NCIS: Sydney Season 3, Episode 15 ‘The Collective’ is one of the best episodes of a show that has consistently delivered good entertainment since the beginning. But it’s not just about how well the characters work, or how much the series understands the dynamics it has built. No, this episode is about payoff. About who Mackey is, who DeShawn is, and why we’re here. And it works really, really well, because the past informs the present and sets up the future.
The loose threads of why Mackey was court martialed, which the show introduced all the way back in Season 1, are now more or less tied up. And Mackey, the aloof and secretive boss we first met, is no more. We’ve met her son. We understand why her relationship with DeShawn is what it is. We’ve seen her open up to JD.
But of course, a storyline like this isn’t over, cannot be over, if there are still questions. And there are. Whether this picks up at the end of this season, or is something we’ll explore in Season 4, we just know for sure that it’s not over. Well, that and we know that, considering what we learned this episode, when this pops back up again, it’ll hit even harder.
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VERY HELPFUL BACKSTORY
It always made sense that to get the backstory on Mackey, or at least this particular backstory, we would end up getting backstory on DeShawn. And this episode is about him as much as it is about Mackey. In that regard, ‘The Collective’ does a great thing for both characters, in that it provides us enough information to look at them differently, even if they remain the same people.
For Mackey, it’s just about reinforcing who we knew she was. It’s proof of a gut feeling, as it were. For DeShawn, however, it’s more. He is perhaps the character who has gotten the least development so far, outside of his relationship with Evie. What did we really know of him before this hour? We didn’t even know the story between him and Mackey. Now we do. And ironically, exploring their dynamic does a lot to put the other dynamics in this show in perspective, particularly Mackey and JD.
In many ways, DeShawn is Mackey’s true platonic partner. They know each other, they’ve been through a lot together, and they have each other’s backs. There’s nothing more than that. Now, they both have different partners, but that doesn’t mean they’ll stop being there for each other. It just means they can widen the circle. That’s a good thing for both.
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WE KNOW PROCEDURALS
There’s very little in the way of development for our clear ship of the show in ‘The Collective’, and yet, in many ways, there is. Because we know procedurals. We understand that this particular undercover moment, although it led to absolutely nothing, means something. We know that little dance they had as JD was avoiding talking about his ‘friend’ Mercedes, means something. And we know that the lack of hesitation to follow each other off a cliff means something.
But do Mackey and JD know? It’s a complicated question. They have to, up to a point. But, likely, they’re still deluding themselves about what that means. Because confronting it means putting at risk something they’ve come to rely on, their partnership. And doing so for something neither of them is sure of. That’s quite the leap for two people with as much baggage as these two have.
At some point, though, it becomes not about whether you are willing to take the risk, but about what you lose if you don’t. We’re not there yet. But we keep inching forward, little by little. The show sees it. We see it. It’s just a matter of time until the characters do too.
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Things I think I think:
- This episode hurt me from the previously on.
- Backstory is so very Mackey.
- Mom Mackey is pretty fun to me. Let her be a helicopter parent, JD! You’ve got no moral high ground.
- What is this little dance you two are doing?
- Also, why did you say bedroom problems like that, Jim?
- Wow, Evie knows her cars.
- Maybe, in DeShawn’s place, I also wouldn’t have said anything. What was there to be gained?
- I would have pulled rank for the car, too..
- But what is this Miami Vice getup?
- The LA office!!!!!!
- “And if it was you out there, alone, freezing, surrounded, terrified. You’d want us to obey the law or our code?”
- Trust your gut is good advice, I guess.
- If you can’t say what you like about someone, do you like them?
- Dismissal with prejudice means it cannot be reopened, FYI.
- Look, D is on fire this episode.
- Poor baby Trey, coming all this way to get threatened.
- “I was protecting you.” No one really wanted that, though.
- “If you want to fight, I promise you I will be right there on your six, boss.”
- D had to be the one to say it.
- When she’s all beat up and asking about JD!
- “My mom keeps me safe.” MY HEART.
- Love everything about this episode except the certainty that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of this Lee guy.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of NCIS: Sydney Season 3, Episode 15 ‘The Collective’? 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 Tuesdays at 10/9c on CBS.
