NCIS: Sydney season two premiered on Friday February 7 and dropped a series of bombshells on viewers.
Season one ended with JD Dempsey (Todd Lasance) agreeing to free a prisoner in exchange for his kidnapped nine-year-old but as the meeting takes place the escaping criminal implicated JD’s boss Colonel Rankin (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) in the abduction.
By the end of the first episode of season two, however, it was clear that Rankin was being blackmailed by an unknown terrorist and that although the world thought he was dead, he was actually in a medically-induced coma.
The second bombsehll? That Special Agent Captain Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann) was a mom to an 18-year-old son.
© John Tsiavis/Paramount+"A big theme for Mackey this season is home and what that means to her, and what that looks like, and who embodies that," Olivia told HELLO!.
"It's something that she really does carry with her, knowing that her family and her child are back in Iowa but that her job means that she has to be on the other side of the world to all of that.
"So, can she find a home here [in Sydney]? Can she find home with these people and this team? How does that feel and how does that look? Can she allow herself to be taken into this team and this world?"
© Daniel Asher Smith/Paramount+Mackey made a lot of choices in episode one that saw her out on her own with JD as they attempted to get to the bottom of the phone call and Rankin's involvement, but Olivia says that is also setting Mackey up for the rest of the season, as we will slowly begin to see the outsider discover her own place in the team, thousands of miles from home.
"It will be really interesting seeing her shift into that space – although it is Mackey so she will do it with her armor up, but there are glimpses of who she is underneath all of that. And it's really lovely to see," said Olivia.
© Daniel Asher Smith/Paramount+As for Rankin's coma, Olivia promises that this storyline will be the "woven thread throughout the season," with the team "dipping in and out" as they continue to solve other cases.
"It's a constant in the back of the team's mind – even as they're solving one case, there's still the mystery of the Rankin situation," said Olivia.
"It does weigh over them because there's something that doesn't make sense, there's something that's unsolved. And obviously, NCIS: Sydney likes to solve cases."
