Second Sight - 81

[Lots happening in this episode. Joseph MacKenzie, Mac's estranged father and Deanne, her mother, are introduced. Harm has surgery to restore his night vision.] Father Genaro, a priest in a hospice center called to notified Mac (M) that her father, Joseph MacKenzie, was in a hospice dying and wanted her to be there. Harm (H) gave her an eloquent talk about obtaining "closure." He asked "why is it that we think it's a good thing to bury things, pretend they don't matter." She got upset when he told her that much of her life, Marine Corps, alcoholism, and relationships with men, had been influenced by her father. He said unless she got closure "every time a man got close you'll push them away." She arrived just after her father went into a coma and was so upset she retched as she re-lived abusive situations as a child. She pounded on her father saying he couldn't die then attacked a soda pop machine. Genaro tried to break through Ms defenses. She said she was offended by his "wimpy-ness, naiveté, your sanctimony, your presumptions and your thinking you can walk into the middle of a family and heal all wounds." There are scars there, she said, and "what's left of my soul is covered with them." Genaro had a sappy grin and she warned him "don’t turn the other cheek, it just makes me want to smack it." Genaro argued back that he agreed he was a wimp, but he used naiveté to get what he wanted and he preferred the term "sanctified." He told her that her father "hated your boyfriends because they had your respect," then when she ran away went into a downward spiral drinking more. "Abandonment was a recurring theme of his life," he told her. Ms mother arrived, she said to see M not her ex-husband. She had abandoned the family when M was 15 and at a sleep over. Joe came home drunk, held a paring knife to her throat, drew blood and threatened to cut her into little pieces. She got on a bus until it stopped. She tried to call for a month but Joe always picked up the phone then later didn't because she was afraid M would be angry and reject her. Genaro pressured M to go in while he was dying and gave her his wallet to see. It had clippings of all Ms accomplishments that he had followed, proud that she was able to rise above his failure as a father." Her mother refused to go in with M and her father, still in a coma, squeezed her hand just as he died. Genaro quoted a Buddhist verse and said not to tell the monsignor. Her mother told M that "he got to you didn't he?" M, crying, asked to be held then remembered that it was her father who had held her, crying, as a child. She said "he was a confused, miserable drunk but made a home for me in his own pathetic way" which meant more than her mother coming back to see her. Her mother got self-depreciatory and M told her to "stop it" then knelt in front of her and said "I forgive you."

Chegwidden (C) and Bud (B) were trying to do a video-conference call to a ship. Tiner, trying to make it happen, by-passed a faulty fuse that he learned from stealing power in college. He said it wouldn't last long and it eventually blew out the power in the whole building. H nearly crashed in his Stearman during a dusk landing and decided to have an exam from another ophthalmologist. He was told that the original diagnosis was incorrect and that he had retinal scaring from a bout of toxoplasmosis which could probably be corrected. He asked C for time off to have surgery and C asked if it had career implications. H assured him the decision had nothing to do with his feelings about JAG. The surgery went well but H was anxious over the results. He told the doctor that he had destroyed a $55 million aircraft and his RIO was killed. The surgery was probably a "fools errand" if he thought he would ever be let back flying. The doc told him that "no one can fault you for trying to complete your dream." He showed that the surgery had worked by catching Harriet in a dark stairwell when she fell down the stairs.

