbour), who’s keeping himself busy in the background while NCIS Special Agent DeShawn Jackson (Sean Sagar) and AFP Liaison Officer Constable Evie Cooper (Tuuli Narkle) are being horrified by JD’s new dating profile. And fair enough: it features photos of him both fishing and wearing a kilt (thankfully not at the same time).

For a network series that’s not exactly cutting-edge drama, NCIS: Sydney isn’t afraid to push things as far as tone goes. One second it’s banter around the office, the next Mackey is flying a Blackhawk helicopter onto the landing pad on a navy ship at sea, then there’s some (intentionally) awkward banter about JD getting back on the relationship horse, then it’s time to interrogate those mystery airmen.

It’s also a series not afraid to undercut the tension for the sake of a gag. A text message in the middle of a high stakes investigation is just a dating app notification; a series of escalating beeps inside a terrorist’s hideout is just dinner warming up in the microwave.

Much of this is down to time pressures. There is a lot packed into each episode – character development, the big mystery, a bunch of dad jokes – and there’s no time to ease the transition between each. Which makes it feel surprisingly cutting-edge at times; if the audience can’t keep up with the tonal shifts and multiple plot lines, that’s their problem.

NCIS: Sydney – bring on the twists

The mystery of the US aircrew piles on the twists. William McInnes in full Santa mode gets to deal with a living patient for once, nothing about their story adds up, the media and the US embassy are banging on the door, and before you know it there’s a Philippines-based terrorist leader up to no good above a Sydney fish shop and a final twist that’s … well, it’s a twist, that’s for sure.

This season has plenty of ongoing story lines; we haven’t seen the last of Blue, maybe we have seen the last of William McInnes’ medico, and as far as everyone else goes if you’re not dealing with relationship problems then something out of your past is coming to haunt you. Not to mention the usual mystery of the week and plenty of shots of Sydney that look a lot more expensive than local dramas can afford.

NCIS: Sydney is more of a hangout series than most US procedurals, valuing the banter between the crew at least as much as the bomb threats and shootouts. This sense of humour extends to the plots themselves, which often go more than a little over-the-top in the quest for shock twist thrills.

It’s an action series where reality – aside from the promo shots of military hardware – rarely gets a look in; in 2025, it’s exactly what this kind of escapism should be.

Season 3 of NCIS: Sydney premieres October 14 on Paramount+, with new episodes available weekly.

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