Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS: Sydney episode “Black is White” are ahead!
Things have been up in the air for Bluebird Gleeson and new character Travis “Trigger” Riggs during NCIS: Sydney Season 3. The former returned to the team’s headquarters following the events of “True Blue,” but she had to submit a formal job application to continue her work as a forensic scientist in an official capacity. The latter, a former bomb tech, has been hanging around since the Season 3 premiere just helping out where he can, but otherwise feeling like an aimless addition to the team who could be kicked out any moment.
The good news is that Blue and Trigger both got good news concerning their careers at the end of “Black and White,” the latest NCIS: Sydney episode to premiere on the 2025 TV schedule. However, this came with yet another mystery for the Australia-based show, and this one has me concerned about what’s going on with Jim “JD” Dempsey.
Blue And Trigger Finally Have Job Security
At the start of “Black and White,” it looked like Blue might not be able to return to the team after all because she didn’t have the official tertiary qualifications to be a forensic scientist. Obviously her actual skills are nothing to sniff at, but she didn’t obtain a bachelor of science degree, her computer science degree, her PhD in IT and forensic science given her past. At the same time, Michelle Mackey wasn’t keen on keeping Trigger around any longer, describing him to JD as having a “total lack of utility,” “an unwillingness to demonstrate any kind of initiative,” and refusing to “respect any vague chain of command.” Ouch!
Well, all ended well for Blue and Trigger by the end of the episode. JD found a way to keep Blue around by going to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and arranging for her to get “special dispensation for hours accrued.” As for Trigger, Mackey decided to give him a real chance and arranged for him to have his own workshop at the team’s headquarters. It’s a much more fitting place for his jack-of-all-trades set of skills, so now he can properly “earn his keep.” So will Trigger stick around for the long haul, or will events later in NCIS: Sydney Season 3 lead to his exit? Time will tell.
JD Seems To Be Up To Something Shady
It seems that not everything is on the up and up with Blue and Trigger staying on the team. “Black and White” wrapped up with JD meeting with a colleague of his named Rory at a bar. JD first told Rory that he pulled some strings so that Trigger can continue working for NCIS. Meaning, Rory was the one who asked JD to take a chance on him, calling Trigger a “good egg.” Then JD asked Rory for a favor of his own: pass along Blue’s application to the people he knows at Admissions, and to keep this between them.
This meeting happened after JD told Blue the good news, so the “special dispensation” he mentioned to her doesn’t exist. Instead, JD is having Rory go through less-than-official channels to ensure Blue can continue her forensic science duties. I’m not entirely sure, but it seems like the string-pulling JD did for Rory on behalf of Trigger was similarly shady. Is there something deeper going on?
Given the ominous music that’s playing at the end of the episode, I don’t think this is the last we’ll hear about Blue’s application on NCIS: Sydney. Even if JD gets away with essentially disappearing it, what if someone discovers the application never went through the proper channels and uses this to blackmail Blue? As if those two mysteries from “Lost in Translation” weren’t enough to keep us on the edge of their seats.