Stream It Or Skip It: ‘NCIS: Sydney’ On CBS, The First International Edition Of The Hit Procedural Series

NCIS: Sydney was slated to premiere on Paramount+ instead of CBS — it actually streams on P+ in Australia — but the just-concluded actors’ and writers’ strikes forced the folks from the Eye network to borrow series from their streaming arm to fill their fall schedule. Given that the series is the first international chapter of their successful procedural franchise, it seems like that would be a no-brainer of a decision. But can this new series scratch the itch of franchise fans looking for new content?

NCIS: SYDNEY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A sweeping shot under the Sydney Harbor Bridge and past the Sydney Opera House. The camera settles on “Fleet Base East, Woolloomooloo.”

The Gist: Australian foreign minister Susan Quinn (Daniela Farinacci) is giving a speech in front of the USS Navajo, a US Navy nuclear sub. A man climbs a tower nearby and it looks like he’s aiming a rifle towards that location, but he unfurls a protest banner. At the same time, one of the sailors starts randomly bleeding and falls lifelessly into the water.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigate: Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey (Todd Lasance) and his partner, Constable Evie Cooper (Tuuli Narkle), are talking to forensic pathologist Roy Penrose (William McInnes) and his new assistant Bluebird “Blue” Gleeson (Mavournee Hazel) when two agents from the American NCIS sweep in. Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann) is the special agent in charge, assisted by DeShawn Jackson (Sean Sagar). Through an agreement between the two governments, NCIS takes the lead on the investigation into the sailor’s death.

Of course, Dempsey chafes at the arrangement, having to do the nuts-and-bolts policing because the NCIS agents aren’t allowed to carry their guns while on foreign soil. The newly-combined team finds out that the dead sailor got into a bar fight the night before, and he was in the presence of a blonde woman he met on a dating app. The profile ended up being hacked, and it seems that the mystery woman was in the presence of the sailor and a missing officer. Oh, and it also turns out that the sailor died of radiation poisoning.

So now there might be a leak in the reactor of the Navajo, the presence of which is the subject of all the protests. When the body of the sailor is taken from the AFP morgue by a DOD official, Col. Richard Rankin (Lewis Fitz-Gerald), Mackey starts to wonder just what is going on. As she probes, Rankin threatens her career, something that was already on thin ice due to a court martial where she was found not guilty.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Given that this is an NCIS series, you could name any of them and this one would be similar.

Our Take: Of course, with this being an NCIS, most character backstories are going to give way to the case of the week. This series is a definite Australian production; it’s created by Australian producer Morgan O’Neill and uses local writers and crews. So the show will get a boost from being set in Sydney and dealing with the dynamic between NCIS agents Mackey and Jackson and their AFP counterparts. There is also a reason why this NCIS/AFP team is created to begin with, which is to root out an international cabal intent on obtaining classified American and Australian military intelligence.

Despite the Aussie pedigree of the show, though, it still feels like the show is more aimed towards American viewers. Perhaps the awkward dubs that explain what “AFP” means and that the foreign minister is the equivalent of the US’ secretary of state aren’t in the version of this series that streams on Paramount+ in Australia. But we were a bit annoyed at those and other references that spelled out the differences between the two countries and how each agency does their business. For heaven’s sake, we’ve all watched enough international TV and read enough news stories to know what a foreign minister is, and we bet most NCIS fans do, too. Assuming that the show’s American viewers need such information is damn near insulting.

Otherwise, the show plays out like any other NCIS series; some quippiest, lots of military jargon and acronyms, chases, shootings, etc. With a largely unknown cast, it might take a few episodes for everyone to gel. The AFP characters seem to be more interesting than the NCIS ones, at least during the first episode, but we’ll see what happens as the cases they tackle brings all of the characters out more.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: After finding out about the new combined team, Mackey seems to be excited at the prospect. She puts an “NCIS” cap on Dempsey’s head and tells him, “If you play your cards right, I may even slip you a t-shirt.” Dempsey still seems annoyed at this prospect.

Sleeper Star: William McInnes is pretty funny as Dr. Roy Penrose, especially when he does an impression of an American admiral so Mackey and the team can get past a guard posted outside the sub.

Most Pilot-y Line: Oh, there are lots of dumb lines in this first episode, but Mackey saying that nuclear subs “don’t break, trust me,” is one of the dumbest.

Our Call: SKIP IT. We are always tempted to say that any new NCIS will appeal to fans of the franchise, but we’re just not sure about NCIS: Sydney. There’s snippets of hope here and there, but the overall setup seems clumsy, and much of the dialogue is just as clumsy as the setup.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.