Tag Archives: Olivia Swann

NCIS: Sydney – Fire in the Hole – TV Review

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TL;DR – Conceptionally, it was one of their stronger episodes, even if it was a bit silly.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

A Tall Ahip on Sydney Harbour with the Bridge in the background.

Historically, this series does its best when it makes the most of its dual nature of being designed for both Australian and American audiences. It creates friction and conflict where good stories lie. Today’s episode might be one of the better examples of this.  

So, to set the scene, two significant moments are happening for the crew of NCIS: Sydney. On the harbour, Jackson (Sean Sagar), Doc (William McInnes), and Evie (Tuuli Narkle) are exploring why a former navy officer has washed up on the shoreline in old-timey naval garb. Meanwhile, JD (Todd Lasance) and Mack (Olivia Swann) are organising the Force Protection Detail for the USS Perez. It should be a typical day, bar from the fact that the dead navy officer just showed up for work. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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NCIS: Sydney – Heart Starter – TV Review

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TL;DR – I think this first episode did everything that it needed to do. It tied up the cliffhanger from last season and gave it the motivation to move forward, even if there were a couple of missteps.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

Back in 2023, there was this odd experiment that played out across the streaming space: what would happen when you smashed an American and Australian Police Procedural together and then put it into the weirdly optimistic world of the NCIS franchise? Well, there were some missed opportunities, but overall, by the end of the season, it had found its feet. The question then becomes, can they continue that good work into their new season?

So, to set the scene, while we may start with a funeral possession, the episode actually begins in the moments after the season finale, Blonde Ambition, with Mackey (Olivia Swann) drawing her gun on the now fundamental suspicious Colonel Rankin (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) who JD (Todd Lasance) just phoned on an assassin’s phone, which would be more of an issue if he didn’t just have a heart attack. An international assassin was killed, and a child returned to their father. But a tier one villain is out of custody and on the run, and the powers at Be are looking for a scapegoat, and they are coming for everyone. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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NCIS: Sydney – Blonde Ambition & Full Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – They may have saved the best for last with a banger of a season finale.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The surf off Sydney.

Well, we have come to the end of the first season of NCIS: Sydney. It has been an odd season, with moments of highs and also a lot of frustrations. However, things started to coalesce towards the end, and I wondered if the show could stick the landing.   

So to set the scene, we open at a kids birthday party where a deeply bad clown is performing for the kids, but things turn sinister when the clown steals the birthday boy. Meanwhile, they have the secretive woman Anna (Georgina Haig) they captured in Bunker Down, who has been a thorn in everyone’s side since Gone Fission. The team is wondering why Anna feels so secure even though she is in handcuffs and locked to a desk when the call comes in that the child that was stolen was JD’s (Todd Lasance). We will be looking at the episode and season as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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NCIS: Sydney – Bunker Down – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is the first episode where everything came together to make a profoundly entertaining episode.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The Sydney Harbour Bridge with Indegenous Flag flying.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

As we have gone through this first season, it has been interesting to see the strengths and weaknesses of bringing a media brand like NCIS and transporting it to Australia. On the whole, we have gotten a lot of fish-out-of-water comedy around Australian animals and locations around Sydney. However, we have yet to get an episode that worked entirely as a whole, well, that is until today.

So to set the scene, one day, a cleaner is doing her rounds at The Audley Hotel in Sydney. The Royle Suit is the first on her route, but as she goes to clean, she hears water running in the bathroom, then a trail of blood, and the body of a dead man, followed by a scream. The team is getting ready to go to a secret Gaiametric presentation after an invitation from the DoD. The only problem is the dead scientist also had an invitation that is now missing, and no one knows where the event is or how to contact Mackey (Olivia Swann), Cooper (Tuuli Narkle), and Blue (Mavournee Hazel) because mobile phones can’t reach down in the bunker. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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NCIS: Sydney – Extraction– TV Review

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TL;DR – An incredibly contrived episode, but with some surprising moments of fun.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

While this season of NCIS Sydney has been chiefly okay so far, last week’s Doggieccino Day Afternoon was the first time I was very concerned that they might not be able to pull this off. Thus, it is with some trepidation that start this episode about gym-bros and the things they keep in their back rooms.