The Adversaries - 80

Harm (H) swore in Bud (B) as Lieutenant and his father Big Bud (BB) appeared unexpectedly, in uniform. He had been ordered back to duty to stand court-martial for stealing VCRs and Televisions from the Navy while he was chief of stores on his base. An owner of Dobie Electronics, Glen Dobie, was caught with stolen electronics having altered serial numbers. He was given immunity when he offered to give them BBs name. All records had disappeared mysteriously. He asked B to defend him and laid it on thick to Chegwidden (C) about being proud of B and wanting to get closer to his kids. C allowed B to defend him and said "God help you both." Dobie said that BB had inspected machines, erroneously claiming that they were faulty. He gave the old machines to Dobie and ordered new. When the new came Dobie switched serial numbers and gave the old machines back to BB, keeping and selling the new machines with the old serial numbers. BB met Dobie in the hall and slugged him. B had to drag him off and told BB that he would defend him as a lawyer and NOT his son. He was to call him sir from now on and not son or Bud. H prosecuted and offered to accept a plea until midnight. BB had to give B a pep talk because H had said that there were no holds barred and was psyching him out. BB told B to use Hs strengths against him- let him think he is better and then "Pow." Mikey (Mk) returned from boot camp all stiff and military, looking for his dad. He said that he was switching to combat ops (radar) instead of the art program that B had spent so long getting him in to. H found 27 units that had altered serial numbers and B had doubts that his dad was innocent so he talked to Mac (M). She said that H "wasn't invincible" and that she would help him. Harriet (Ht) talked with M and said that B didn't have an aggressive bone in his whole body while B was shown ripping into Dobie on the stand calling him a parasite. H offered to drop the larceny charges for 1 year confinement. B turned it down and Mk said "is this where H pulls a rabbit out of his hat." BB forced himself to Bs wetting down party at McMurphys and drunk, started to pick a fight with H. C physically took him away and home. C told H not to underestimate B- "remember who his teachers were." H talked to a sailor who worked for BB who said that she had seen a civilian come by who BB agitatedly hustled away. He was in a "Dopey electronics" van. H got Dobie to tell him the name of the driver of the van- Jerry Kemp; but, he said that only BB knew where he was. H pressured B to help find Kemp and was chastised by M. H said "he can handle it," and M retorted "but can he handle being hurt by a friend." B did get Kemp and H treated him as a "hostile witness" leading him into testifying damning evidence against BB. On cross examination B got Kemp to believe that he was his father. He had Korsakoff's Syndrome and no short term memory. He agreed with H because "he looked honest and figured he must know." The case was dropped and H congratulated him for a "brilliant diversionary tactic." later H confronted BB with selecting B as defense so he could appeal claiming inadequate defense. "He was willing to damage his son's career to get himself off." All BB said was "are you going to tell him?"

Jordie had volunteered to be psychiatrist for Dar Lin, the abused girl. Coulter called H to check on Dar Lin and before hanging up told H to "call her sometime when he didn't want something." Ht apologized to H for hitting him when she saw photos of Dar Lin's twin. H told her that "if everyone resigned who wanted to hit me we would loose half the Navy." NCIS found a match on fingerprints for Charlie Lynch and Dar Lin identified him from photos. He was dishonorably discharged 6 months previously. Jordan and Imes teased M about her relationship with H. M said that "nothing happened" but they didn't believe her. Jordan said that sometimes she thought she and harm "would go on forever" and other times "just until you decide you want him." M told her that "I am not a threat to you Jordan."

Shakedown - 79

[Chegwidden's "adopted" son is introduced and found to have leukemia.] The USS Coral Sea was experiencing chronic severe power interruptions while in the middle of flight operations in the no-fly zone. A steam pipe failure with severe injuries brought Harm (H) and Mac (M) to investigate. A civilian contractor, Yarborrough, told them that the ship had failures for some time, including lock-outs, system crashes, and false alarms. He was described by the crew as a "smart guy who likes to remind you of it." they met another civilian contractor, John Newman, when examining the failed pipe and found acid had been applied. H had to rush M to the wash down station when her gloves began burning from the acid. H went to the bridge during a "rumble" and everyone watched him as he "armchair quarterbacked" the downing of two Iraqi MIGs. M observed to H that "you were good weren't you?" He responded that "I still am, and status current." M felt the need to pontificate at him about "never being able to go back, because you're too important to JAG." He told her it "wasn't my choice." Newman told M that the acid was a spontaneous metal dissolver (SMD) used as "liquid torch" when flames were inappropriate. M saw H watching flight tapes and walked away. He caught up with her and she said she was beginning to worry again with him trading one obsession for another: "finding your father, Roscoe, now the little girl and what's next, flying?" He told her that she was just afraid "you'll loose me." She merely responded "maybe, or that you will loose yourself."

