“NCIS: Sydney” premiered in November 2023, becoming the first spin-off in the NCIS universe to take place outside United States borders. The show was a near-immediate success, to the extent that “NCIS: Sydney” viewership numbers broke a Paramount+ record when more people streamed its 1st episode than any other CBS premiere in the streaming service’s history.
While its popularity tracks with every other entry in the NCIS franchise, one thing that sets “NCIS: Sydney” apart from its siblings is that its 1st season will total just eight episodes — as opposed to, say, the 22 episodes of “NCIS: Hawai’i” Season 1. With the finale’s airdate still a few weeks away, series lead Olivia Swann told TV Insider that the finale will have payoffs for some key storylines from prior episodes in the season, and in a manner that’s somehow heartbreaking.
“There are a couple of twists and turns and reveals and all fun things like that, but it does all get kind of sewn together …” Swann said. “It accumulates in a very intense, very explosive, very heartbreaking way. I’m so excited for it to air because there’s some really, really cool stuff coming up.”
Swann hints at drama involving her character in NCIS: Sydney’s future
Also during her discussion with TV Insider, Olivia Swann hinted that the arc of her character, Special Agent Michelle Mackey, will be significantly impacted by one of her companions’ storylines. That said, she suggested that this plot point may not manifest fully until Season 2 — which has yet to be greenlit but is altogether likely based on the show’s success thus far. “Towards the end of the season, another character has to deal with a lot of intense stuff and that definitely affects Mackey,” she said, “but maybe we don’t see the full extent of that.”
Swann also previewed some key character development for Mackey in an interview with TVLine. From the sound of it, she knows some compelling details about her character that likewise may not arise until a subsequent “NCIS: Sydney” season. “We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface, which is I know a horrible tease, but also it’s fantastic because there is so much about her that we still don’t know,” Swann said.
Fans of “NCIS: Sydney,” then, can look forward to a heartbreaking Season 1 finale and some major revelations about its central characters, perhaps even beyond its 1st season’s conclusion.