I love my NCIS: Sydney family.
NCIS: Sydney Season 2 Episode 15 pulls off its own origin story by centering Mackey and exploring just how she crossed paths with DeShawn in the first place.
And for that alone, the hour was an emotional one that not only shed light on this underrated dynamic but also showcased why it goes so deep in the first place.
As a DeShawn fan, I’ve been patiently waiting for him to release some quality content with a bit more bite and layers.
Not far off from Evie, DeShawn often becomes the series’ comic relief, even when he’s playing more of a straight man to some of her more overt humor and comical moments.
But throughout this hour, which mostly centers on Mackey and picks up the conspiracy simmering in the background of NCIS: Sydney Season 3, we get more of his backstory, namely, how he crosses paths with Mackey in the first place.
The flashbacks were illuminating, and I loved seeing Mackey in her prime as a captain and a pilot. You could tell her crew respected her, and she cared deeply about them.
And she had that maverick spirit that we’ve come to know and love about her. In many ways, it almost feels as if Mackey was ill-suited to the military’s infrastructure, which has so many rules and doesn’t allow much bending or breaking.
There’s an expectation that people react to orders and ask a few questions, and that’s not Mackey, and never has been.
When she got that order to essentially abandon Hanley and the other soldiers behind enemy lines at that, she couldn’t help but disregard it.
Yes, she had direct orders that gave her certain rules, but she’s also a woman with her own moral code, and what you DON’T do is leave anyone behind.
She never could’ve imagined that going rogue that day would set her on the path that she ultimately ends up on. But it’s a blessing in disguise, since it led her to DeShawn, and both of them to Sydney — to this team, this family, and a calling that was best for them.
DeShawn, as a young petty officer, a month out from taking the Bar, was interesting. He’s astute enough to have been one hell of a JAG, but Mackey’s court-martial hearing raised so many concerns that it left him questioning everything.
It’s one of the times I found DeShawn the most relatable in the series. Once upon a time, I thought the law was my calling, too, but there was something so soul-sucking and upside-down about it that it left me questioning things, too.
How could he go forward with this career path when he saw that someone as brilliant, loyal, and fierce as Mackey was facing repercussions for SAVING lives? It feels completely illogical.
Mackey’s fate was determined that day because she helped soldiers who were in over their heads, working for the Pagoda, or the Collective, and desperately wanting out.
Even though she knew nothing about the organization or what it entailed at the time, it’s what she came to figure out later, and the fear that maybe they had shared information with her that they should’ve had during that helicopter ride that put her in the crosshairs of The Collective.
It’s how she ended up on that Kill List, not because she specifically did anything wrong.
The case was a great way to dovetail into that and introduce us to Lee, too. Angus Sampson is such a gem, but it’s some whiplash to have him playing one of my favorite characters on The Lincoln Lawyer and then this evil person here!
It’s fascinating how they caught a new case that brought all of this up again and put Trey in danger, too. They found Killman in a torched luxury car (that had poor Evie, the car enthusiast, practically weeping), and with the dog tags of Hanley, one of the guys whom Mackey saved all those years ago.
But they quickly pieced together that Killman was partaking in some drug trafficking, meth, and it was connected to a drug cabal that he and other soldiers were part of back in Afghanistan.
The segues throughout this case were fun and added levity to an hour that was also intense, action-packed, and sentimental.
Mackey and JD hijacking that undercover mission from poor Evie was hilarious, and the two posing as an obnoxious rich couple was pure entertainment. JD should’ve known that he’d lose to Mackey on getting to drive that car.
She’s far too clever sometimes.
It provided some laughs amid the flashbacks and other aspects of the hour that got serious really quickly.
From the moment Lee appeared in the flashbacks, it was evident that he was a company man and that a major cover-up was imminent.
He spent most of the time listening to Mackey’s hearing to get a feel for how much she may have known, and when she didn’t take the deal and wanted to take the stand, he pulled his strings to “disappear” the whole thing, not to protect her, but The Collective.
