NCIS: Sydney Season 2, Episode 3 ‘Back in the USSR’ is not as strong an episode as the first two this season, but it does a good job of picking up the threads the show has already established, and it’s still pretty entertaining. We’ll take learning more of Doc Roy and getting to see Mackey and J.D. get up close and personal—even if they have to be in mortal peril to do so.
All in all, Season 2 of NCIS: Sydney is proof of what a show can be when given time to grow. The characters are more likable, their interactions are more interesting, and we are more invested in them, which means that we can have fun in almost any scenario. Mackey and J.D. running from a Soviet-era nerve agent? Check. DeShawn proving that he’s actually a secret chess prodigy? Check. Doc Roy leading with both his heart and his mind? Check and check.
MORE: Check out our interview with Olivia Swann if you want some teases about where the season is going.
WE’RE FUNNIER NOW
Another great by-product of more time with these characters is that the show has become way funnier in Season 2. This isn’t even all that surprising—it happens in real life too. When you start to feel comfortable with people, it’s easier to joke. And the NCIS: Sydney team is clearly more comfortable with each other these days. That means the jokes aren’t just kept to the partners, instead, Evie can joke with J.D. about that questionable vest, Blue can joke with both Mackey and J.D. even as she’s delivering information and DeShawn and Evie don’t feel like they have to keep a straight face while talking to them, either.
This isn’t really a joking episode for Doc Roy, who finds himself in a really tough position—but the dynamics between him and DeShawn in this hour are really good at showcasing that the two of them, who were joking just two episodes ago, when DeShawn was in charge, can also understand each other on a deeper level. And, if we can get there with Doc Roy and DeShawn, well… imagine what this team can become.
MORE: Our review of NCIS: Sydney Season 2, Episode 1 is here!
HE’S MY FRIEND
Perhaps the most refreshing part of the hour was how it handled Doc Roy’s friendship with a man who, even though he’s not directly responsible for the murder they’re investigating, still had something to do with it. There’s nothing more realistic than wanting to believe the best of your friends, which is the position Doc Roy finds himself in at the beginning. And yet, when he figures it out, he isn’t advocating for letting him go. He’s not trying to get in the way of the investigation.
He isn’t even withholding information from the team—he just wants the chance to be there for his friend, in what might be Terry’s last moments. And DeShawn gives him that, because in that moment, DeShawn understands what it means. Who are your true friends? The ones who laugh with you when it’s time to laugh, and the ones who understand when you need to cry and give you either the space or the comfort when you require it.
MORE: Our review of NCIS: Sydney Season 2, Episode 2 is here!
Things I think I think:
- Okay, J.D., but you deserve to be mocked here.
- And Mackey will thankfully do it for us.
- Evie too! SpongeBob is right,
- “All yours, partner.” It’s like Mackey just likes saying the word partner at this point. Partner, partner, partner. We get it, Mackey. He’s your partner.
- Have Evie and DeShawn really never heard of The Fugitive?
- If Russia says it wasn’t them, it was probably them.
- Does the Minister really like the vest? Is it a conspiracy?
- DeShawn being good at chess is both surprising and…not.
- I also really liked seeing the dynamic between Doc Roy and DeShawn in this episode.
- Evie was so happy when Mackey complimented her.
- Very casual, Mackey falling on top of J.D. Also very normal how he ran when she said run, without any question.
- IT’S EXTREMELY CONTAMINANT RESISTANT.
- Apparently the vest wins.
- I kinda like how the Doc Roy thing wasn’t so black and white. Sometimes people we care about do bad things. And it is hard for us to believe it, sometimes.
- The ending kinda broke me a little.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS: Sydney Season 2, Episode 2 ‘Fire in the Hole’? Share with us in the comments below! And if you have your own opinion on the show, leave a review/rating on our NCIS: Sydney hub!
NCIS: Sydney airs Fridays at 8/7c on CBS.
All this spy trickery that the Verse has been engaged in this Season, and this whole episode…
I’m not crazy in thinking there’s some big buildup to actually bringing up a certain 4’9 spy we haven’t seen in 3 years down the road, right?