The new international spinoff of NCIS, titled NCIS: Sydney, premiered recently and it includes several nods to the original series. Showrunner Morgan O'Neill revealed that the template for the show was established in the original NCIS, with its plucky and scrappy outsider characters. The premiere episode also references the CSI series and Gibbs' rule 18. O'Neill teased that there will be a backstory explaining how NCIS agent Mackey came to be part of the organization, and there may be a connection to Jethro Gibbs. The case introduced in the premiere will continue throughout the season, with unanswered questions being resolved in the finale. Additionally, there will be cases throughout the season that may not initially seem connected to the main storyline, but will ultimately come together in the finale.