NCIS: Sydney Season 3 Episode 8 Tackles the Dark Side of True Crime Culture in an Entertaining Hour

True crime may be all the rage, but sometimes it brings out the absolute worst in people.

I’ve seen many true-crime-themed episodes on television, and NCIS: Sydney Season 3 Episode 8 put a fun, albeit tragic, spin on it that made for quite an entertaining episode.

The Marsh Family deaths were gruesome, and by the end of the hour, my heart was broken for Nate, who died for no reason, and his brother, who will spend his days feeling as if he had made a different decision, maybe his brother would still be alive.

But one of the biggest highlights of this hour was seeing Mackey versus Lucinda, because that woman was obnoxious and insufferable.

It’s awful how sensational the true-crime business has become. Now, it seems like something where people get off on learning all the gory details of depravity and evil deeds.

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And people tune in to dissect new things, come up with their own theories, and take a stab at solving the crimes themselves. There has been some success in that regard.

We’ve seen positive examples of people reopening cases or solving crimes that had no leads. Most people hang onto that type of thing.

But what happened to Nate is a prime example of the worst part of True Crime Fanatics. There’s such a thin line between a desire to help and vigilantism. In this case, hundreds of people rallied around the idea that Nate killed Zoe Marsh years ago.

And Luca was so convinced of that fact that he murdered this poor kid, simply trying to enjoy himself.

The worst part about Nate’s death is that it didn’t take much for him to figure out that someone was trying to kill him, and given his horrible experience of facing malignment for something he didn’t do, he would’ve known why he was dying in those final moments.

That he was on the phone with his brother when it happened made that death all the more heartbreaking, Travis apparently spent much of his life trying to protect his brother, and he genuinely believed he was helping him when he orchestrated Nate’s escape ahead of his arrest in Sydney years ago.

Now, he’ll be grappling with the idea that if only he had trusted the process, maybe his brother would still be alive. A competent attorney and a thorough investigation would’ve verified his alibi and uncovered the truth, just as the team did.

Similarly, Luca will have to process the cold, hard truth that his affair inadvertently resulted in the murders of not only the woman he loved, but the daughter he never got to properly know.

Brandon finding out the truth about Zoe and the affair is what led to him killing his entire family and then himself. Luca thought somehow he was getting justice for his daughter by killing Nate, and instead, he murdered an innocent young man.

The guilt that the living carry with them long after their loved ones died was a pretty heavy message for this particular hour. But it did make for an interesting case. Admittedly, I didn’t know how it would play out until the very end.

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Lucinda wasn’t responsible for any of this, and surely she believes that, in addition to making loads of money from her legions of subscribers, she was doing great work—but it’s terrifying to know that her platform could rile people up enough to commit unspeakable acts.

She was so smug about everything, too. Every interaction with Mackey oozed tension, and I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to deal with her in any capacity. She was rightly humbled at the end by the tire-iron dust versus gunpowder-residue thing, but it likely won’t stop her work.

As annoying as the entire idea that they had to work with her and jump on her podcast was, it did lead to some hilarious moments, mainly with the “children” being little sh*ts with their questions and childish screen names.

Of course, they couldn’t resist poking at the JD/Mackey agenda and letting their little shipper hearts roam free. And Trigger getting in on the action was fun.

He remains such a delightful addition to this show. I love it when he’s onscreen. He’s always a wealth of information and has an easy chemistry with all the characters.

I’m still eager to learn so much more about him, since we know that there are so many layers beyond that fun-loving, easygoing demeanor.

And was anyone else totally vibing with his chemistry with Blue in that garage? She was practically giggling after watching him finish testing the tire-iron tire-changing theory. I’m not going to lie, if any of the potential pairings must come to fruition by the end of the season, it has to be them.

They have the lowest stakes and the easiest reward. I need it to happen!

Fortunately, we got a nice dose of DeShawn and Evie in this episode, and they balanced their professionalism with humor and fun. Yeah, I still need the show to give both of them something meaty again, but this worked out well enough.

I know, for a bit, it seemed like they ventured too far into obnoxious territory with Evie this season, but she felt more balanced in the way I loved during this episode. She was on fire when it came to landing some leads during the case.

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And the competitive thing she had going on with DeShawn was amusing and aligned with their usual antics without taking away from their professionalism and efficiency.

Their fun at the gun range was at its peak. DeShawn also amused me to no end, breaking down how his grandmother makes the perfect Thanksgiving turkey.

It’s too bad this episode didn’t align with he holiday. I also couldn’t help but laugh at the Australians being totally put off by everything that went into making this perfect bird, while Mackey was feeling a bit homesick, or at least hungry.

One thing about Americans: some of our holidays are more about the food and feeling than the holiday’s legitimacy or background. It doesn’t matter where on the globe we are; Thanksgiving is such a specific vibe that we’ll celebrate it however we can.

But I reached peak “Feels” when Rosie connected with Travis. We rarely get glimpses into Rosie’s grief and how he’s struggling, and it was sweet to see him connect with another character in that way outside of Blue.

It definitely got a little dusty when he agreed to go with Travis on that hike. The poor guy missed the chance to do it with his brother, but at least he’s with someone who seems to get it, and he won’t feel so alone.

Over to you, Sydney Fanatics. What did you think of this one?

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