Showing posts with label Scott Gemmill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Gemmill. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 18, 1999

Yeah Baby - 84

[An Important episode in JAG history. Harm leaves JAG and they make the "5-year baby promise."] Harm (H) had a dream of his night carrier crash that killed his RIO. Mac (M) had a dream of kissing Brumby (Brum) in an elevator. Jordan came to cook H breakfast and saw his letter of request for change of designator and transfer, which upset her. Harriet (Ht) was grousing at Bud (B) for grimacing when she insisted on talking about "breast pumps" in the middle of JAG. H gave (C) his request. Initially C was pleasant but as H ignored his logic about "backward stepping" he became more agitated and dismissed him. Jordan came to Hs apartment to confront him and said "I've never been dumped for an airplane." She said she fell in love with a lawyer and not a fighter pilot and stormed out saying "call me when you've made up your mind." Chloe was staying with M and talked about her father and M getting married so she could have a mother again. After Jordan left H went to talk to M and she was first upset that he hadn't told her about having surgery and then said "you can't do that" about leaving JAG. After H left Brum came unannounced and M told him "it was a bad time." C talked to the SECNAV about changing Hs designator. The SECNAV said they didn't retrain people past their prime, it was career suicide and he'd "been a thorn in his side since he first heard his name." C said "well it's HIS career," and the SECNAV said he hated to help but it would get him the #$% out of Washington." C told harm that he spoke with the SECNAV, that it was the "stupidest thing he ever seen him do," and he was replacing him with Brum.

Chloe's father Kyle came to take her away to her to grandparents leaving M alone. M talked to C in the kitchen and when C asked if he could help she said "no, you're one of them." When C asked "which one" M said "both of them." Brum persistently pursued M and compared her to his mother while they were stuck in a intermittently broken elevator. B defended lance corporal Edward Carr who's Staff Sergeant, Aileen Morris, had seduced him then distanced him to keep it secret. B asked the pregnant Morris on the stand directly if she had seduced Carr and she wouldn't answer because she had gone into labor. Imes complained that he had badgered her client into labor. Morris had no one to take her to the hospital and Carr volunteered. She admitted that it was his child. Ht also went into abnormal labor and was taken to Cs office. B got himself locked in the elevator, H said he "didn't want to do it again," and Brum offered but was sent packing after admitting he'd only delivered sheep. Tiner's grandmother was a midwife so tried but fainted when he saw the baby crowning. Bs client took Ht's ambulance so amidst confusion C delivered the baby in his office. M told H that just as she put her life together "everyone always leaves and pulls it apart." H missed the reference to himself but said that "if neither of them are in a relationship 5 years from this moment we will go halves on a baby." "don't make promises you can't keep," she warned. "I haven't yet," he said and they shook on it.

Tuesday, March 30, 1999

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.

Tuesday, February 9, 1999

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.

Tuesday, December 15, 1998

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."

Tuesday, November 3, 1998

Angels 30 - 68

Harriet (Ht), pregnant, burst into tears at the drop of the hat. Chegwidden (C) found her crying about Bud (B) not having called from his assignment in 29 Palms. He explained to her that it was "HORMONES" and showed her two scars on his balding head. One from 39 stitches given him by the Viet Cong and the other where his ex-wife had knocked him unconscious 6 hours with an electric can opener in her 2nd trimester. He invited Ht to dinner with him but told her not to "make him regret it." Later, she nauseated him with a sardine Dagwood sandwich then threw out his risotto lunch when she cleaned out the fridge.

Harm (H) and Mac (M)investigated the loss of a Tomcat aboard the Coral Sea. Lt Cdr Rice (Karma) and his RIO Anne "go-go" Bender ejected after "popping up" between attacking Iraqis and his wingmen, Lt "slider" Morrison and Lt Brian "bear" Hass in the "no-fly" zone. The Iraqis had drawn them in with one aircraft then came up behind with another. The Iraqi was on sliders tail with a lock. Karma got a lock on the enemy craft but didn't fire. Instead, he "charged" the craft shearing his wing and ejected before it exploded it's fuel into a fireball. PO Moses said the plane was OK when it left. Go-Go said that Karma had acted like he didn't hear her telling him to take the shot and kept saying "what?" Karma finally admitted that he had "heard a voice" ordering him NOT to fire. The doctor said Karma was in good health then the CAG climbed on H for "saying something that made Karma resign." H and M found Karma and Slider in a fight and had to break them up. H asked M which on she wanted to take and she said "I'll take the cute single one." "Just kidding," she said. H found Karma in the chapel where he claimed that it was God who had ordered him not to fire. The radio tapes revealed Karma saying "what?" but no other voices or transmissions. They even asked Webb if there was a new "radio jamming device" that they didn't know about. H told M they needed "advice from a higher source," and M asked "C?" The chaplain said that he believed Karma was honest and heard something. "Whether it was God or not was between Karma and the Man upstairs." M retorted, "unless the Man is a Woman."

