Automatic for the People - 216

[The "elephant" is still in the room and Creswell's attitude has long ago become tiresome. A new character was introduced, as well as yet another new "love option" for H.] Bud (B) went to his mandated anger management meeting and was baited by another participant, Korski. When another participant, PO Mooney, tried to defend B, Korski started a fight. B stood up, but knocked his chair over. As B picked up the chair, Korski rammed the instructor, Lt Harriman, into it, breaking his jaw. Cresswell (Cr) told Turner (T) that "he didn't like loose cannons in his department", and T agreed (probably thinking it was Mac (M) and Harm (H) ). When Cr mentioned he was thinking about B, T showed surprise; so, Cr asked him who "you though I meant," but T wouldn’t answer. T was assigned to investigate Bs activities, and assumed that B was at fault. Harriman explained the incident and told T flatly that B "doesn't need to be in this class!" When T exonerated B to Cr, Cr belittled him saying "you aren't objective."(!?) Finally, Cr related to B a story of a crippled veteran that he knew, who was demoralized by being the brunt of a joke. He admitted that "I was small for my age" as a child. He then, condescendingly, told B that he would "cut him some slack" (basically because he was "crippled" on duty, not because he believed him).

M had to re-qualify on weapons so Cr turned it into a competition showing up, uninvited, to her shoot. Then, when he lost to M he expected everyone to think he was magnanimous by admitting the loss "as the first step to improvement." He told M that he "would get her next time," and she said "… like hell you will."

Lt Cathy Graves (Gr) , who said she "knew 10 ways to commit a perfect murder, was assigned to H who went to China Lake to investigate the crash of an F-14 which was assigned to a Navy contractor, Larmoss industries. Gr played a doofus (as B used to be), not above using sexuality to get what she wanted; but, also like B, unexpectedly intelligent. They found that the F-14 had crashed next to a school playground and had killed a local artist who had been painting a bridge - the father of Megan Ransford. It turned out that the jet was only a drone with "Oscar," a dummy, at the controls; yet, there was unidentified DNA at the scene. A second aircraft, previously undisclosed by Larmoss, was discovered, along with the empty apartment of the fictitious pilot who had supposedly been killed. Eventually the second F-14 was found to have been piloted by Lt. Itzhak Meier, of the Israeli air force, who was testing a top secret airborne platform for a laser weapon (Deuterium Fluoride Chemical Laser). H strong armed a $2 million (probably) settlement from Larmoss. Megan rewarded him with a lingering kiss and said "don't forget about me." Gr told H that she wanted to be at JAG, and H told her "you never know."