‘NCIS: Sydney’ Stars Olivia Swann and Todd Lasance Tease Someone New Butting Heads With Mackey and a ‘Big Reveal’ (Exclusive)

NCIS: Sydney is all new this week, and stars Olivia Swann and Todd Lasance spoke to PopCulture.com about what’s in store.

In “Lost in Translation,” airing on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, “The team’s hunt for a high-value U.S. target accused of murdering an Australian soldier takes an unexpected turn when the suspect claims to have evidence of a war crime.”

Swann, who plays NCIS Supervisory Special Agent Michelle Mackey, told PopCulture that the team will be doing a joint investigation with the Australian Defense Force Investigative Service (ADFIS), and its leader is “very similar to Mackey, so it’s a bit of head-butting.”

“JD has a bit of fun with the comparisons between the two as well, and seeing them go head to head, and it’s two alpha females in there,” Lasance, who plays Australian Federal Police (AFP) Second-in-Command Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey, added. “It’s great. There’s a friction between them during the case, but it’s so compelling as what we’ve been saying as well. Every episode feels like a mini movie. So it has this beautiful dynamic. It’s completely different to the previous episodes and unlike any other episodes we’ve seen. I actually just saw it myself, and it’s fantastic. But yes, we’re excited.”

Additionally, Mackey, JD, and the rest of the team will be working knowing that they’ll be doing a little restructuring. Last week’s episode dug deeper into Blue’s (Mavournee Hazel) past. It was discovered that her real name is Faith Mullens, and she went to prison and used a fake identity, Bluebird Gleeson, to secure a spot on the team. That was only just the beginning, as Swann shared that in the newest episode, “Blue now has to kind of undergo full laying out of the truth of who she is essentially and reapply for the job. So that’s kind of something that will continue through the season and kind of how JD especially has to deal with her becoming part of the team again.”

“Because I feel like it was JD who sort of brought her under his wing and introduced her to the agency as well,” said Lasance. “And, obviously, she’s with the federal police, so it’s interesting seeing her assimilate back in with the team. But it’s kinda going through the screening process again. But the cool thing about this little breadcrumb drop that they’ve added in here as well is that this episode tonight reveals a little, but there’s actually a lot more layers to it that we reveal as we’re going on through the show as well, and potentially some dark secrets and some misinformation perhaps. So, you’ll have to tune in to check out where that goes. But, this is her kind of slowly assimilating back into the team again.”

Blue is not the only one on the team that fans will be learning more about. Swann shared that with Mackey, more will be revealed about her in the upcoming episodes, and it will “directly” impact her and “kind of forces her to look back at her past and the choices that she’s made.” She continued, “And it kind of links to her withholding certain information from the team. And so that’s kind of how that comes to pass, is the fact that she’s almost by herself, and the team’s on a whole other side, being swept away from all of this. And then just kind of seeing all of that unfold, which is also really interesting.”

Lasance admitted that there’s a “big reveal” at the end of tonight’s episode that “sends the season on a full trajectory as far as something that Mackey has been keeping from the team, and particularly JD as well.” He shared, “And then throughout the whole season, we realized that we’re all keeping secrets, and there’s some pretty devastating repercussions of choices made throughout the season as well. So it’s fantastic how they plotted that this season. You find out a lot more about their past, which we love as actors as well, but, obviously, for the fans too, and the franchise itself, you get a bit more insight into our characters.

“But, also, you find out what makes them tick and how they got to where they are as well,” he continued. “Also, a lot of the devastating information that you find out, as well as why Mackey is the way she is, or why JD is the way he is in his relationship and family dynamics. So, we’re really excited for him to see those elements as well.”

Both Swann and Lasance have enjoyed being able to explore more about their characters after playing them for two years. Swann said, “It just allows us to kind of keep adding bits of nuance and specificity to the characters. We feel like we know them so much already, but the more that we uncover, the more grounded, the more real we can make these people. And we can layer the connections we have with each other and with the characters. So it’s always just such a gift for us as actors to discover even more about the character.”

“And you get to explore a lot more emotionally as well,” added Lasance. “Again, it’s usually not really lighthearted when you’re finding out about their past, but that’s the actor’s dream to be able to explore more elements of the character and find new facets and go deeper emotionally with them as well. So that’s super exciting. I hate that we can’t give any spoilers or any information.”

Additionally, Swann thinks the backstories aid the show “because when we all find out about the characters, that means that the case has become that much more detailed and intense, and then it all just kind of circles together. And we care more about the characters, so then we care more about what they’re doing.”

Lasance also said there’s “more at stake” because “you realize what they’ve lost or about to gain or what they’ve sacrificed to get to where they are. So, it’s gonna be a really interesting season.”

NCIS: Sydney may only be three episodes into its third season as of this week, but it’s clear there is a lot planned, and fans won’t want to miss a single second. Tune in to new episodes on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day on Paramount+.