H tried to talk Karma out of resigning. Karma asked him if he thought his night blindness was for a purpose so he could help people as a lawyer. When H said he didn't believe so, Karma advised that there "may be a grand scheme that we are only privy to now and then." Upset, Karma said that the "laws of physics: gravitational force, centripetal acceleration and Bernoulli's principle, "are my ten commandments." "There is not room for God, or angels, or anything like that- I didn't talk to God, why is he talking to me?" "I don’t want to stop flying," he told H, "but I don't ever want to hear that voice in my cockpit again." H asked the CAG to let them re-fly the mission and was given 1 hour in the air with Slider as his RIO. Karma told H he got his call sign by surviving a couple of close calls. H told him that flying a combat jet was the "most dangerous job on earth. Who needs a higher power more than the men who drive them." And "even if the voice was God," H said, "he told you not to fire. He didn't tell you not to fly." They went up together and M advised H to "be home before the streetlights come on." Karma asked H, "are you ready?" "Always!" H said.

At altitude, Karma and Bear began hallucinating and went unconscious, on autopilot, from bad oxygen. They were heading toward Iraqi airspace and M suggested they just "disengage the autopilot." The CAG blew up at her for her naivety and she was sent to check the source of the bad oxygen. They found a "bad O ring" which had contaminated the oxygen. Then the CAG apologized and assigned her to get a technician from Grummand on the phone. The technician said that if the planes sensors got sent out of parameters by tilting greater than 45 degrees the autopilot would automatically disengage. H was ordered to fly his wing tip under Karma's and use Bernoulli's principle to lift it over 45 degrees. "Who's brilliant idea was this?" H asked. The dubiously designed plan was to disengage the autopilot then have Karma, who had been unconscious to the point of seizures, wake up in time to pull out of the power-dive in time to not hit the ground. (?!) It did work but Karma was told that when he had "heard the voice" he was flying on "clean" oxygen. "Then why did I hear the voice?" he asked. H said "I guess it wasn't your enemies day to die, like today wasn't yours."

Tuesday, September 29, 1998

Embassy - 63

On his way to visit with the US president, professor Dubotu- peoples poet beloved by Sudanese, was mugged. A car pulled up and chased the mugger away at gunpoint then slugged Dubotu and kidnapped him. Harm and Mac have returned from Russia and H packed up his fathers memorabilia that he kept in his office. He removed his fathers MIA bracelet that he had always worn. Webb and Chegwidden brief them on a "mission" that the SECNAV had authorized. Since the Sudanese president had been assassinated two factions were fighting for power. In the north was Ambassador Ki Moshak, new school, politically savvy and says he'll let there be US presence; in the south was, hard-liner, old school, US hating general Hyad Zulake. Dubotu hadn't taken sides but whoever he endorses would win. H had given a "joyride" to Moshak in a tomcat previously and so was invited to a ball at the embassy. W wanted he and M to tap into Moshak's computer during a 6 second power loss planned for that night. Both C and H "smelled a rat" and questioned W about what he wasn't telling them. They both got into the stairwell during the blackout. M feigned passing out drunk and being sick to draw the two guards from the security room while H entered the ambassadors office and de-focused the camera. M was going to be forcibly removed but she barged back into the embassy room forcing a more rapid initiation of "act one" the take over of the embassy where Moshak was shot in the shoulder. H still up in the office called C and told him of the take over. Then when the camera problem was discovered and repaired he disabled the guard and went to find M. H overheard Moshak talk to the leader of the "rebels," Col Shahala, and tell him not to loose nerve and be ready for "act two." H and M watched as a message from Shahala was broadcast to an external uplink and claimed that they were Gen Zulake's forces, offered to release Moshak for medical attention to which he magnanimously refused.

W who was in Cs office watching the network channels was summoned to the DOD meeting but C refused to let him leave as long as his people were messed up in Ws problem. The SECNAV came ranting with rhetoric until C stood up to him with it was he who had authorized it! Shahala and Moshak went on the air again with "act 2" where Shahala pulled his gun to shoot Moshak but they fought and was shot instead- actually killed with a look of surprise. M went to the roof and H the basement. M was captured and taken to Moshak. H found Dubotu being held in the basement and rescued him only to be lectured about shooting the guard! "Violence begets violence", he said, and "in your country you GO to war, in mine war comes to us." He refused to take a gun from H. Moshak radioed to his guard to "find Rabb" and H flippantly used the radio to say "I'll be right there." Moshak then used M as a hostage to draw H. Dubotu still refused to help. H routed the security camera of the ambassadors office into the external up-link just as the power went off in police "standard procedure." H was captured and taken to Moshak. He declined a drink but asked for a cigar. He stood by the window and flicked his lighter in Morse code "P W R." B, watching the television, recognized Hs shoulder boards and knew the code. He deduced that H was saying "turn back on the power." After obstructing for a minute C pressured him into ordering the power back on. They then saw the video from the office and W recognized a container of Ebola Virus on the desk. C then recognized that W had used his people- again. W said that Moshak had rumoredly expressed interest in chemical weapons shortly before some were stolen from a US lab. C got in his face about "better get them out of there" and W asked "or what, you'll break my nose, again?" He eventually gave the order for his people to "get in there." M told H that she was ok because Moshak "hits like a girl." When Moshak realized what H had done they hurriedly convinced him that his only recourse was to "run quickly to the Iranian embassy for refuge." He did, but took M and the Ebola with him. Dubotu convinced the guards to put their weapons down non-violently and H ran after M. Moshak laid a vial on a cart and rolled it toward H. M called "incoming" and H was able to shoot Moshak in time to catch the vial before it hit the ground. M took Moshak down and told him to "never hit a lady."

they convinced Dubotu to broadcast to his people from the podium. B absentmindedly took a pregnancy test from Harriet then realized while he was talking to C that Ht was pregnant. W told M that she had ruined the government's dress and she said "so bill me." H and M left the embassy arm in arm with H saying "We should go out together more often." M said "yea, I had a wonderful time."