Yarborrough spilled coffee on the XO so he could be alone with the computer to install a clandestine computer program which caused power failures. H told the captain of either Saboteur or Vandalism then asked Bud (B) to check the names including civilian contractors. The steam injured sailor told H that Newman had been in the engine room before the break. H bet dinner for a week that the guilty person was Newman. M bet it was Yarborrough because he was a "disgruntled, former-navy geek who tried to prove himself smarter than everyone else by creating problems then fixing them." But only if the dinners were restaurant not home cooked cause if they served "Harms meatless meatloaf on the ship they would have to take it off the ship in the hazardous waste." Yarborrough patched his laptop into a computer link splice in the bulkhead which produced multiple outages, alarms and failures. He and Newman went to the disbursing office when the captain shut off unnecessary power and stole over a million dollars. While they were climbing up a ladder, Newman kicked Yarborrough into the sea. When the theft was reported H & M realized that it was just a diversion. M found the patch in Yarborrough's room. When she pulled the plug all the lights and systems (magically) returned to full use and two "bingo" Tomcats were able to land. H confronted Newman (alone!) in Hazmat and a fight ensued breaking gooey material all over and starting a fire. Newman ripped off Hs mask which ticked him off so he knocked Newman out and drug him to the wash down station. H flummoxed the captain, when he asked how he had figured it out, by saying that it was because of "Harm's meatless meatloaf." M suggested that H stay aboard for a few days, and that saving a million dollars would probably be worth a ride in a Tomcat. H got his ride.

B was sworn into the bar and got his insignia. His first case was defending someone who relieved himself in public. When B complained that he was going to defend "the Urinator," H told him that he could always "pee-bargain" and M said "there were no small cases only small bladders." B found a Urologist to testify that his client had "prostatitis." Commander Coulter called H to check on Dar-lin. H said she was in foster care awaiting adoption and he checked on her two times a week. Coulter told H to "call me sometime when you don't need something." He said that he would. Lt. Sherkston (sharky) was introduced as Chegwidden's (C) "son he never had." A few years back, when he stole Cs car, C offered to not press charges if Sherkston would join the Navy. He became a seal and C became his "mentor." He was in Washington for a medical checkup at his wife, Shelly's, insistence for a "bug he had since returning from the gulf." It was found to be leukemia and Shelly had to come to C for help because Sharkey was refusing treatment. She said it was because Sharkey was afraid of being weak in front of C. Sharkey told C that he had seen the treatments NOT work on his father when he was eight. Just took away his fathers dignity and will to fight. C then turned to "tough love" by saying he would make a few calls and have him out within the hour. He held up the nurse call button and told him "just ring the bell. Be like all those whining, bawling mamma's boys who dropped out of SEAL training. Donuts and hot coffee for all pukes who wanna quit." He told Sharkey that this was the "battle of your life. If you don't have the guts to see it through then you will loose and you will die so- ring the bell." Sharkey didn't, and they both had a "hoo-yah" fest.

Nobody's Child - 78

An unknown girl was beaten to death on naval property being turned over to DC. Although not a student she stowed away on a school bus touring the base but sneaked away and was chased down by a naval Master Chief. Chegwidden (C)assigned Harm (H) and Mac (M) to see to it that the ball wasn't dropped. Agent Holland was investigating for NCIS and they found a Master Chief insignia in the girls hand. While there H seemed contemplative and saw the girl in sort of a vision. He sent M on back and he stayed with the body while the autopsy was performed. He asked C to be assigned to the case and was allowed. Eventually he brought in Doctor Coulter to perform another, more thorough, autopsy and she found that the child had died from severe abuse including being locked away and needing to eat paper to survive. No one reported a child missing and H and Coulter held a burial service and read from the bible. M could tell that H had the "same look in his eye" as when he was chasing his father and defending the "king of fleas" but H kept shutting her out. Bud (B) found records of a convicted child abuser living in the area with his brother who was a master chief. He and H tailed the man, William Hawkins, and harassed him until he told them where he had seen the child and that he had worried she was being abused but was afraid to report that he knew. H took a drawing around to the neighborhood and found a woman who would tell him where she had seen the girl if H would track down her deadbeat navy husband. The girl lived with her aunt Marjorie Lewis who had moved out with "Charlie" one week prior, in a hurry without notice. She said that the girl never spoke and didn't even say thanks when she had been given one of her husbands insignias. A social worker told H and Coulter that the girls name was Annie Lewis and her mother had died 3 years previously. She had been given to her maternal grandmother to raise, but she had died 6 months previously and Annie had been lost to the records. She said she couldn't legally give H the address but left the chart out where he could see it. They went to the abandoned house and had "feelings" that the child had been there then found the closet where she had been locked. H saw the girl, that he had seen twice in vision, and followed her to a hiding place. She was the dead girls twin sister, Dar Lin. She said that "they grabbed Annie but I got away" and Charlie had locked them in the closet. He had told them that he would stomp their head if they weren't good. H promised her he would find Charlie and make him pay. Then he was shown making the same promise to a headstone engraved with Annie's name.