So to set the scene, we open as a dude (Michael Jupp) is skulking around taking photos of chemical labels when he gets spooked. He tried to play it cool as he walked through the gym to the outside world, but he got rumbled and had to run. A couple of hits by a car and a slide down a hill later, he had almost escaped onto a bus when he falls to the floor dead, and we discover that the dude has an American Naval jacket. But more than that, it might be that one of the team knows our John Doe. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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NCIS: Sydney – Doggieccino Day Afternoon – TV Review

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TL;DR – A tale of two episodes, one fascinating, the other deeply frustrating.   

Rating: 2 out of 5.

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

A dog playground.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

Today, we look at a case study of what happens when you take an exciting idea and then weigh it down with unnecessary factors that end up taking away from the fascinating idea you had at the start.

So to set the scene, Doctor Roy Penrose (William McInnes) is at a dog café with his dog, of course, when a young girl, Louie (Josie Rawson), who is clearly bleeding, comes in. Even more concerning is the sounds of sirens that follow and the reveal that she has explosives strapped to her chest. If anyone goes through the door or cuts her feed, then the whole place goes boom. Oh, and to make things worse, there is a dead cop in the mix. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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NCIS: Sydney – Ghosted – TV Review

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

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

The Syndey Harbour at night.

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.    

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NCIS: Sydney – Brother In Arms – TV Review

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TL;DR – There is nothing quite like a shark to ratchet up the tension in the water.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Waves crashing into the rocks.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

If you ask someone about Australia, the first thing they will likely mention is the wildlife and how it wants to kill you all. In reality, as long as you take some sensible precautions, you’ll be fine in nearly every case, bar drop bears. Oh, and sharks, because they are apex predators for a reason.

So to set the scene, it is a beautiful day down at the Malabar Ocean Pool, that is, until the swimmers discover a shark has made it into the pool from the ocean, even more so when a bloody hand drops out of its mouth. But what happens when you have a missing Navy SEAL but you have no missing SEALs? We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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NCIS: Sydney – Snakes in the Grass – TV Review

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TL;DR – It is time for NCIS Down Under to discover our wildlife kills.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Sydney.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

It would be best to amplify the oddnesses when you get into the weeds of collaborative work. It is here where the humour can be found, and why set something in Australia if you do not make the most of it? And I think we started to see some of that today.  

So to set the scene, along Cowen Creek in New South Wales, Australia, a couple of fishermen cast their lines until one catches a big one. A scuffle occurs until they land in the creek and discover a floating body under a tree branch. That body belonged to a staff sergeant running one of the most significant military depots in the southern hemisphere who found himself on the wrong side of a snake. But not a snake from this area. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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NCIS: Sydney – Gone Fission – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a clunky yet interesting start to NCIS Down Under.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

The Sydney Opera House.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

Growing up in my era, it felt like everyone and their dog watched JAG and NCIS at the start. Since then, we have run to Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Hawai’i, but where will they go next? Australia? Well, as an Australian media reviewer with an international relations degree, and who taught Australian politics, it is a perfect time to see how they pull this off.

So to set the scene, at Fleet Base East, Woolloomooloo, the USS Navajo is standing by as a presentation about Operation Talisman Sabre is given. It symbolises unity between Australia and the United States of America. But when everyone is distracted by a protestor, they miss a sailor in distress before he falls into the ocean. It is a public relations disaster, so the AFP and NCIS are forced to team up for the optics, and it is time for Michelle Mackey, NCIS Special Agent-in-Charge (Olivia Swann) and Jim “JD” Dempsey, AFP (Todd Lasance), to play nice. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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