NCIS: Sydney returned to CBS on Friday, February 7 with a major reveal about its protagonist. Season 2, episode 1, titled “Heart Starter” sees Mackey and JD temporarily released from their duties while Niemus’ escape is investigated. Special Agent DeShawn Jackson takes charge of the team, but the NCIS and AFP leaders team up on their own to solve the finale’s Rankin mystery. In a heartfelt moment, Mackey tells JD that she has a 17-year-old son, showcasing the trust that’s formed between them throughout NCIS: Sydney season 1.
Although the two clashed when they first began working together, Olivia Swann, who portrays Special Agent Michelle Mackey, enjoys the turn their relationship has taken. The star teases that Mackey and JD will have a lighter dynamic in season 2, as the two gradually begin to open up to one another. Swann also weighs in on a potential romance between the co-leaders, admitting that it may be a difficult storyline to navigate.
ScreenRant interviews Swann about the premiere’s twist ending, Mackey and JD’s relationship, the team dynamic, and what’s coming up in NCIS: Sydney season 2.
Swann Discusses The Team’s United Front In NCIS: Sydney Season 2, Episode 1
ScreenRant: What were your original theories about Rankin? Did you think that he was working with Niemus?
Olivia Swann: That’s a good question. The end of season 1 is literally just staring him down, boom, end. So with that, it was anyone’s guess. I was like, “Okay, he’s obviously not a good person. He’s doing something bad.” But when he collapses, that’s kind of when it’s like, “There’s more to this than meets the eye. And I love how it kind of gets your brain going and the mind whirring to be like, “What on earth is happening?” And it happens 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 tried to take the fall for losing Niemus. How do you feel that willingness to sacrifice for one another makes them a better team?
Olivia Swann: I think it’s so important, and I love that addition to it because I think what we see so much in this episode is, obviously, Mackey and JD have been benched. Technically, they shouldn’t do anything, but obviously they do, and they go off and do their own thing. But what I love is that the team kind of take their own initiative and also kind of take inspiration from their bosses and continue to do things that they probably shouldn’t.
And them taking the fall is a really lovely way to kind of solidify from the beginning of this season that we are a team, and we do have each other’s backs, and maybe we shouldn’t do things in the way we do, but we’ve got you. And even filming that bit where we see them saying, “It was me. I did it,” that got me a little bit. I got quite emotional because I was like, “Oh, this is a really lovely moment for the team.”
A Romance Between Mackey And JD Could Be “Messy” In NCIS: Sydney
Mackey is very guarded, we don’t know a lot about her, but she opens up to JD about having a son. Can you talk about her feeling comfortable enough to finally share that?
Olivia Swann: I love it. I think it’s a wonderful choice to reveal it, one, in this way, and, two, to JD. I think it shows the magnitude of where they’re at at that point. It’s literally the end of the road for both of them, they feel. So they’re kind of at this moment of, “It doesn’t matter in a way 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 think, for Mackey, that secret is huge, and I don’t think many people know that about her. So her choice to actually just answer the phone, answer his questions, is a really specific one. And I think that resonates with JD as well. And we do get to see this level of trust build throughout the season, 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.