Tuesday, May 12, 1998

Wedding Bell Blues - 60

A male stripper got Harm's dress white uniform from an incompetent East Indian cleaner and used it in his act gaining front page publicity of his backside, Lt Cdr stripes, aviators wings and JAG millryan- who else could it be? H was having it cleaned for participation in Bud and Harriet's wedding so needed to retrieve it. He needed to date the owners single daughter in order to get the apartment address of the Joe Garvey, who had received it, which was now occupied by a woman who tried to seduce him before revealing Joe worked at "rocket men" strip club. H finally retrieved it as it was removed one item at a time during the act. He was surprised to see Ht and her mother there putting money in men's pants for the bachelorette party. Ht eventually decided that she "needed to see Bud" and had M take her mother home.

B prosecuted his first case against seaman Robert Cruthers who was found to be 10-years UA when arrested on another charge. B selected "desertion" over his mentor Mac's objection, then turned it into a "you don't think I can do it" issue. He called many witnesses and asked only one or two questions which upset them. He eventually won the case and his brother "Mikey" said "mom would be proud." His dad "Big Bud" said "what for? Ruining some guys life who wasn't hurting anyone?" The next day in sentencing phase B realized what M had tried to tell him and asked for a "dishonorable discharge" but not other penalty. BB was loud, inappropriate, rude, controlling and abusive. B confided to H of BBs abuse when he saw Mk had a black eye. He said "I spent a lifetime trying to get away from all that - I'm worried about Mikey." H recommended he get it out in the open. BB threw a "crossing the line" bachelor party at a strip club but his credit card wasn't honored so Chegwidden had to talk to the owner, putting up collateral. B helped an ill woman law student to the restroom- she thought she might be pregnant. When H returned from retrieving his uniform, BB insulted a woman who missed a swing at him, hitting B instead. B flew into another man creating a domino effect and a bar fight. While H, B & C were getting jumped on, BB took Mk and ran. Ht arrived in time to see the police arrest everyone including B with the pregnant law student. The officer asked C if he remembered prosecuting "USN vs. Seaman Moska" then "are the handcuff's too tight… SIR?" M came to bail them all out.

Pouting, and without asking any explanations, Ht said she was "calling off" the wedding. Her mother was still raggin' on her until leaving M, the maid of honor, to "talk her down." Ht finally told her mother that "this is MY day," and she could "either enjoy it or sashay your southern belle butt back home!"

M used cosmetics to cover Mk's black eye. Then BB showed up and began provoking a fight with B. When BB threw a punch, B caught it in his fist then told him to "never hit Mk or me again." Against Bs pleas Mikey followed BB out of the apartment. B warned that he never wanted to see BB again. Mikey did come back for the ceremony, which was full military. H, as best man, led the honor guard with a saber arch to present Lt & Mrs. Bud J Roberts Jr. As Ht went by him, H swatted her bottom with the flat of his sword proclaiming "Go Navy!" M made a bee-line to H to find out who his Indian guest was, and H told her "don't ask!"

Tuesday, April 21, 1998

The Imposter - 58

Four US soldiers were killed in Algeria by Soman nerve gas, that was produced and delivered with equipment sold to them by the US through the Defense Security Division, authorized by Col Ronald Vickers, now in article 32 hearing. Clark Palmer, disguised as a deliveryman, tranquilized Harm who, along with Mac, was prosecuting Vickers. Palmer, DSD-Bradenhurst, drugged and bound H to make a disguise mask of Hs face so he could take Hs place in the hearing. M told Chegwidden that Vickers wasn't working alone and, "because he was basically an honest marine," was having a conscience and might be the "weak link" into names of the DSD involvement. Palmer called himself a "forensic artiste" and claimed H had "18 confirmed kills." He began listing them when H stopped him with "you better add your name to the list." B had a ring in a red box but bumbled and dropped it then argued with Harriet over wedding plans. C advised Ht that she should attack it like the "battle plan" of an ensign not a bride. When she asked about what would happen after the wedding, C said that she would have to transfer back to the Inspector Generals staff but that he would request she be permanently assigned to JAG- "admiral's privilege." No one could get hold of H so when a continuance of the hearing was not granted M told B to "go find H."

Palmer made a mask, loaded his fountain pen with another nerve gas, took some antidote pills then stuffed a syringe of "protection" into his sock. He rigged a bomb under Hs seat that would blow up at 8pm, or when a motion detector was triggered, so that he would be found burned to death- "despondent after interrogating Vickers so hard that he had died on the stand of 'a heart attack.'" B nearly set off the bomb banging on Hs door after not being able to find the hidden key behind a loose brick. Despite the storm, he climbed down a drainage pipe and burst in through the window JUST AS POWER WENT OFF, so bomb didn't explode. He ungagged H to find out about the bomb just as the power came back on. Palmer feigned having a reaction to antibiotics and hoarseness then took over from M at the hearing. The power fortuitously went off again so H and B were able to escape, travel to JAG and pull the fire alarm to get past a guard who wouldn't let them in. C saw Palmer spray nerve gas at Vickers so carried him to his office while H went after Palmer. After H knocked out Palmer he found C M & B resuscitating Vickers so retrieved the "antidote" from Palmer's sock. M pinched Hs face to test if he was real. "One Rabb in my life is enough," she said. C said "more than enough!" agreed.

