NCIS: Sydney Season 3 Episode 3 Exposes Mackey Conspiracy!

Critic’s Rating: 4.2 / 5.0

4.2

Fret not, ladies. You’re both pretty!

We had double the secrets and intrigue on NCIS: Sydney when Mackey met her ADFIS Match with Dayna. But little did we know, it wasn’t just Dayna who had been harboring something dark.

NCIS: Sydney has just introduced a conspiracy involving none other than Michelle Mackey herself. Frankly, I’m nervous!

Doppelganger Fun Is Only Fun for So Long

One of the things that NCIS: Sydney does so well is deliver on humor, and we definitely got that when the team had to work with Dayna and couldn’t help but notice how similar she and Mackey are.

It’s always funny when someone meets their match in a professional setting like that —and how others react to it —could have been a fun angle for the series to play up much longer, but then it took a surprising turn. We learned that Dayna was working under duress for Ghost.

Every time she mentioned her daughter, and she kept disappearing, it was apparent that something else was going on. Dayna didn’t seem like the type who would drop everything to the extent she did for some of the most random reasons involving her daughter.

By the time we saw her “boss” chewing her out on the docks, it was clear she was working with the perpetrator and feeding him intel throughout the case. But fortunately, it wasn’t a clear-cut case of Dayna being a bad guy.

She was trying to save her daughter, which we could cut some slack on, and the agency may give her leniency. That’s a relief; I’d love to see her work with the team again on a proper case.

The rivalry she and Mackey had throughout was entertaining enough to want to see another spin at it.

Trigger and Blue — A Match Made in Lab Heaven

Is anyone else seeing the potential in a Blue Trigger pairing? He has this magical way of not paying a lick of attention to anyone who hesitates around him, then he wins them over in the end.

Blue was no exception, as she returned to him, running her lab and making her little changes, but then she softened toward him in the end.

Trigger is such a great addition to the series, and I love what he brings to the team. He has the best energy and a skill set that seems vast yet aligns perfectly with whatever they’re doing at any given moment.

He was quietly the MVP of the hour, or at least the best scene-stealer, particularly as he helped Evie disarm the bomb that Dayna’s daughter was standing on and recited that he was no longer a bomb tech because he failed the psych evaluation.

The funniest thing about all of that is I’m pretty sure no one else on this team could properly pass a psych evaluation when it comes down to it, which is why they’re this delightful band of misfits in the first place.

Trigger has found his home. Can we keep him, please?!

I love learning this background on Trigger, and I’m eager to learn more. When is he getting his own episode? Give it to us!

Blue’s Return Could Be Complicated

He and Blue have already proven to be a strong team, and her return to the lab was more anticlimactic than I expected, given the concerns JD expressed during NCIS: Sydney Season 3 Episode 2.

Of everyone, it’s interesting to note that he seemed to have the biggest issue with her dishonesty and betrayal. The others didn’t have strong reactions, varying in degree, and they all seemed content to have Blue back.

Blue and Evie’s moment together was especially endearing. Evie could relate to becoming a different person for survival reasons, given her history undercover. And we already know she’s kept secrets of her own in that regard.

That moment for the two was heartwarming because it’s so rare for the others to get to connect with Blue one-on-one to the same degree as Doc.

But JD isn’t someone who trusts easily. He was the most adamant about her filling out that 450-page application by hand, and as soon as she was done, he wanted to stay behind and go through it.

JD doesn’t trust easily, and Blue violated that, even though he understands her motivations. But the mere thought that someone he cared about and worked alongside was someone else entirely right under his nose has rattled him.

JD Discovery Mackey’s Secret Could Destroy Them

It’s interesting to see this as the conspiracy with Mackey reveals itself by the end of the hour.

If JD is already struggling with Blue, what will things be like between them when he inevitably learns about Mackey?

He had a hard enough time when he felt Mackey compromised her judgment with Entienne.

The entire case seemed to get under Mackey’s skin for reasons that didn’t seem overt until she shared with JD how a translator just like Rashid (in her mind) weaponized her and the Marines to kill women and children under false intel.

That is something that will severely damage a person and jade them, too.

Poor Rashid faced the brunt of scrutiny and was the patsy for an operation that went sideways and the murder of a soldier. He was caught between two motives: America and Australia, each wanting him for different reasons, prompting two other investigations.

But he was also terrified of the death that awaited him if he returned to Afghanistan.

How Long Can Mackey Cover This Up?

I liked that his being guilty was a red herring, and he actually was the person who tried to save the soldiers, not the one who sold them out and wanted to kill them.

But it evolved into something messier and bigger than they could imagine, and it’s just going to simmer in the background for a bit here. Rashid knew about this massive cover-up of American war crimes, and that means he’s a target.

Anyone with anything connected to these war crimes and knowledge of them is on a hit list. Ghost isn’t the only one who has it, and Mackey deleting her photo won’t change anything for her. But it will for the team.

How long do you think she’ll be able to keep it a secret from everyone? And won’t she be placing everyone in danger blindly because she’s on a whole hit list?

The team will reel like nothing we’ve seen before when this comes out, and I’m both excited and nervous about what’s to come!

Comments are like sweets, and this girl has a sweet tooth, so feed me, please!

If you know other NCIS: Sydney Fanatics, share this around, grade the episode, and subscribe to our newsletter. Click around and check out our other coverage! Thank you for supporting an indie site like ours!

TV Fanatic is searching for passionate contributors to share their voices across various article types. Think you have what it takes to be a TV Fanatic? Click here for more information and next steps.