What’s in Store for NCIS: Sydney’s Mackey and JD When ‘Next Level’ Season 2 Returns? (Exclusive)

NCIS: Sydney’s Mackey and JD will be pushed to the limit when season 2 returns — and their dynamic is very different from season 1.

“We left off with JD’s son being kidnapped by some pretty shady characters,” Olivia Swann, who plays NCIS special agent in charge Michelle Mackey, exclusively told Us Weekly, recalling the season 1 finale, which aired in January 2024.

She reminded Us that her team — which is made up of fellow NCIS agent DeShawn Jackson (Sean Sagar) and Australian Federal Police (AFP) members Jim “JD” Dempsey (Todd Lasance) and Evie Cooper (Tuuli Narkle) — was also dealing with a “rogue agent” who was helping them but also playing them.

“It ended with a really intense interaction with JD and his son and an assassin with a gun,” Swann, 32, explained. “And Mackey staring down Colonel Richard Rankin (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) in NCIS HQ, hand over her gun.”

The actress teased that when the show resumes on Friday, February 7, viewers will see a “switch” in the team’s relationships and a better rapport between JD and Mackey.

Swann explained that during season 1 there were “two big dogs trying to compete for who’s boss” and a “rivalry” between the NCIS and the AFP leaders. That changes after Mackey successfully helps JD get his son, Jack, back during the season 1 finale.

“In [season 2] episode 1, we kind of see them having to really rely on each other and trust each other pretty instantly,” Swann said, noting that the episode will pick up after Jack is home safely, but his captors are in the wind.

She noted, “There’s a bit of vulnerability and there’s a bit of, ‘Oh, we’re kind of screwed here.’ It’s us two against the world” for Mackey and JD, who are both in hot water with their respective bosses for how they handled Jack’s kidnapping.

“We get to see them really work together, really trust each other, really become pretty solid partners, which is great,” Swann said of the agents. “But then there’s also the wonderful elements that add conflict to that and test that.”

Swann told Us that one of the things Mackey and JD bond over in the season 2 premiere is their seek “forgiveness” and ask for “permission” later approach to their ongoing case.

“He’s got a vendetta and if anyone knows about a vendetta, I feel like it’s Mackey,” the British actress said. “There’s something that she sees in JD in this episode that is very much her. He’s being a maverick. He’s kind of going against the rules. He’s doing what she would do. There’s an element of like, ‘OK, I see what you are made of.’ There’s an element of respect there.”

During the premiere, Mackey and JD will do “whatever it takes to crack the case of a rogue assassin on the run,” according to the log line. That will include skirting a few rules and a brief change in leadership.

When it comes to the remainder of season 2, Swann teased that the show is “taking everything up a notch in such a cool way.”

“We definitely see more from the characters and how they interact, but also their own individual backstories,” she shared.

Viewers will discover “how” they work as a team and what “makes them tick” as well as “what pushes them” in “really insane situations,” Swann continued.

She promised a “next level” season where the writers and actors “swing for the fences.” Swann added, “We don’t hold back and there’s a lot of risks being taken, which is just so exciting to play with and so exciting to film.”

Season 2 of NCIS: Sydney premieres on CBS Friday, February 7, at 8 p.m. ET.