Tuesday, February 24, 1998

Yesterday's Heroes - 52

Artemus Sullivan's grandson killed by drug running speedboat of Bronco Mendoza, son of S American politico with diplomatic immunity, so he became vigilante with two friends targeting Mendoza. H M & B investigate sinking of Mendoza's boat during drug interception by USS Bancroft when boat coincidentally exploded from old limpet mine during warning shots. Mine traced back to Jungle Larry's surplus store then to Artemus & gang who had also stolen drug money to buy a boat. Bronco kidnapped Sullivan during H & Ms interception but then rescued in a "sting." Webb belligerent refusing at 1st to have Bronco's immunity revoked. Ht flails into B over not going w/ her on the weekend then brought her parents to meet B while working. They are wealthy. Father Roland had a shotgun talk w/ B then loaned him his Jag. Mother Lydia rude & snotty & pushed Ht to H instead of B. M, in bikini, and H trade stolen money for Sullivan and capture Mendoza who's deported having lost his immunity. "Old heroes never die commander," said Sullivan, "they just become the stuff of legends."

Tuesday, November 18, 1997

Impact - 46

Something hit a marine helicopter during maneuvers causing it to crash and killing the pilot. Harm and Bud were sent to 29 Palms to investigate surprising Mac that she was left behind from a marine investigation. Chegwidden had given her an admirals gambling case to review. They found a strange piece of metal at the site just before Clark Palmer came and kicked them off the investigation claiming he was DSD. H stole a small piece and sent it for analysis. Eyewitnesses saw "a big, black, thing which absorbed light and had no engine sound. They just "felt it" and it had a crescent row of pulsating lights. B called it a UFO then, while discussing it with H, saw it go over their car and onto the Bradenhurst Corporation compound. They crashed through the gate to follow it but were intercepted by armed security. Adm Elgin bitched & threatened C over not calling off the JAG investigation. He told C that he should be worrying about his "bars." Upset, C responded that no one was going to interfere with a JAG investigation and that he hadn't met a SEAL yet that didn't like a good "bar" fight. Marine base Col Barrett delayed sending H & B home for 24hrs and said that if congress didn't like it they could come and "kiss my Marine green @#$%." B caused a diversion & H snuck inside the fence. However he was "impulse blasted" by a hovering black aircraft. Captured, he broke away from Palmer, saw the aircraft and stole a computer disk before he escaped in a jeep. He was chased through desert by Palmer who then slugged him and was threatening to shoot him. B brought Barrett and the marines over hill to surround them. As Palmer was backed down H slugged him telling the Col that "I owed him.".

C was giving "small" cases to M she asked H "why is C mad at me." H replied flippantly "the same reason we all are." Dalton Lowne's came to take her to an interview and gave M an expensive jewel necklace. The law firm offered her a job for a lot of money. She flew to New York with Lowne to be with him overnight to celebrate. M resigned on very short notice angering C. She told him that she would be arguing before the supreme court and "spreading my wings." C said that she had "ambushed" him. She was leaving without saying goodbye to H but met him on the way out the door. She asked "permission to hug" which he granted just as Lowne drove up in his convertible. She told H "It's no Tomcat."

Tuesday, October 28, 1997

Vanished - 42

A fully armed F14 disappeared in a storm in the Bermuda triangle with the pilot, Cdr. Douglas and his RIO. Chegwidden sent Harm, Mac & Bud to investigate. B ranted about the Bermuda triangle, aliens and UFO sightings through the whole episode along with the "Brain nuts" (doughnuts) he was eating with ginko biloba frosting. Aboard the Coral Sea they were experiencing severe stormy weather and electrical problems "ever since we entered the black water." They went to general quarters when a water spout was sighted. B ranted to much about it, H finally told him that the government was indeed experimenting with weather control. A top secret procedure was to have a "half dozen Sea Wolf class subs circle round and round until they created a coreolis vortex which could suck down either a ship or plane." "Are you mocking me, sir," B asked. H reviewed even the land based radar and found that the Tomcat had dropped below the storm, just at he had sent his wingman up above the storm, then flew north along the Florida coast for about 12 minutes when it flew in circles and went off the screen.

M & H had a talk about Dalton Lowne, of Lowell, Hanson, and Lowne law firm, who he had seen talking with M. She baited him with "are you jealous." He said that he just didn't like "breaking in new partners." "Dalton drives a Porsche," she said. "I fly a Tomcat," he retorted. So she exclaimed, "you are jealous." "When I was assigned to you," he said, "I thought a tattooed jarhead would be challenging me to an arm wrestle." She said, "I have a tattoo, I'm good at arm wrestling and technically they do call me a jarhead." Then H became obsessed with the fact she had a tattoo and where it was.

