Why was there no new episode of NCIS: Sydney season 3 this week? Explained
CBS skipped a new NCIS: Sydney season 3 episode this week due to Thanksgiving scheduling changes. Here’s why the show was off air and when the next episode will return.
posted by Aarushi Shubham
Wednesday 11/26/2025 at 8:27AM EST
NCIS: Sydney season 3 airs on CBS (Image via Instagram/@ncisverse)
Fans looking for a new episode of NCIS: Sydney season 3 on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, were met with reruns instead — and the reason had less to do with the show itself and more with CBS’s seasonal programming strategy.
This week, the network temporarily pre-empted the entire NCIS franchise as part of its Thanksgiving week schedule, a period traditionally reserved for specials and repeat broadcasts.
Why CBS removed NCIS: Sydney season 3 from its Tuesday lineup this week
CBS temporarily pulled NCIS: Sydney from its Tuesday lineup this week as part of a broader Thanksgiving programming shift across the network. Rather than airing new scripted episodes, CBS traditionally uses the holiday period to showcase specials and reruns, anticipating lower live viewership levels as audiences travel or gather with family. The move did not target Sydney specifically. Instead, the entire franchise was placed on a short hiatus, affecting both the flagship NCIS and the prequel NCIS: Origins as well.
In place of new episodes, CBS filled the prime-time block with repeats. It included selected high-profile installments from the current season and the recent crossover event. Importantly, the break does not reflect production issues, creative delays, or concerns about the show’s performance. NCIS: Sydney remains part of CBS’s regular slate for the 2025–2026 television season.
The network has already confirmed that NCIS: Sydney will return with a new episode next week, aligning its schedule with the rest of the franchise. The pause is a routine holiday adjustment, not a long-term shift.
When NCIS: Sydney season 3 officially returns with a new episode
NCIS: Sydney officially returns with a brand-new episode on Tuesday, December 2, 2025. The series resumes its regular 10 pm ET slot on CBS, closing out the network’s full NCIS lineup for the night. Season 3, episode 7 is titled “Gold Digger.” It marks the show’s first new installment after the Thanksgiving break.
The episode opens with a U.S. naval officer taken into custody for murder. The arrest happens as the suspect tries to destroy a mysterious treasure map. The case quickly escalates beyond a standard homicide. The investigation pulls the team into a high-stakes search tied to the legend of Yamashita’s Gold. Jurisdictional tensions complicate matters. Local and U.S. authorities clash over control of the operation. Time pressure builds. The team must avoid political missteps while chasing leads across multiple fronts.
The story blends naval crime with international intrigue. History drives the present-day danger. The case forces urgent decisions in the field. It also tests cooperation between agencies. The episode promises action-heavy sequences. Expect shifting allegiances. December 2, 2025, restarts the season’s momentum. It also sets up a run of fresh episodes before the midseason pause.
What has happened on NCIS: Sydney season 3, so far?
On NCIS: Sydney season 3, the team begins with a life-or-death rescue in the Coral Sea after two missing U.S. Navy aviators are found adrift, only to uncover a wider terrorist operation tied to their disappearance. The next case turns inward when suspicion falls on the unit’s own forensic expert, nicknamed Blue. It leads to an unauthorized search that exposes a damaging secret and affects team trust.
The tension escalates when investigators pursue a high-value American suspect accused of killing an Australian soldier. The hunt unearths allegations of a classified U.S. war crime. It forces a reckoning over evidence and accountability.
The following mission sends the team into the Outback to track a vanished Navy pilot last seen near a supposed UFO hotspot, where the strange circumstances conceal a more grounded and dangerous truth. A diplomatic murder then drives the squad into Sydney’s elite chess world after a U.S. naval attaché is found dead with a data drive hidden on his body, revealing a tightly wound espionage plot.
Most recently, the stakes turned medical when Australia faced its first Ebola case, traced to a U.S. Navy scientist, triggering quarantines, agency interference, and possible exposure within the team itself.
