TL;DR – Alas, it is a quite predictable affair that produces some oddly wooden performances.  

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

As we continue through the season, we are starting to hit the episodes where people have had time to feel their characters and how they should be played. Here, you get to see actors start defining who they are. Just that is not always a good thing.

So to set the scene, it is the spooky season, and what else would you do during that time but take a late-night ghost tour of The Rocks in Sydney. In full costume, of course. We learn about all sorts of awful things, like the bakery that used unholy meat. But no one suspected a new ghost to be made in front of them as a body flew out a window, like the defenestration of Prague. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

For me, this was the first episode of the season that genuinely falters, or at least didn’t have an excuse for not working completely. I think this is because things don’t work on both the American and Australian sides of the equation. I think part of this was because the drama in this week’s episode felt very forced. Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann), NCIS Special Agent-in-Charge, made such a complete overreaction when dealing with Frank Doherty (Linal Haft) that she might as well have been wearing a neon sign blaring the big character twist coming.

 This leads us into the weird patriotism slide that the episode tries to have something to talk about, but I think that is going to be missed by the Australian audience and be too holding back for the American audience. You could feel where they wanted to go, but there was not the commitment to follow through, so instead, you get the eye-roll-induced salute at the end. On that front, given Australia’s current woefully draconian immigration laws, there is no way a quicky wedding would have stopped him from getting deported.

In the end, do we recommend NCIS: Sydney – Ghosted? For the first time, I think I will have to say no. I mean, it was fun to see Tiriel Mora get to play a drunk ghost tour operator, and at this point, I should, out of Australian obligation, tell you to go watch The Castle [or The Dish, which is better]. But I am not sure that that one factor is enough.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen NCIS: Sydney yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of NCIS: Sydney
Directed by – Kriv Stenders
Written by – Tamara Asmar
Created by – Morgan O’Neill
Based On – JAG created by Donald P. Bellisario & NCIS by Donald P. Bellisario & Don McGill
Production/Distribution Companies – EndemolShine Australia, CBS Studios & Paramount+
Starring – Olivia Swann, Todd Lasance, Sean Sagar, Tuuli Narkle, Mavournee Hazel & William McInnes with Tiriel Mora, Josh McConville & Linal Haft and Mark Paguio, Vaingana Matapule, Douglas Chalmers, James Saunders, Meme Thorne & Michelle Collins