The F14's RIO stumbled, beat up, into a Florida campsite and collapsed. C interviewed him to find that he had passed out, awoken with a severe headache and people standing over him in bright lights, and passed out again when someone stuck him with a needle. He said that the pilot had acted strangely for a few days and had spent 2 hours trying to call his wife before their mission. C told him not to talk to any men in black suits with sunglasses. They found that the pilots wife and daughter were missing. B found the "Freedom Brethren" militia group's website bookmarked on the pilots computer and continued obsessing about UFO sightings all along the coast that night. He showed H a photo which was taken that H recognized immediately as Tomcat afterburners. B arranged a meeting with "oppenheimer and Einstein" who H had to promise a tour of the pentagon "including sub-level 2 beyond the purple water cooler" in order to get information. They traced the landing to the Percane valley where they arrived just after the Pilot had taken off to shoot down Arafat in a civilian plane; but, just in time to have a gun battle with Jack Lambert's Freedom Brethren and rescue Douglas' wife and daughter, Lee and Kim. Douglas had drugged his RIO, dropped below radar, and made it look like his RIO had punched out. The Coral Sea sent fighters to shoot down Douglas but he had already decided that he just couldn't pull the trigger on a civilian aircraft and broke off before they fired. H threw his match at Lambert as he lit up a cigar, and said "never underestimate the integrity of a naval aviator."

Friday, April 11, 1997

Cowboys and Cossacks - 34

Capt MacNamara of the USS Cayuga & Captain Grinkov of Russian warship Vasiliev have played a 10 year "macho" expensive game of "bumper cars with their ships," ramming each others ships to see who could be first into the Sydney harbor etc. Now in a war game they did the same thing trying to enter the games area and collided. Harm, Mac and Bud were assigned to "observe" the games but found they were to undergo an "officer trade" as observers. H asked MacNamara about the "damage" to his ship and was rebuffed. MacNamara arrogantly told him "you've only been on my ship 3 minutes and have ticked me off, let's hope you do the same to Grinkov." H & B met the second in command, Uri Kretchiak, who H recognized as a former forward on the Soviet Olympic hockey team. The Vasiliev was falling apart and had poor maintenance. Gas masks didn't work when H had to help rescue some men from an explosion in the missile room where they were "loading missiles"- Kretchiak claimed was a drill. Grinkov told H that he had shot down his brother- as a "joke." B got a hangover from the toasts with vodka and apologized just in case he did anything wrong. Grinkov altered course to outside the legal area and when H declared a foul wouldn't let him radio the Cayuga. H saw several sailors being clandestinely put off the boat in a raft at night. When pressed with his attempts to lie, Kretchiak admitted that they were the ones with children. Speaking of the ship, Kretchiak said "the scabbard is rusty but the blade is sharp." Grinkov, he said was at end of his career and the Vasiliev would be destroyed after this voyage. He considered Grinkov unstable and H convinced him that he had to take command. When they got weapons B asked if this would be mutiny and H said "no, they would be terrorists." They attempted to radio the Cayuga but were discovered in the attempt. Kretchiak reversed and captured H & B. They were thrown in the brig as saboteurs.

MacNamara treated M abusively when she advised him that they should abandon the Vasiliev when it went out of bounds and rejoin his own fleet. He obsessively said he was going to take down the "cheater" Grinkov. Then when she pointed out his inappropriate behavior he banned her from the bridge. MacNamara was refusing to pick up the survivors in the raft, even when M was getting more forceful, until he was shamed into relenting. The Russian men wouldn't talk about Grinkov or the ship. Finally one of the Russian exchange officers began taking a fancy to M while she was working out. Playfully, she told him "are you going to tell me about the raft and the men or am I going to have to beat it out of you?" They sparred and she was wiping the floor with him. Eventually, bruised, he told her that Grinkov was showing signs of dementia and the men mutinied. MacNamara still wouldn't listen to her to back off and went ahead with his simulated "kill" even though it was out of bounds. Then Grinkov launched two real missiles at the Cayuga which they were able to neutralize with their defensive weapons. MacNamara declared this "war" and retaliated with a missile despite Ms warnings and pleas about H & B. The Vasiliev was severely damaged and H & B were drowning in the brig. They were able to escape just at Kretchiak arrived to let them out. H again convinced him to take command, and abandon ship was ordered. H finally radioed the Cayuga and went alone to the missile room where Grinkov had armed the missiles. Grinkov told H that a sailors first duty in war was to "fight with honor, compassion and conviction. If one does that, even if he doesn't win, his death is noble." H talked him into waiting until his men were able to escape the ship because they didn't deserve to die. When H convinced Grinkov that he wasn't going to try and stop him from going down with his ship he let H go as well. "Tell MacNamara," he asked H, "that I will miss the battles. We were never friends, but we were the best of enemies." MacNamara had his ships company salute during the Vasiliev's sinking. Seeing that, M told H that she was surprised. H told her that "some people value their enemies more than friends." "Including you?" she asked. H replied, "need you ask?"

Friday, April 4, 1997

Code Blue -36

Mac met Harm during his morning jog and baited him into a competition. When a car bore down on them crossing the road H pushed M out of the way and was thrown up over the car. He was admitted for observation of lacerations and head injury by a doctor who "wanted to see him walking around in a hospital gown." When he asked where the head was the nurse handed him a urinal. The Israeli minister of west bank security, Semadar Barruch, was rushed to the same hospital for a heart transplant that he had been on the waiting list for. While M was in the cafeteria Hamas terrorists took over the hospital and herded most personnel into the cafeteria. H was in his third floor hospital room with retired Chief Walter Hume, who was in for a hip replacement, and who claimed to have "sank four U-boats during the Big One" and who wouldn't stop talking. The terrorists planted bombs on stairwell entrances, took over the operating room where the transplant was being performed, and demanded the release of Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook who the US was holding. Mustapha Ben Kessar was the groups leader and full of himself. He negotiated with special agent Lang and demanded to speak with Marzook or he would kill a patient.

