NCIS: Sydney Season 3 - Will It Happen? Everything We Know

Feb 8, 2025 - 11:00

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NCIS: Sydney Season 3 - Will It Happen? Everything We Know

The down under spinoff NCIS: Sydney returned for its sophomore season in early 2025, but will the police procedural get renewed for season 3 soon? Debuting during the strike-affected fall season of 2023, the NCIS off-shoot concerns American agents of the titular agency as they team up with the Australian Federal Police to crack cases involving members of the American military. The first spinoff of the decades-old franchise to be set outside the United States, NCIS: Sydney offers an interesting change of pace for the series that debuted all the way back in 2003.

The 2023 fall TV slate was heavily affected by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and the debuting NCIS: Sydney was one of the few programs to arrive on time. This helped give CBS an edge and also got a lot of attention for the burgeoning spinoff. With the NCIS franchise in a state of flux, Sydney is a more traditional procedural, even with off-shoots like NCIS: Tony & Ziva and NCIS: Origins offering a change of format. With the NCIS universe still continuing to expand, it seems likely that NCIS: Sydney will score a season 3 renewal soon.

New episodes of NCIS: Sydney air every Friday at 8pm EST on CBS.

NCIS: Sydney Season 3 Is Not Confirmed

CBS Hasn't Renewed NCIS: Sydney Yet

Mackey looks stoic in front of Dempsey pointing his pistol in NCIS Sydney

With the NCIS franchise continuing to expand in new and exciting directions, the fate of NCIS: Sydney is anything but certain. While procedurals like Sydney often run on for years and years, the series exists in an odd place within the two-decade-old franchise. NCIS: Origins is the franchise's first prequel, and the upcoming Tony & Ziva spinoff is shifting toward a more character-focused narrative. The original NCIS is the only other traditional procedural left (besides Sydney) with NCIS: Hawaii being unceremoniously canned back in 2024.

Debuting with almost no competition due to the strikes, Sydney season 1 may have had inflated numbers

Reviews have never been very good for the down under off-shoot, but that rarely has much of an impact on a show's success. What truly matters in the realm of TV is the overall viewership numbers. As such, season 2 will need to perform well if CBS is going to give NCIS: Sydney a third outing. However, that's no guarantee, since season 1 was a unique situation. Debuting with almost no competition due to the strikes, Sydney season 1 may have had inflated numbers. As seen with Hawaii, CBS isn't afraid to cancel an NCIS spinoff if the ratings aren't high enough.

NCIS: Sydney season 2 premiered on February 7, 2025.

NCIS: Sydney Season 3 Cast Details

The NCIS & AFP Agents Will Return

Though major changes to the cast are always possible, it stands to reason that the cast of NCIS: Sydney will remain consistent from season to season. Shows like NCIS rely on the chemistry between its main characters, and Sydney has not one but two law enforcement agencies at the heart of the series. This means that Olivia Swann is expected to return as NCIS Special Agent-in-Charge, Michelle Mackey. Working closely with the Australians, Mackey's partner will once again be Todd Lasance as Australian Federal Police Second-in-Command, Jim "JD" Dempsey.

JD holds a gun and Mackey looks dazed in a custom yellowish-blue image of NCIS Sydney

8 Things To Remember Before NCIS: Sydney Season 2

With the premiere of NCIS: Sydney season 2 nearing, there are some things to remember from season 1 before watching the show's continuation.

The rest of the team includes American NCIS Agent DeShawn Jackson, who will once again be played by Sean Sagar, and AFP Liaison Officer Evie Cooper, played by Tuuli Narkle. Working behind-the-scenes to help crack the cases, the AFP forensic pathologist, Roy "Rosie" Penrose, will be played again by William McInnes. Meanwhile, Mavournee Hazel will reprise her role as Bluebird "Blue" Gleeson, the AFP forensic scientist who works alongside Rosie to assist the agents. NCIS: Sydney also utilizes a wide range of guest stars, but it's impossible to know who that will be yet.

The cast of NCIS: Sydney season 3 will likely include:

Actor

NCIS: Sydney Role

Olivia Swann	Michelle Mackey
Todd Lasance	Jim "JD" Dempsey
Sean Sagar	DeShawn Jackson
Tuuli Narkle	Evie Cooper
William McInnes	Roy "Rosie" Penrose
Mavournee Hazel	Bluebird "Blue" Gleeson

NCIS: Sydney Season 3 Story Details

What's Next For The US/Aussie Team-Up?

Evie (Tuuli Narkle) and DeShawn (Sean Sagar) in NCIS Sydney sitting together

it could be that NCIS: Sydney shifts towards an ongoing narrative in order to separate it from predecessors like NCIS

By their very nature, procedurals are both predictable and unpredictable. While it's predictable that the episodes will consist of case-of-the-week plots that see the team trying to crack some difficult case, it's unpredictable when it comes to the actual content of the episodes. Season 2 will set the tone for the police procedural, and it could be that NCIS: Sydney shifts towards an ongoing narrative in order to separate it from predecessors like NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, NCIS: Los Angeles, and the like.

One thing that NCIS: Sydney could explore going forward is the classic TV trope of the slow-burn romance. Perhaps the most likely candidates for the show are Sean Sagar's DeShawn Jackson and Tuuli Narkle's Evie Cooper, and the two agents have tremendous chemistry. Not only does it mean more because the two represent two different agencies, but if they do form a bond, it makes the danger of the weekly cases all the more exciting. Whatever happens, NCIS: Sydney has a lot to work with going into season 3.