NCIS: Sydney missed an opportunity when referencing a familiar NCIS character in season 2. Despite spinoffs like NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, and NCIS: Hawai’i all receiving cancelation in the last several years, the shared NCIS universe continues to expand with new additions like NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney. One of the things that makes the NCIS franchise an institution is that its expansive network of shows occupies the same universe, with the stories connecting, which makes room for more immersive character development and world-building. Unfortunately, the NCIS: Sydney story missed an opportunity to enhance it even more.
The Aussie-themed procedural was the first international NCIS show. Yet, the series is still connected to the flagship, with NCIS: Sydney referring to NCIS Director Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) in the series premiere. The NCIS: Sydney characters have unique ties to the agency as the first Australian Federal Police/NCIS task force. Special Agent Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann) leads the group, with AFP Sergeant Jack Dempsey (Todd Lasance) typically at her side. After establishing its connection to NCIS in season 1, the show refers to the director again in the season 2 premiere but fails to highlight another familiar character.
NCIS: Sydney Season 2 References FBI Deputy Director Wayne Sweeney (But Not By Name)
The FBI Deputy Director Plays An Unnamed Role In NCIS: Sydney Season 2
In the NCIS: Sydney season 2 premiere, the show refers to FBI Deputy Director Wayne Sweeney (Eric Passoja). That said, NCIS: Sydney doesn’t refer to the NCIS season 22 character by name. Passoja first joined the NCIS franchise as the deputy director of the FBI in NCIS season 19, episode 4, “Great Wide Open.” As such, Sweeney was introduced along with Special Agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole) amid Mark Harmon’s NCIS exit as Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Parker was tasked with apprehending Gibbs for his crime. However, Sweeney fired Parker when the FBI agent refused, and Parker subsequently joined NCIS.
Sweeney was introduced along with Special Agent Alden Parker (Gary Cole) amid Mark Harmon’s NCIS exit as Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
Wayne Sweeney appeared once in season 20 before returning in NCIS season 22, episode 4, “Sticks & Stones.” After appearing in NCIS season 22, the premiere of NCIS: Sydney’s sophomore run would have been a relevant time to loop Sweeney back in. However, when Special Agent in Charge of the Southeast Asia Field Office Ken Carter (Bert LaBonté) asks Mackey what he should tell the deputy director about Ana Niemus’ escape, Carter refers to Sweeney by title only. It might not have been such a big deal if Agent Carter hadn’t referred to Sweeney without using his name thrice:
Carter: I just flew in from Singapore after I got a call from our friends at Quantico. Deputy Director of the FBI wants to know why his grab team flew all the way to Sydney to render an international assassin who is no longer in your custody.
Mackey: Right. Yep. That was unfortunate.
Carter: Deputy Director used a different adjective.
Mackey: Sir, we had Niemus isolated in the interview room while we worked the abduction of Sergeant Dempsey’s boy, but by the time the grab team got here, she’d picked her cuffs and fled the scene.
Carter: That’s what I’m supposed to tell the Deputy Director?
Why NCIS: Sydney’s Reference In The Season 2 Premiere Missed A Big Opportunity
All The Shows In The NCIS Shared Universe Connect
While it’s neat that NCIS: Sydney and NCIS exist in the same universe, the Sydney offshoot failed to take full advantage of its connection to its predecessor. NCIS: Sydney refers to the FBI Deputy Director by his title on three occasions. It could be a formal way of referring to the FBI Deputy Director. But even so, NCIS: Sydney needs more connections to the flagship to make it relevant to fans. Referencing FBI Deputy Director Wayne Sweeney more boldly would have called NCIS: Sydney fans’ attention to the flagship and vice versa.
Agent in Charge Carter mentions Director Leon Vance by name in NCIS: Sydney season 2, episode 1, later on in the episode. Carter reports that he just received an email from Vance congratulating them on the outstanding result when everything is said and done. While it was great to see Sydney nod to Carroll’s established leader, putting a name to a lesser-known title would have formed an even more robust connection between the series. Failing to connect the position to Sweeney’s identity within the flagship makes no sense since he has been around for a while.
How NCIS: Sydney Season 2 Can Still Connect To The Flagship
A Showrunner’s Comments Highlight The Missed Opportunity
NCIS: Sydney can still utilize the flagship by taking other opportunities to form connections between the series. Sydney’s nods to Leon Vance were a great start, but the NCIS franchise should further trust its audience to analyze its shows and enjoy the shared universe more profoundly. While the Aussie characters don’t need to rely on the flagship to tell a great story, connections to NCIS are an easy way to invite more fans in, and showrunner Morgan O’Neill said in an interview with TV Insider that she desired more crossover opportunities with NCIS: Sydney and the larger NCIS universe.
Morgan O’Neill: It’s a challenge for us. We’re not just in the studio next door. We can’t just pull Rocky Carroll out and drag him on our set. It’s not quite that easy. But I would say the great thrill of a franchise like NCIS is that it’s an interconnected world. Fans love that it is, and we’re certainly trying to work out ways where we can satisfy the desire for a kind of crossover or an interaction of sorts. So that may be happening in our future, I suppose, is the best way to put it.
O’Neill notes the challenges NCIS: Sydney faces in incorporating familiar faces into the show since it films in Australia. Their studio is thousands of miles from Southern California, where NCIS films. That said, making a subtle nod to a character like Wayne Sweeney a little bolder is a great way to meet the series’ benchmark without flying an NCIS cast member out to the titular city where NCIS: Sydney films. Still, bringing in a fan-favorite like Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) or Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) would be the best way to generate excitement for the Aussie show within the franchise.