H took his IV stand and went to investigate the gunshots but accosted by a pregnant woman in labor pains on the wrong floor. He put on scrubs and was mistaken for a doctor by Tamir, a terrorist who found him discovering the bomb on the door. A terrorist, Zacki, came to look for H and was shown to have a conscience. He was upset at finding a dead patient in ICU and when Mustapha ordered him to kill a hostage H saw him choose the one already dead. H found someone's cell phone in a purse and called Lang who tried to help him disarm the bomb and deliver the woman's baby. The OB wanted H to check how far dilated the woman was. When he was uncomfortable the woman said "I haven't got anything you haven't already seen." After he had checked, H said "I haven't seen that before." The replacement heart arrived on the roof and they chose M to be the one to retrieve it which now put her in the OR with Mustapha. Tamir found Hs name on his abandoned IV bag and interrogated Walter who told him that H was a SEAL and he had better not let him find him. Tamir said "I fear no man," and Walter replied, that "makes you stupid as well as annoying."

Zacki, a photography student at NYU, was in the "gang" only trying to avenge the death of his brother, RaFat who blew himself up planting a bomb in London. He found another dead patient in the ICU and H, who was watching, talked him into disarming a door. Tamir shot him in the head but H escaped. H loaded a syringe with a sedative and "took down" Tamir and got his gun. Walther helped H put Zacki on a bed with oxygen. Not being able to raise either Zacki or Tamir, Mustapha took the replacement heart case and went to Hs floor. He pushed the heart case into the middle of the corridor to bargain with H over giving up his gun. Meanwhile M suggested that they fill the OR with anesthetic gas to disable the non-English speaking guard. She took him down and called Mustapha on his phone to give him the chance to give up the heart. Mustapha went after H first, who had flooded the floor with water from the fire hose then threw in the cardioversion paddles when Mustapha stepped in it. As he was electrocuted, Mustapha's gun fired putting holes in the replacement heart.

The next scene showed M discussing how the chief Palestinian negotiator had secured the mother's written permission to harvest the heart from brain dead Zacki because he would "welcome the chance to negotiate with an Israeli with a Palestinian heart." The pregnant woman finally delivered a boy who she suggested naming Harmon Walter but the baby cried. When M suggested "Mac" the baby cooed.

Friday, February 14, 1997

Ghosts -30

Chegwidden's friend, judge Laura DeLaney, was jogging along their usual jogging trail and ran away from him and into a booby trap meant for C. He noticed a miniature Buddha statue placed nearby with a hole in it's belly that had meaning to him from his Vietnam past. C was fearful for DeLaney, especially her confirmation hearings, so called of their relationship to her annoyance. Osborne came ostensibly wanting to know about the Buddha and C said that he didn't believe in ghosts. Osborne left a bug under the chair. C asked Harm to add a codicil to Cs will for him but wouldn't say what it was about. H found the Buddha statue in the garbage can and of course began investigating with Mac. Webb was having lunch with his mother and Boris Yeltsin and agreed to give H the name of Thomas Wilson (Goliath) who was a CIA section chief in Vietnam, in country with Osborne during operation Phoenix. H offered to pick up his mothers lunch (which M advised later was $500/plate). Wilson said that Jack Holford, an "over-the-edge" CIA agent waged his own SYOPS campaign against North Vietnamese Army sympathizers. He removed internal organs from those he'd killed (which meant they would not get to heaven whole) and the maimed Buddha as a warning. Holford was MIA and presumed dead. He had a squad from SEAL team 3 assigned to him which were now all dead except for C- the last one died in car accident 2 weeks ago. H discovered that the wrecking guy had found another Buddha placed on the car after the accident.

C still rebuffing H and said that he KNEW Holford was dead. W said that they had recently found a former VN refugee who had been bilking families of MIAs by showing them some artifacts and getting money for his "contacts" to track down their relatives. The crook had been ready to bilk Holford's relatives- which would be a big embarrassment to the CIA. Osborn was a "sweeper" who cleaned up messes. DeLaney forced herself back on C and cooked him dinner at his house. When C came home she came down the stairs which had been booby trapped and was killed by a mine. Mac accepted a date with a lab technician to get information on the mine- outdated, made for the CIA. H & B checked graves registration for Holford. Finally C confided in H that, while in VN, he had found Holford over a body of a dead "symp." C was arresting him when Holford was killed with a single pistol shot through the heart just as VC attacked. When C came back Holford's body was gone. C "set up" an elaborate scheme to capture Osborne having H notice a resignation on his desk and talk with B & M in the office about the address C he was going to so Osborne could listen in on his bug. C captured Osborne and took him into the woods near his house. C threw a knife into the ground for Osborne to use in a fight and when he picked it up he heard the click of a land mine activating. Osborne thought he would be killed if he moved and confessed as C was walking away. H had retrieved W so he could hear the confession. The CIA would "take care" of Osborn with another "sweeper." H wanted to go back to watch Osborn try and defuse the "training mine" but C prevented him saying "to watch would be taking pleasure, which is what he did."

Bud was assigned to defend two midshipman, Malcolm Holmes and Danvers, for kidnapping and accidentally killing Bill, the goat mascot of Annapolis. Bud had the body of the goat exhumed and autopsied. It hadn't died of suffocation in the trunk but rather of "old age" issues. He got them off with buying a new goat and doing walking punishment.

