NCIS: Sydney Season 3 Tried to Copy the Original NCIS — And It Backfired Badly

NCIS: Sydney just pulled a copycat storyline of an iconic NCIS episode with Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), evoking the original series but falling short of its predecessor’s blueprint. The International-themed Navy procedural has kicked off its third season, moving to Tuesday nights on CBS’s fall schedule to air after NCIS and NCIS: Origins. The series had a compelling start when Bluebird Gleeson (Mavournee Hazel) was missing from the team in the premiere, leading to a mystery in Episode 2 that unveiled formative information about the team’s forensic scientist.

As Blue assists the team covertly while trying to regain her position on Michelle’s (Olivia Swann) and JD’s (Todd Lasance) task force, the team takes on a case that hits close to home for Mackey in NCIS: Sydney Season 3, Episode 3. The case revolves around Rashid Rahmati (Fayssal Bazzi), a high-value target for the US who claims to have evidence of a war crime that clears his name. The episode flips the script, with the team discovering a secret American operative known as “The Ghost” is responsible for an attack against US soldiers in Afghanistan.

Michelle Makcey Has A Doppelgänger In NCIS: Sydney, Season 3, Episode 3

Image via Paramount

While the case of the week comes in hot as it opens up a new mystery about Michelle Mackey, who finds herself on The Ghosts’ kill list, the plot surrounding the team leader’s doppelgänger fell flat. As they work with an Australian Defense Force Investigative Service (ADFIS) officer named Dayna Jasek (Simone Kessell) on the murder case, Mackey’s team can’t help but notice the uncanny resemblance between her and Dayna. The team tries to point out the similarities to their team leader, claiming that Mackey has a doppelgänger, although Michelle remains unimpressed by the likeness.

After a heated confrontation between Mackey and Dayna at the crime scene, the team leaders work together, and DeShawn (Sean Sagar) calls Dayna Mackey’s “clone” and “doppelgänger” and is quick to call back to Blue’s incident with her twin brother, saying that it’s a bad development. While DeShawn ends up being right, since Dayna is working with The Ghost throughout their joint investigation, the team helps save her daughter. The NCIS: Sydney episode doesn’t bring the B-plot full circle, though, so some of the humor in “Lost In Translation” gets lost in translation as well.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ Doppelgänger NCIS Episode Is One Of NCIS’s Funniest

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NCIS: Sydney’s doppelgänger plot falls flat due to its execution, regardless of the franchise, and especially in comparison to the classic NCIS episode it likely drew inspiration from. NCIS Season 2, Episode 12, “Doppelgänger,” shares a significant amount of narrative overlap with NCIS: Sydney’s “Lost In Translation” story, possibly serving as the source of the International episode’s subplot. In a near-perfect episode for Mark Harmon’s Gibbs, he comes face-to-face with his own clone, Lieutenant Cheney (John Doman), who runs a civilian law enforcement team.

More than just a doppelgänger for Gibbs, the entire team working the investigation alongside the Major Case Response Team (MCRT) shares key personality traits and characteristics with someone in the group. Cheney is like the Special Agent-in-Charge, Primo Monteleone (Chad Willett) is a replica of womanizer Tony (Michael Weatherly), Rachel Rapp (Rebecca McFarland) has Kate’s (Sasha Alexander) wit, and Todd Miller (Will Burke) even shares the same coffee order as impressionable probie Timothy McGee (Sean Murray): a grande triple-pump half-caff vanilla latte.

Contrasting NCIS’s sometimes cheesy humor, the jokes in “Doppelgänger” land, such as Gibbs and Cheney drinking their black coffees in unison and having multiple ex-wives. NCIS puts the subplot on the back burner to focus on a missing petty officer who stole millions of dollars’ worth of the Navy’s prescription drugs. However, it brings the doppelgänger plot back for a punchline when Cheney’s team comes to NCIS Headquarters, putting everyone and their counterparts side by side as Gibbs and the lieutenant do a bad cop/bad cop interrogation routine.

Why NCIS: Sydney’s Play On A Classic NCIS Episode Failed To Land

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Unlike the classic NCIS episode, its Sydney doppelgänger fell flat. While Investigator Sergeant Dayna Jasek looks somewhat similar to Mackey and shares her need for dominance, there wasn’t much tangible overlap between the characters. Furthermore, the episode abandons its doppelgänger plot somewhere in the case-of-the-week, shifting to focus on Dayna’s deeper involvement in The Ghost’s ongoing operation. NCIS: Sydney, therefore, tried to do too much with the ADFIS officer, making her both Mackey’s counterpart and an unwilling traitor.

One of the best aspects of Gibbs and his doppelgänger is how well they gel throughout the episode, maintaining the synchronicity that effectively sells the look-alike storyline. NCIS: Sydney‘s rendition would have been better if Dayna had come with a few other officers, creating mirrors for DeShawn, Evie (Tuuli Narkle), and JD as well, or if she had delivered a few Mackey-like references to 1980s culture. All that said, NCIS: Sydney‘s attempt at a classic is just that. It’s worth watching Harmon’s version, if just for the steamy on-screen romance between Gibbs and the murderer.