NCIS: Sydney 1×04 Review: “Ghosted”

NCIS: Sydney 1×04 “Ghosted” takes a closer look at who Michelle Mackey is. It only peels back one layer off the onion, but it does a lot to round out a character that started as the straight, tough, serious boss, but who has always been so much more.

DeShawn always knew it. JD kind of suspected it. And the rest of the team has already gotten a clue about it. And even if NCIS: Sydney is not yet at the place where everyone knows, the growth is clear. It’s only been four episodes. We still have four episodes to go this season. Imagine what we can get in those, or with a second, longer season.

Trust Is A Journey

Mackey and JD have come a long way, but they’re not there yet. And yet the fact that Mackey is willing to let JD in to the point that she has – the point where he knows that she’s keeping a secret, and she knows that he knows, is already a big deal. They’re not there yet, of course. And Mackey is afraid that if she lets JD in, if she lets anyone in the team see her vulnerabilities, she won’t be able to be an effective leader.

But Mackey has never had a team like the one she has now. In this team, vulnerability isn’t a weakness. And her team won’t think less of her if they learn she’s human. They might respect her more. JD surely will.

There is, of course, time to get there. For Mackey to understand. For the team to prove this to her. And it all starts with J.D. He is Mackey’s partner in all of this, the person by her side, the one breaking down her walls, little by little. And that means he’ll be the one who will, one day, get to see the other side of the woman she’s becoming – the one who is learning little by little what it means to actually have a team you can trust not just with your life, but with your heart.

A Time and A Place for Everything (And Everyone)

This episode does a great job of balancing the dynamics between Mackey and J.D and Evie and DeShawn with what’s going on with Blue and Dr. Penrose. Mackey and J.D carry the emotional burden of “Ghosted,” but it’s Evie and DeShawn who do most of the legwork in this hour. Does the case get solved without them? Unlikely.

But their dynamic is also explored, even if not as deeply as J.D and Mackey’s. What we’ve gotten from them has been a lot more banter-y and light, because they are not as serious as J.D and Mackey, which is perfectly fine. The last thing you want is for the dynamics to skew too similar. The characters have to distinguish themselves, and so far, they have. If we’re rooting for Evie and DeShawn, it’s gotta be because we want them together because of who they are and what they bring to each other – not because of anything that has to do with J.D or Mackey.

There isn’t much more to say other than, four episodes in, the show has done enough to convince me, a procedural old-timer, that there’s enough here to sustain the test of time. Now comes the hard part: keeping it up.

Things I think I think:

• DeShawn’s Deek’s vibes were STRONG in this episode. The whole “law school” thing?
• Actually, Evie and DeShawn were giving Densi.
• JD, meanwhile, was the softest he’s ever been. We stan a man who just takes a step back and offers silent support.
• The first time he and Mackey make some sort of gesture of mutual affection, the fandom might combust.
• Blue’s awkwardness is the highlight of every episode.
• Either that or Doctor Penrose’s matter-of-fact commentary on, you know, death.

Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS: Sydney 1×04 “Ghosted”? Share with us in the comments below!

NCIS: Sydney airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on CBS.