Friday, January 24, 1997

Heroes - 26

[This is the most often referenced episode in the whole JAG ten year series! It establishes 'ground rules' and expectations for Harm and Mac's relationship.] A SEAL team had boarded a terrorist ship full of "Symtex" explosives and planted a detonator when the team was surrounded by terrorists. PO1 Mark Harridan charged into the middle firing and saved their unit. On the way out Harridan was shot by CPO Greg Connor in a corridor. Gorski retrieved Harridan's body and claimed Connor had done it on purpose. Harm (H) prosecuted and couldn't get past the idea that Connor was too good for it to be an accident. Connor requested Mac (M) as defense because he heard that "after Rabb, you are the best." H & Ms litigation became personal. H suggested M think of "ricochet" and then, when she used it, made her look foolish. He said "nothing personal" but she said she "didn't turn on and off friendship." Bud (B) , who was helping H, said it was like "watching your parents fight," and judge Harrington told them to "try taking turns" when they both talked at once in court. H & B felt Connors was hiding something and noticed that Harrington's parents weren't at the trial. B had to track them down to find that the father hadn't told the mother that there was even going to be a trial. Mr. Harrington was antagonistic to H and said that Connor and his son grew up together and were long time friends, and that his son was up for the navy cross but they didn't give that to murder victims.

Gorski testified that he saw Connor carry Harridan's body to the deck and stow it in a compartment to leave it, along with his gun, that he claimed had jammed. Gorski retrieved Harridan and the gun. Back on board he saw Connor going through Harridan's locker and taking some pills. When he tried to stop him, Connor knocked him down then went on deck and threw the pills overboard. M tried to show that Gorski had been angry at Connor for a long time, and was just trying to "get even." Connor wouldn't tell M about the pills or other aspects of the case. Chegwidden (C) kept coming into the courtroom to watch, then told H that he might have "target fixation" and be "so intent on winning" he might "crash and burn." He continued his "sniping" with M and suggested that she could "plea bargain." She said "in your dreams," and he replied, "you don't want to be in MY dreams." She told him "red light," and he backed her up, saying, "there's nothing sexual in what I said and if you think so, I should call red light on you." She told him that "loosing your first case is a right of passage." He and B went to Harridan's apartment and found his mother there. She told him that her husband demanded perfection and could turn his back on anyone." H asked "even his son?" H surreptitiously took some pills from the apartment. Mrs. Harridan, later, brought H her son's last letter, delivered two weeks after his death. In it Harrington said he "hoped my death would be courageous and will make dad proud."

When M slobbered her hamburger catsup on Hs briefcase he told her that she had the "four major food groups: starch, grease, dead animal and catsup." She suggested that he "eject from this one," and he told her that she didn't understand navy pilots. "You end up an inch shorter every time you eject, it's the last thing you want to do." He tried to hold the door open for her and was rebuffed so he just whistled Anchor's Aweigh to her annoyance. Later H told B that if "she makes one more point, Connor's will walk, and we'll never know the truth- and the truth is everything." Then M whistled the marine hymn to Hs annoyance. H recalled the weapons expert to testify about the gun jamming and M rebutted him. H wanted to re-re-rebut but Judge Harrington closed him off. Frustrated, H cocked the automatic weapon and fired it into the ceiling as everyone hit the deck. Before C could read him the riot act, B found that the pills they took from the apartment were AZT, AIDs medicine. H told C that he couldn't tell him about the case because as JAG he would be bound to make it public but that he was not. H talked to Connor's alone and told him he knew the 'secrets'. Connors finally told him the true story, that Harridan had been gay since high school. His mother knew and his father had suspected. He developed AIDs and had said that the "best thing that could happen would be for him to be killed on a mission. He was more afraid of his father than death. Connor's had been shooting a terrorist down the hall behind them when Harridan jumped into the line of fire. H didn't know whether to believe the story or not so he talked with Gorski again. Gorski fabricated that Harridan had the "hots" for Connor's wife, which H knew was a lie so, in court, he apologized for shooting the ceiling and dropped the charges. Later, Mr. Harridan was harassing H so he told him that his son "didn't die for his country, but for you. He was gay with AIDs and rather than face you he stood in the LOF. H threw his drink in Harridan's face and walked away.

M brought a "peace offering vegetarian plate" to Hs apartment where he was doing major remodeling. When he commented on how fast she ducked when he shot the gun, she told him that he knew nothing about Marine's. "Marines don't duck. We take cover, but never duck."

Wednesday, April 17, 1996

Survivors - 18

Col Matt Anderson's son Trevor was being moved away from his father by his divorced mother. The boy began calling his father by a nickname known only to him and his childhood/marine buddy, "digger." The Col wasn't able to keep a promise that he had made to "digger" and bring him back from Vietnam. The mothers attorney, on his own, got an arrest warrant for the Col who was trying to take Trevor back to their boyhood cabin in order to somehow fulfill his promise. Deputy Terrance Hodge (a bitter ex-marine) manhandled Trevor while he was arresting the Col and was "decked" by the Col. Then Hodge lied about it, forming a manhunt. Harm helped the Col escape in a helicopter twice, frustrating Hodge who then got a warrant for Hs arrest as well.

Hodge's partner had to restrain Hodge from shooting H when H threw himself between Hodge and the Col who was carrying Trevor up to the cabin. H and Meg bluff Hodge about actually having a videotape of his manhandling the col and backhanding Trevor, so he let H go and the Col surrender to H without Trevor being there and witnessing his fathers arrest. The Col and Mrs. Anderson were getting divorced only because of the Col's career - (which he doesn't have any more.) H and Mg don't believe in the psychic link between Trevor and "digger" until Trevor, in sort of a trance, turned and gave them a "diggers" thumbs up.

Sunday, March 3, 1996

The Brotherhood - 13

[A very weakly written plot, hokey and barely believable at times] Marine PFC Terrance Hansen was found beaten and in a coma on the beach during landing exercises. Dr Sanford requested an investigation of the Charlie Company of Capt Overton who has 2 times more injuries than other companies, mostly black. Sanford said that the companies investigation by Lt Teese was biased because "he reports to Overton." Overton, pouted his lips, tried to act like what he thought was a tough guy throughout the episode. Harm and Meg easily showed Teese's sloppy investigation, giving Overton what he wanted to see. H & Mg went through Hansen's locker and found photo's of people flashing gang signs. Mg said the signs looked like "hook em horns" from the University of Texas Longhorns. H descretely told her that in Europe the sign meant "You've been Cuckolded." [So Mg gave the sign to people during the whole episode… supposedly as humor?] Tyler, Hansen's brother was acting like a tough guy and eventually found to be in a gang. While H & Mg were looking over the beach, Overton had his camouflaged men surprise attack them. H was disgusted and told Overton that action had just told him that Overton was hiding something and when H found out what it was his days in the corps were over. Overton said that C company had more injuries because they trained harder- "the harder they train, the less bleeding they do." A sergeant told H that Hansen "didn't fit in" and "wasn't with the program" but there were others, and he listed three. H asked "how many are black" and was answered "all of them."

Overton tried to intimidate and obstruct H & Mg until they call him on his apparent racism. Top of his class, Hansen had asked for east or overseas billet but got stuck w/ LA & Overton refused transfer. He requested twice more but Overton turned him down. (He told H that, he didn't like quitters) H found Overton and his men digging on the beach and was told they were looking for mines. The a man asked "is this what you are looking for" and it was Crack. H conjectured to Overton that Hansen had probably been beaten by the gang when he didn't want to sell Crack in the military and that he had been acting like such a know-it-all smart ass that Hansen couldn’t come to him for help. So Overton went to Hansen's hospital bed and began screaming and threatening and ordered him to wake up, and he did. He then told them that he had grown up in LA, was in a gang, and was assigned by their leader, "stick," to join "The Proud" so he could sell drugs on the inside. But the Marines reformed him and he tried to avoid the gang but they beat him and left him on the beach w/ case of crack. Stick was going to send his brother Tyler to the morgue on "mission" avenue if he didn't sell the crack- so Overton said he would get Tyler out. Of course, he went in alone and was overpowered. Then H & Mg arrived and uncharacteristically stupid Mg was overpowered so H offered to trade their crack for Overton. Then he got the black men of C company to surround the "trade." Overton tackled Tyler during the trade and C company took them rescued everyone. Tyler agreed to go to a youth boot camp (for discipline and hard work) to get out of the gang.

Saturday, November 11, 1995

War Cries - 8

Ramon Escamilla, a 15 year old high school student, was shot and killed while trying to scale the wall of the Peruvian embassy near the embassador's quarters. Corporal Parr said he saw a muzzle flash before he shot at the boy but no weapon was found. He didn't tell anyone that he had been distracted by a girl, Tienna, who had called to him through the gate. Harm and Meg assigned to investigate and met at airport by Gunny Granger who didn't salute Mg and, when challenged, said he didn't want people to know she was an officer for security reasons. Ambassador Bartlet shown as an hysterical incompetent who tried on the phone to get someone to get the first lady to "get her out of here." At first H had to reign in Mg telling her to "try it with a little more objectivity." An old woman in black left a bomb at the embassy gate killing a marine. Ambassador told H & Mg to solve the problem or they would be in front of her at a dedication function the next day. Mg saw gunny intimidating Parr and loudly backed him down ordering him to leave Parr alone. H went to visit Ramon's mother & found Tienna, his sister, in the house as well. They had scrapbook pictures of "her son" and when Mrs. Escamilla asked if it was Parr who had killed her son, Tienna got upset and kicked them out but not before they heard that Tienna was pregnant by Parr.

Mg had Parr lift her to the wall & over and found a shell to an assassins weapon. Mg thought Granger was trigger happy and interferes w/ him several times including ordering him to "stand down" when Gunny was going to rescue Parr, who he thought had been kidnapped by the Sendero Luminoso (shining path). When they arrived at Escamilla's house they found Luminoso members there who fled. Mrs. Escamilla told them that the Luminoso came to kill Tienna who was at the church. H arrived to the church just as the Luminoso were trying to kill Parr. She told everyone that she had no where to go to be safe and H suggested sanctuary in the embassy. Hs skillful questioning got Tienna to admit that Ramon was Luminoso and the ambassador could have been the target. Pres Clinton shown telephoning the ambassador and she didn't cancel the dedication. When they left on a secret route Tienna shown trying to distract Parr in the communication room. The ambassador convoy was ambushed with missile weapons and her Kevlar vest saved her. Gunny jumped into the fray and took out most of the terrorists but with held firing on a grieving woman in a robe. When he turned away the woman shot him and Mg shot her. The woman was Mrs. