How NCIS: Sydney Invited 'Crazy Amounts Of Mayhem' By Filming A Hostage Crisis Aboard A 19th-Century Ship In Sydney Harbour

The idea seemed "simple" enough. An episode of NCIS: Sydney in which DeShawn and Evie (played by Sean Sagar and Tuuli Narkle) go undercover at a pirate-themed wedding aboard the James Craig — a 19th-century sailing ship-turned-tour boat — to draw out a killer.

But showrunner and Sydney native Morgan O'Neill wanted to kick things up a notch.

"I phoned our friends at CBS and said, 'Look, I don't want to scare you, but we're going to do an episode on a tour ship on Sydney Harbour,' and they went, 'OK. So, obviously, in a studio, using green screen...?' And I said, 'No, no, no, we're actually going to get a tour ship. And we're going to do it all on the harbor for real,'" O'Neill shared with TVLine.

How did CBS brass react? "They laughed," O'Neill recalled. "And then they said, 'Wow, that sounds amazing. Do you think you can pull it off?' I said, 'I do, and I'd love the opportunity to prove that,' and they were enormously supportive. But also a little nervous, I suspect."

"Fire in the Hole" – 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, on NCIS: SYDNEY, Friday, Feb. 14 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. L-R: Michael Sheasby as Alex Hart and Tuuli Narkle as AFP Liaison Officer Constable Evie Cooper in NCIS: Sydney episode 2, season 2 streaming on Paramount+, 2025. PHOTO CREDIT: Daniel Asher Smith/Paramount+   

What drove O'Neill to give viewers the real deal is the fact that Sydney Harbour is not only the largest working harbor in the world, but — "and I say this as a Sydney-sider — one of the most beautiful places on the planet. And I can't think of any better way to show it off than to get on a 19th-century square-rigger and spend a week at sea, because everywhere you point the camera, you're looking at amazing stuff."

Beyond serving up a very pretty picture, "underneath it all, there is this incredible jeopardy that's mounting throughout the episode," as a hostage situation develops about the tour boat, O'Neill said. (Think Speed 2 meets Die Hard.) "When I talk about the ambition of Season 2, Episode 2 is a really good example of that ambition. And there are all sorts of reasons why.

For one, "It's insane to shoot an episode like that on board a real ship, in a real harbor, with the weather, with the wind, all of that," O'Neill noted. Add in a speedboat chase and one character impulsively, heroically diving off the ship into the drink below, "and there's a crazy level of mayhem that you invite into your world by doing those things for real. But what you get from it is so much more. The episode is as real as it gets, and you really feel the scale of things and all the dynamism."

"Fire in the Hole" – 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, on NCIS: SYDNEY, Friday, Feb. 14 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. L-R: Berynn Schwerdt as Armitage Waylon and Olivia Swann as NCIS Special Agent Captain Michelle Mackey in NCIS: Sydney episode 2, season 2 streaming on Paramount+, 2025. PHOTO CREDIT: Daniel Asher Smith/Paramount+   

As the NCIS: Sydney episode unfolds, the drama aboard the James Craig draws the attention of a U.S. naval destroyer that is parked in the harbor and is inclined to intervene. That, as conceived by O'Neill and observed by one of the characters, presents a real-world parallel.

"The American military is vast, and Australia's is tiny, so there's a power dynamic involved," he explained. "There are people in Australia who look at that relationship as out of kilter with what we would prefer, so this was a way to sort of tap into the relationship between our two countries. But it's also a really great example of the sort of ambition you can expect from Season 2."

Want scoop on NCIS: Sydney, or for any other TV show? Shoot an email to InsideLine@tvline.com, and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line!