CBS' Most Underrated 'NCIS' Spin-Off Gets Spicy in New Sneak Peek [Exclusive]

11 hours ago 10

Published Feb 27, 2026, 10:00 AM EST

Ryan O'Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided's CubbiesCrib. Whether it's taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what's going on. Outside of entertainment, he's a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor's in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.

At long last, it's time for the NCIS franchise to return to Australia and take on more cases down under. NCIS: Sydney Season 3 has been off the air a bit longer than previously expected after what should've been its midseason finale, "South of Nowhere," was abruptly pulled. With the extended hiatus about to come to an end on March 3, though, we're excited to pick things back up where they left off and include the procedural spin-off as part of Collider's Exclusive Preview series for upcoming spring television series and films. We have a new sneak peek that finally offers a look at the long-awaited episode and the general return of Supervisory Special Agent Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann) and Sergeant Jim "JD" Dempsey (Todd Lasance) to screens.

"South of Nowhere" takes place not in NCIS: Sydney's typical idyllic locale, but in Antarctica, where the team is caught in a tense race against time. Their latest investigation takes them to a research base to uncover why a climate scientist killed his colleague. However, it's not quite as simple as just getting answers, as the murder occurred on Polar Night Eve. With the polar circle about to be plunged into six months of darkness, they have to get to the bottom of the case and fly back home before their plane engine freezes up, and they're left stranded in one of the coldest and darkest areas on planet Earth. Worse, the official promo for the episode showed the team reacting to a biohazard alarm, with "thousands of lives" potentially hanging in the balance if the task force's mission goes south.

Although the episode is shaping up as a tense, high-stakes operation, our sneak peek is anything but. It instead opens on the dynamite duo of Michelle and JD on the plane ride to Antarctica, where the latter is lost in thought. Although he swears nothing's wrong, JD awkwardly sparks a conversation about a special someone he met online, much to his NCIS partner's surprise. Apparently, it's their one-month anniversary since he first poked her on a dating app, but he unfortunately had to cancel due to the mission's importance. Michelle doesn't know how to feel about it all, but she's quick to comfort him, saying his date will surely understand the delay. That's not what's bothering him, though. Rather, he's confused about a curious, raunchy emoji message that indicates he's probably not quite ready for modern dating.

Will 'NCIS: Sydney' Be Back for Season 4?

Sydney has become an unexpectedly big piece of the NCIS family since its premiere in 2023. The plan initially was for the franchise's first international spin-off to air primarily in Australia via Paramount+ with some international rollout, but, due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, it was thrust into primetime in the U.S., where it found immediate success. The series has offered a fresh spin on the procedural formula, following NCIS's collaboration with the Australian Federal Police to address rising crime in the Indo-Pacific and centering on the rivalry-turned-surprising bond between Mackey and Dempsey. Their main team of agents from both organizations has consisted of Sean Sagar, Tuuli Narkle, Mavournee Hazel, and William McInnes.

Season 3 — the biggest yet for the spin-off — began with a bit of intrigue for the task force after the cliffhanger Season 2 finale. Viewers finally learned more about the mysterious woman who appeared in Blue's (Hazel) home, all as the team was met with a case of two missing U.S. naval aviators found adrift in the Coral Sea. Mackey was also left to grapple with everything that happened in Darwin with her friend Etienne (John Fabry). In general, series showrunner and creator Morgan O’Neill has teased that the season is all about the agents' past coming back to haunt them in various ways, and there's still plenty of time for more reckoning with 11 episodes remaining after the midseason premiere. Earlier this year, the Sydney team was also secured for another season in a sweeping renewal for the entire NCIS slate on CBS.

NCIS: Sydney Season 3 continues on March 3 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+. Check out our exclusive sneak peek in the player above and stay tuned here at Collider throughout the week for more new looks from our spring preview series.