When Does ‘NCIS: Sydney’ Season 2 Premiere? Schedule Change, Explained

Meredith Jacobs January 31, 2025, 10:18 am

Olivia Swann as NCIS Special Agent Captain Michelle Mackey and Todd Lasance as AFP Liaison Officer Sergeant Jim 'JD' Dempsey — 'NCIS: Origins' Season 2 Episode 2 — Daniel Asher Smith/Paramount+

The first international edition of the very popular NCIS franchise was a hit in the 2023-2024 season. And now, Sydney is coming back.

NCIS: Sydney was part of CBS’s primetime schedule last fall (when, due to the writers and actors’ strikes, there wasn’t much in terms of scripted content) and took over the mothership’s old time slot, Tuesdays at 8/7c. (NCIS moved to Mondays at 9/8c in Season 19.) After the finale aired in January, it was renewed in March.

“The global power of the NCIS franchise became even stronger on broadcast and streaming with the addition of NCIS: Sydney,” said Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, at the time. “Our American viewers have fully embraced these engaging characters, unique stories and the fabulous Australian scenery. We are thrilled to bring this show back to CBS next season and spend even more time down under.”

Below, we’re keeping track of everything we know about Season 2 of the international spinoff.

Where did NCIS: Sydney Season 1 leave off?

The season ended with a couple of cliffhangers! First of all, to get his kidnapped son back, JD (Todd Lasance) agreed to a swap of a wanted criminal (Georgina Haig‘s Ana Nimus, not her real name, note how it sounds like “anonymous”) the team had been chasing all season. In order to save his son, he trusted Ana with a gun, and she used it to first kill the kidnapper then take control of the situation, ultimately leaving him alive but taking his keys and a gun in her escape.

Meanwhile, back at HQ, Mackey (Olivia Swann) was stunned when JD called a number on the kidnapper’s phone—”Phone a friend. You might be surprised who answers,” Ana said—and the phone of the Department of Defense’s Rankin (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) rang.

'NCIS: Sydney' Star Todd Lasance Breaks Down Finale Cliffhangers: 'I Threw My Script'

When will NCIS: Sydney Season 2 premiere?

NCIS: Sydney is not only changing nights for its second season, it’s also part of a couple moves for Fridays. NCIS: Sydney will be taking over the Friday, 8/7c time slot, beginning on February 7. (It was originally supposed to premiere on January 31, but it got shifted a week, with the special Inside the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards airing instead.) Meanwhile, S.W.A.T., which airs then now, will be moving to 10/9c on Fridays, with Blue Bloods ending its 14-season run on December 13. (Fire Country will remain at 9/8c.)

Who’s returning for NCIS: Sydney Season 2?

Olivia Swann (NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey), Todd Lasance (AFP Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey), Sean Sagar (NCIS Special Agent DeShawn Jackson), Tuuli Narkle (AFP Constable Evie Cooper), Mavournee Hazel (AFP Forensic Scientist Bluebird “Blue” Gleeson), and William McInnes (AFP Forensic Pathologist Dr. Roy Penrose) are all back.

What’s NCIS: Sydney Season 2 about?

Season 2 will have to address the aforementioned cliffhangers of the Season 1 finale while the team of U.S. NCIS agents and the Australian Federal Police continue to keep naval crimes in check in the most contested patch of ocean on the planet.

In the premiere, “Heart Starter,” the team will do whatever it takes to crack the case of a rogue assassin on the run during NCIS Special Agent DeShawn Jackson’s chaotic first day as boss.

Then, in the second episode, “Fire in the Hole” airing on February 14, when a young girl finds the body of a former U.S. Navy officer floating in the harbor, the team is led to an 18th-century sailing ship hosting a pirate-themed wedding, where DeShawn and Evie go undercover to investigate. Meanwhile, Mackey and JD are pulled in to prevent a potential tragedy on the harbor that could rip the U.S.-Australia alliance apart,