C gave B the newspaper to read that he had passed the Bar exam. Ht was helping with the case and clumsily dropped the folder of photographs onto the floor. She freaked out when she saw then and chastised H for taking the case when he didn't have to and getting B involved. She slugged H then came to C the next day resigning her commission. He tried to downplay the incident but she said she "struck an officer." He said that all he had seen was her making an exaggerated gesture which by chance struck H. He tore up her resignation and muttered "I can't count the number of times I thought about hitting Rabb."

Silent Service - 77

The submarine Watertown surfaced in middle of norwegian sailboats and Chegwidden (C) sent Harm (H) and Mac (M) to investigate while they were having significant disagreements. Commander Flagler gave M XO Eustis' Palm Pilot to use while aboard. Mess Chief Basilio said that the boat was "not right," having more injuries and illnesses than he'd seen in 7 years. An entire watch got EColi dysentery, ruptured eardrum and scabies requiring sterilization of the entire mess. He said the corpsman was the "hardest working squid on the boat." Chief Hodge, corpsman, said the crew had 4 back-to-back patrols without liberty and had "shared stress." He pressed on Ms foot to "cure" her sore neck. The boat was ordered to N Korea to find an underwater missle facility so they were stuck for 14 days and had to "hot bunk" in the enlisted barracks. The enlisted thought it was funny to harass M with the trash compactor until she faced them down and promised to "haul them out the forward trunk and feed their #!@ to the crabs." H tried to settle her about the "pranks" but finally suggested they "just try to get along." He said he would be more sensitive and she less. She said if he was more sensitive she wouldn’t need to be less. A seaman was killed by a ruptureing high pressure valve which lacerated his Vena Cava. It was probably due to a tiny nick in the packing of the valve during maintenance. Flager didn't accept the XOs suggestion for burial at sea and ordered the food cooked and the ice cream eaten so they could use it for a morgue. At dinner M brought up a "cursed boat" and was shot down by Flagler. Hodge announced that seaman Bluestein had "hepatitis A" so everyone had to be tested. H deduced that someone was trying to hurt people because the crew hadn't been ashore in four patrols to contract hepatitis A. He and M thought it might be the XO due to his lack of empathy for the crew and being the only one on the watch that didn't get sick. He told H that he was the only one who was allergic to wheat and didn't eat the pancakes. Flagler was angry that they woke him up with their accusations and no back-up.

M told H that if they pursued it they would "be the most unpopular suests at the party." H said "as long as we dance together" and M retorted "and you lead." They got into another row that their anger wasn't just "a bump in the road." H said you "honestly resent me" and M said "and you have no faith in me." She suggested they talk about it and H said "this isn't a marriage" so she walked away. H asked Bud (B) to check the records of all the crew and he asked what it was like on a submarine. H told him he could find out by "throwing away all his fresh fruit and vegetables, putting lube oil in his humidifier, sleeping on a shelf in the closet and going to work before sunrise." C came on the line and asked him if he was operating with the full consent of the skipper or had done anything irregular, unlawful or ill advised. B called back that the crew were outstanding and mentioned that Hodge had received commendations two times before for outbreaks of Legionnaire's disease and serious bacterial infection- three epidemics in a row! H went to the infirmary and found an empty bottle of ipecac (emetic) so confronted Hodge with his Munchausen By Proxy syndrome. He had called M down to the infirmary but Hodge struck him in the throat causing spasm then injected him with sedation. When M came H couldn't speak. She told Hodge to accompany her to the bridge to inform the CO. H got to the computer and emailed Ms PDA that it was Hodge. Hodge put ammonia in Ms eyes but she kicked him to the ground and ran into the infirmary. She and H hid in the bulkheads but Hodge came in and tried to inject H again. He dropped the syringe when H hit him but had the advantage and slammed H around. M turned on steam jets; but, when H was downed, was choked into unconsciousness by Hodge. H stuck him in the back with the syringe to subdue him and rescue M.

H was still hoarse when they left the ship. Flager was down on himself for hand picking Hodge and M gave him encourgagement. He told her that "healthy self-criticism was useful but we should never underestimate our support." He said "you two are quite a team. Do you always work this well together?" M told him "when he lets me do the talking."

River's Run - 76

A teenager, Brian Yarrow, was shot and killed in a national forest where a SEAL team was conducting exercises. Lt Rivers received gunfire and returned fire only to find the dead boy. Chegwidden (C) sent Harm (H) and Mac (M) to investigate. FBI special agent Al Grenin, who previously and maliciously charged H for murdering a Russian mafia agent, said the FBI was tracking a federal building bombing fugitive in the area. Warren Toobin, who's bomb had killed a man, had become a local "folk hero" for the areas' separatists. They left food and supplies for him. Rivers told H & M that his team was only traversing through the forest to get to their normal exercise area and he had been shot at. When he heard that no gun was found he went UA to track who had shot and caused him to kill the boy. C gave H & M 24 hours to bring him in before filing. Having lunch in a small café, H revealed to M that he had washed dishes in the "Eagle and Key café in Julian California" during a high school summer break. Rivers found Toobin's hide-out and began tracking him. He was bit by a copperhead snake and was captured by the separatist gang. Harriet obsessed about the "dead little boy" and Bud (B) had to stop her. She was given her lieutenant JG bars by C and she said she had "completely forgot her two years were up" (yea right!). Grenin climbed on C for sending H & M into the area claiming they would "screw up his investigation."

A local red-neck thug, ex-sailor Lewis Beecham, started harassing M in the café and when H stood to back him down his gang had to be stopped by Mr. Yarrow. Yarrow said his son Brian didn't have a gun and that the "corrupt government had subverted our liberty and undermined the law of the people." He told them to leave but H put a tracking device on his truck which led them to the compound where they were holding a kangaroo "peoples" court for Rivers. M went to higher ground to try and call out on their cell phone while H went in to the compound and was allowed to "defend" Rivers. Yarrow's daughter testified that Brian had his gun in the forest and that her father had gotten it back the next day. Warren Toobin testified that Brian had brought supplies then saw soldiers coming and assumed they were after Toobin. He shot at Rivers, just to scare him, and allow time for Toobin to escape, but was shot. Toobin took the gun, gathered the casing and hid "while the soldiers went by." None of Rivers' men were there and when he tried to say so the judge gagged him. Yarrow quoted the Declaration of Independence and spouted rhetoric about his opinions of the government. H pointed out that the founding fathers said the established government shouldn't be abolished for light and trivial reasons so they gave the Constitution so that it wouldn't be. The separatists ignore the Constitution. Rivers only had returned fire, just like any of them would do. Brian had died because of the hate and suspicion his father had planted in his heart. C assigned B to see if the Forest Service was pressured to close the normal insertion area so the SEAL's would need to use the alternative near Toobin. Lewis' gang on the jury found Rivers guilty without deliberation and the judge sentenced him to be hanged just as a helicopter flew over. They put H, M & Rivers in a shed while Toobin escaped out a tunnel and the rest got their guns in a standoff. H realized that the autopsy had shown Brian was shot in the back exonerating Rivers. They surmised Grenan had done it and told Yarrow; but, he wouldn’t believe. C came into the compound and promised "someone would pay" to no avail so Rivers stood out to let Yarrow shoot him. Yarrow's daughter stopped him saying "she didn't want to loose him too." As Rivers limped out he told C that a Copperhead had bit him. C said "I hope you bit him back." [The producers felt the need for epilogue titles saying that Rivers had been exonerated and was back instructing SEALS, Grenan had been temporarily suspended and faced possible manslaughter charges, and Toobin was still at large. To my knowledge none of those plot lines were ever followed up.]

Webb of Lies - 75

Webb (W)called Harm (H) from a ship, where he was under fire; but, H was kissing Jordie so he couldn't be bothered answering. By the time H picked up the reciever, the phone went dead. The next day Chegwidden (C) was notified that Ws burned body was found on a freighter and he assigned Mac (M) and H to find out who did it. CIA agent Paul Candella broke into Hs apartment saying he was investigating Ws one minute call the night before. Bud (B) found that a Japanese scientist, Shoei Wakita, was one of the bodies found with W and he had been working on a superconductor. When Wakita found out that the Bradenhurst corporation was the one funding the research, he disappeared with the prototype. When H heard the words "Bradenhurst," he immediately went to Leavenworth to interrogate Clark Palmer, but found an imposter serving his sentence. H knew the murders on the freighter weren't performed by Palmer- they were too messy. Worried about H, M stayed with him overnight; but, she couldn't sleep so field stripped Hs pistol. M told H tearfully that "everyone around her keeps dying:" W, her ex-husband, and Dalton. H got the DUI charges against Jordie dismissed and she brought him copies of the autopsies. All three had been killed with similar weapons but W was also burned so had to be identified by dental records.

C told them that the CIA suspected a mole inside it who kept funneling information to ex-DSD agents (competing with them as "intelligence beltway bandits.") Palmer bluffed his way into CIA headquarters to obtain records on the superconductor and was nearly intercepted by Candella. H & B went to "feed Ws fish" and found that he had been a musician competed in the 1988 Olympics' modern pentathlon. Candella interrupted them and seemed surprised when H told him that Palmer wasn't in Leavenworth. Palmer was waiting in the backseat of Candella's car and they spoke, knowingly, about the superconductor. Candella said Palmer would get it when they found it. Palmer gave him a cigarette, laced with high tech poison, which killed him. H visited Ws mother who said that she and her husband, Neville, were both intelligence agents and Clayton had gone "into the family business." His mother took a call from Lt Abby Cowan, who didn't exist in military databases. M discovered that the name was an anagram for "Clayton Webb." H found W alive on the ship with the superconductor. W said that he had believed Candella was the mole so couldn't tell anyone in the CIA that he had arranged to get the scientist and the superconductor into the US. Palmer trailed H to the ship and got the drop on them. He had arranged a "trap" for Jordan at Hs apartment in order to bargain for the superconductor. W was already shot in the leg so, when they escaped from Palmer, H sent W off the ship to get help for Jordie. Palmer, however, shot H and got the drop, again, on W who he forced to retrieve the superconductor. Just as he was going to shoot W, H appeared and shot Palmer three times while chasing him onto the deck. He went back for W and when they returned found Palmers body gone. H found Jordie asleep in his apartment but Palmer had left a photo of himself taped to the back of the door.

W said that Palmers ultimate revenge would be to leave H in the "wilderness of mirrors"- a term for extreme paranoia suffered by "spooks" in the business too long. Bud was third in law class. He angered Harriet by wanting to wait for M to read his grades to him, like she always did, for luck.

War Stories - 74

Chegwidden C assigned Mac (M) and Bud (B) to defend Commander Thomas Risnicki, leader of SEAL team 8, charged with involuntary manslaughter and disobeying orders. He had delayed his assigned rescue mission for 2.5 hours due to adiabatic fog which probably would have killed the team then found the three NATO hostages hung. They were killed by an ultra radical faction of the Yugoslav army who had given NATO a day to leave the country. When the team arrived 37 minutes late the observers were dead and the SECNAV told C "you could hear NATO Commander, Major General Richard Plesac's screams all the way to the White House." C appointed Harm (H) to act as JAG during his "forced" use of vacation time. Brum asked H about defending a tuba player who struck a "flatulent note" as the president sat down, and Harriet (Ht) asked about naming their son. When H suggested naming after naval hero's they all commented that H seemed "different," "older," and "getting taller." With Plesac on the stand M brought out his previous reprimand for "ignoring intel, being ambushed, and the 14 men who died were not worth another bar on his shoulder." Plesac shouted at M then went to the SECNAV who demanded to see H. M said she was going to call Plesac again because he had a "history of loosing men under fire" and wanted to "contrast his apparent disregard for lives with Risnicki's concern." When H disagreed with Ms need to "shift blame" onto Plesac in order to win the case, M told him that when he "got power he became as political as the SECNAV."

Unable to find anything to do, C kept calling H and told him to "call or stop by anytime." He finally drove to JAG headquarters only to find Fran Glass producing a movie, "Field of Gold" starring Dan Lander, being shot in front. After dressing down an actor, thinking he was a disgraceful soldier, Glass convinced him to work as "technical advisor" for the show. When H came that night to talk he found C with the co-star as a date. H said that M had not taken his advice and C reminded him of all the times he had ignored the advice C had given. C said that he had to "decide what was best for the case: defending your authority or the choices of the people who define it." Then advised that H "get a handkerchief." The SECNAV ranted and raved in Hs face about maligning Plesac and said that "if M called him again he would make him personally responsible for the fall out." H told M that it would be her call. Risnicki found that B hadn't taken the bar and threatened to dismiss him. H told Risnicki that his "best shot was to use his strongest ally" so he didn't fire him. B found that the bodies were already cold and stiff so that they must have been killed at least a day before. Risnicki's delay had kept them from falling into a trap. He was found Not Guilty of manslaughter but guilty of disobeying an order. Risnicki apologized to B; and, when told he didn't need to advised B to "accept any and all acts of contrition because you don't often see it." C was fired from the movie because he dressed down the director for rudeness. When he returned he had become used to all the snacks on the set so told Ht to see that JAG got some. They asked if they could name their baby after C and he said he was honored. They all were happy until C revealed that he expected them to name him "Albert Jethro Roberts."

Dungaree Justice - 73

[A follow-up to the episode where Mac confessed to killing her estranged ex-con husband] Mattoni prosecuted Mac (M) for "lying" in the court-martial of her and her ex-CO, John Farrow, over the death of Christopher Ragle her estranged, (but not divorced) ex-con, husband. Harm (H) defended her arguing that it wasn't to avoid punishment or germane to the case because they were wrongly charged so it didn't rise to the level of perjury. Adm Morris agreed and sent her to Captains mast before Chegwidden (C) who wasn't very happy. He chewed her out for not only lying but for not trusting him and making him think she had murdered her husband. He said he was withdrawing his recommendation for her early promotion to Lt Col. and would dismiss her from JAG if she ever lied again.

Mikey (Mk) had been coerced into joining the navy by his father and came to Bud (B) to ask him to get him out of it. Tiner helped B find possible excuses behind Cs back. C told them that he hadn't "seen someone look so guilty since his last visit to the white house." B couldn't find a "loophole" and advised that he would have to "suck it up." Mk said B was just like dad and hope he "did a better job raising his son than dad on us." Later he came back and apologized saying he was a great brother and the baby was lucky to have him as a father. B took him to the navy art gallery at Annapolis and said that after boot camp he would try and help him get into the navy combat art program.

The owner of a bar, Peter Reardon, was beat up by 3 sailors who said they were doing it for "the Hawk." Reardon identified PO3 Wade Colbert, (actual beater), seaman Hendrix and seaman Olin. M and H investigated and found that the three denied knowing anything about either the beating or "the Hawk." They asked questions of the ships captain about non-cooperation in what they were calling "unit cohesiveness." He got angry at them but while on the bridge they overheard a radio transmission referencing "the Hawk," PO Lopez, a female gunner. She claimed not to know anything either, and denied being in the bar that night. They recommended referral to an article 32 hearing and were assigned to prosecute while Brumby (Brum) defended. C told them to identify, up to the top, if there was a culture aboard the ship that condones dungaree justice. They found that Lopez had missed role call two weeks previously after getting drunk with her three buddies at Reardon's bar. While she was in the restroom the three left in bar, drunk, and when they didn't return Reardon gave her coffee then helped her to her car to sleep it off when she couldn't find her keys. M and H interrogated her about her lying by omission and, after H left, she told M that she was just trying to "fit in" by not complaining. M told her that she could recognize the signs of someone who is trying to forget a drunken indiscretion. On the stand H got her to admit that she had passed out in the car then awoke finding she had been raped and drove home after finding her keys on the floor of the car. She had missed muster then told Colbert about it. H went to Reardon with accusations but he (luckily?) had been wounded in Vietnam and was impotent so couldn't have done it. Brum let H talk to the three and advised them they had beaten the wrong man.