Interestingly, Mackey didn’t catch on to what was going on back then. I suspected Lee was lying about having a son and trying to appeal to Mackey as a mother.
DeShawn was sharp as a tack throughout the hearing, too. He knew something was off about the whole thing, even though his mentor was insisting that they go through with everything as is. You could see how much he loathed them, nearly railroading Mackey.
Their interactions were great. At first, Mackey was her usual fiery self, but as time went on, there was such a healthy sense of respect there, and it’s no wonder that they connected and couldn’t really shake each other.
Their final scene in that flashback was moving. Both of them were at these professional crossroads, unaware of where life would take them next. Mackey left him with her number, her pendant, and the advice that he always follow his gut.
And it’s then that we can fully understand how DeShawn could follow her to the other side of the world without question.
I know this is a series where the family elements are great, but the ship ones are often the most appealing to people.
But I loved this hour for giving us what amounts to the love story between DeShawn and Mackey. Their friendship is special and deeper than we ever could’ve envisioned.
Even in the present, DeShawn didn’t tell her about all the people she saved “committing suicide” (because did they all really do that?) because he wanted to protect her.
Just like Mackey didn’t tell everyone about being on that kill list because she wanted to protect them, I still don’t know how not telling them about something like that when they’re in harm’s way just by association was the smart move, but I get her motivations.
Mackey and DeShawn are cut from a similar cloth that way, and I appreciated an hour focusing on that.
But sometimes, Mackey seems to forget that her team will fight for her just as much as she would for them. The moment she backed down from Lee because of Trey, they formed a plan.
The boys truly had her back, DeShawn posing as Trey, and JD always down for a fight, and it led to an intense, action-packed scene that had them taking down Lee.
Even though I suspect DeShawn was wearing a vest, I still gasped when he got shot. And JD and Mackey both were taking a beating!
But she tapped into that animalistic side, the instincts of a mother protecting her young, and I’m not going to lie, I hoped she had just killed the man right there.
Nevertheless, we know this isn’t the end of the collective. It’s too big. We already learned that it involves the US military and government. Lee is just a small factor in something bigger, and she kicked the hornet’s nest here.
No way this is just over. And that’s a scary thought because you don’t know who or what is lurking around the corners now. Also, Mackey releasing that drive will just bring more monsters out of the dark.
Something tells me this was just a taste of what’s in store, and I’m already tense over what’s going to happen next!
Greetings from Macksey Land
Okay, so this season has been really interesting because we keep seeing how soft Mackey is toward JD. Even in the earlier parts of this episode, she looks so smitten, and it’s hard to ignore.
She’s also been calling him “Jim” more often now, not just in intense, life-threatening, or stressful situations.
It’s also interesting that JD never told Mackey Mercedes’s name until now, and the poor guy can’t even tell her what he likes about this woman.
Mackey gave him an open invitation to provide all the details, but he had nothing to give and got distracted by the case.
Their undercover antics were fun and cute, but it’s who they are in the casual moments or the life-threatening ones that are most intriguing.
By now, it’s clear these two would die for each other if it came to it, and it’s fascinating to see them not address what feels like an obvious shift in their relationship.
It makes me wonder if they’ll push things any further with them by the end of the season.
Chit-Chat:
- For the life of me, I don’t understand how mouth tape works.
- Trey is so cute, and I’m so glad he’s in Sydney. I laughed at him as he apologized for drinking the beer, and at him as he happily played video games with the crew. The family feels are so real.
- Trigger and Blue working together isn’t ship content, but I appreciate it all the same.
- Did anyone else think of that Reacher Season 3‘s flashbacks with the color grading for the ones here?
- I love Michell Mackey so much, you don’t understand!
- Justice for Evie. She should get to drive a fast car on the next case, dammit. I loved her presentation.
- This may be one of my favorite episodes yet for DeShawn.
Over to you, NCIS: Sydney Fanatics. Let’s discuss this one below!
Where are my Macksey shippers? Did you love the background of DeShawn and Mackey? What are your thoughts about The Collective?
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