Following NCIS: Sydney Putting DeShawn And Evie Through The Wringer, The Actors Told Us How They’d Like To See These Events Affect Their Characters

Warning: SPOILERS for the NCIS: Sydney episode “Hell Weak” are ahead!

If you’re looking for comedic relief in NCIS: Sydney as it airs on the 2025 TV schedule, Sean Sagar’s DeShawn Jackson and Tuuli Narkle’s Evie Cooper are great sources for it. While the two obviously take their jobs quite seriously, viewers can count on them frequently throwing wisecracks at each other and finding light moments in the midst of dealing with so much darkness. However, tonight’s episode, “Hell Weak,” saw these characters being thrust into arguably their most dangerous predicament in Sydney’s run so far. With DeShawn and Evie having been through the emotional wringer, Sagar and Narkle opened up to CinemaBlend about how they’d like to see these events affect their characters going forward.

Sean Sagar Wants To Revisit DeShawn’s Past With The Navy SEALs

“Hell Weak,” which you can also stream with a Paramount+ subscription, followed the investigation into a death of a former Navy SEAL named Peter Levinson at a wellness retreat run by Finn McCay, one of his old cohorts. Though Levinson, was initially thought to have hung himself, it was soon discovered that he was actually murdered. Furthermore, his death was tied to a SEAL candidate who died four years earlier at Coronado Beach, California while going through Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S).

It’s through this case we learned that DeShawn also went through BUD/S way back when, but he quit on the last day of Hell Week. However, the specific reason why he dropped out wasn’t shared, but Sean Sagar expects that this plot point will be revisited at some point, telling me:

I definitely think we’re going to. I think that’s something that, in terms of the story and characters, Evie’s not gonna let slide. It might slip through a bit, but I have a feeling that Evie’s one of them people that never forgets, and especially with something so vulnerable and close to DeSean, I think a moment will come out eventually. I think right now, obviously in terms of the show, it’s the task in hand that’s the most important, and I think that’s gonna develop, and come out eventually.

Evie tried to get DeShawn to open up about his time training to be a Navy SEAL, but this was one chapter of his life he didn’t feel like talking about. He ended up serving two tours in Afghanistan as a Marine, and it was also mentioned that he had trouble adjusting when he came back home from duty. Overall, Sean Sagar just welcomes any opportunity that comes along to flesh out not just Sean, but the rest of the main cast. He continued:

I wanna dive into what the audience can relate to. Every time we follow a journey of a character in any film or TV series, we relate to ourselves or we’re interested in what they’ve been through. And I just feel like now they’ve opened this can for us to understand who we are more as characters. I’m just excited for whatever the right team, Morgan [O’Neill] himself, comes up with with DeShawn, because I know it’s gonna be something that’s gonna be close to home. So I’m excited for whatever they bring at me.

Now this alone would have been enough for “Hell Weak” to rank as one of the most important NCIS: Sydney episodes for DeShawn Jackson. However, the events of this investigation led to DeShawn and Evie being literally hunted down by Axeman and Scalpel, the men who also served alongside Levinson and McCay. They killed Levinson when they discovered he’d been talking with a reporter about how the aforementioned Navy SEAL candidate, Victor Austin, died, as Axeman and Scalpel had been supplying him and other recruits with steroids.

Tuuli Narkle Shared Her Thoughts On Evie Shooting Someone For The First Time

As Evie and DeShawn were on the run from the murderers, with just two 45s with seven rounds each to put up a fight, the former shared with the latter that although she’s a good shot, she’s never actually shot a person. That finally changed when DeShawn got into a brutal brawl with Axeman, although instead of going for the kill shot, Evie instead shot her partner’s assailant in the head. When I asked how this will affect Evie going forward, specifically if it will be something that weights on her, Narkle answered:

Yeah, I had a lot of discussions with our wonderful NCIS team here and the AFP about how that can change you sort of psychologically. It is something that’s a big deal, I think the first time that you’re required to do that as part of your job. I think it will possibly come up again because of the gravity of that for you, for sure.

Because NCIS: Sydney Season 2 consists of just 10 episodes, two more than Season 1, there’s not nearly as much time to do character work compared to the other NCIS shows. That said, I do hope that these integral moments from both past and present for DeShawn and Evie are followed up on down the line. It’d be be great if one or both of these pilot points are revisited before Season 2 is over, but if not, I’m fine with waiting until Sydney Season 3 comes out.

What we can look forward to for the rest of NCIS: Sydney Season 2 includes learning about Bluebird’s past following her revelation last week that she doesn’t know her birthday, as well as learning who the villain is behind what’s been going on with Colonel Rankin. Make sure you’re catching new episodes Fridays at 8 pm ET on CBS or streaming on Paramount+ afterwards.

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