Hendrix and Olin got civilian lawyers and turned evidence against Colbert for immunity against prosecution. On the stand Hendrix said that they had taken Lopez' keys for "survival training" and that it was Colbert who had the idea to beat Reardon up and actually did it. H got Olin to say that Colbert had taken her keys but had given them to him. H charged that it was he who had gone back and raped Lopez but the keys fell out of his pocket onto the floor. H told him that he had immunity from the assault charges not rape. He denied it on the stand but when Lopez asked him "why did you do it?" in the hall he told her that "military wasn't a woman's game." He said he "didn't join up to have some girl calling my gunnery," in front of M and H. At episodes end H saw C watching a ZNN report about the kidnapping of 3 NATO observers in Kosovo. There was a 24 hour deadline for NATO withdrawal. C said almost all at the Pentagon "were looking pretty grim;" and when H asked who wasn't looking grim, replied "some of my old friends."

Jaggle Bells - 72

[Chloe and Jordan Parkers introduction] Bud (B) and Harriet (Ht) were handing out mounds of Christmas gifts at children's hospital. B said he knew how lonely it could get from when he had a candy cane stuck up his nose. Harm (H) was acting department head while Chegwidden (C) went to Italy to see his daughter Francesca and let everyone secure early because of the blizzard. The airport was closed so C returned to an empty office and was upset. Chloe arrived at JAG saying she was "looking for her mother," M (M), and other lies. She proceeded to act rude, offensive and embarrass M by telling C that she "though he would have more hair and why didn't he ask M out?" She had said that her father Kyle Anderson had died on May 17th, 1987- the day she was born. Her mother had died four years ago with cancer and she told M that she had run away from her stepfather because he didn't want her and was abusive. M braced her up with "just because your life had been hard doesn't give you the right to lie or be rude." She asked, if they took her away from her stepfather, could she live with M. When M was calling child welfare to report the abuse, Chloe recanted and said that her bruise was from "his girlfriend" when "she lost it" over Chloe cutting and dying her hair when she was "passed out drunk." She ran into the elevator and hid above the trap door. B realized the date she gave as the date the USS Stark was attacked and found Chloe's father still alive on the USS Cayuga. They put through a $4,000 video call to her father to get her to come down. He hadn't known she was born and had just lost his wife and son in a car accident. Chloe went, temporarily, back to her stepfathers after a "girlfriend to marine" talk. M apologized to C for what Chloe had said and C told her that "there are two sides to duty- doing things we don't want to do- and, resisting the temptation to do things we want to do."

H couldn't find anyone to do anything with over the holidays so took the "next case up" which was Lt Cdr Jordan Parker, a psychiatrist who had skidded off the road and was arrested for DUI. She claimed she was ill with a cold and had only had one eggnog. H tried to get her to accept substance abuse counseling and she told him to analyze himself in a mirror. She deduced that he must have been named after a relative (or family pet), family history of naval service, live up to past expectations, having "baggage" from going to JAG from "gold wings," painfully "obvious" singleness, few and far between relationships from being "too busy or too picky" and that a relationship with a single mother would be "appealing to someone of your age who's afraid he's running out of time." H just left but returned, later, with Chinese food. He confessed that she had pretty much pegged him and said that he normally spends Xmas eve at the Vietnam Memorial Wall. He said that he had found his father, buried, in Russia. He now had closure, but found a void he didn't know he had. He discovered just how much of "who he was, had been formed by his search for his father." That he always before had a goal, but now "wasn't driving the bus anymore" and instead was "sitting in the back with no idea where it's going." Parker told him that "most people spend their whole life riding the bus instead of driving." H found alcohol in the cough syrup she took before the breathalyzer which would have thrown it off and got her released on her own recognizance.

B and Ht acted the doofus again dressing up in Santa costumes and having arguments over robot toys. C told B to find him a "ride to Milan tonight." C left a message on Francesca's answering machine that "this was the first time he was looking forward to Christmas in a long time." After playing with toys the whole episode, he "almost forgot" to tell C that he had found him a seat on a military transport plane."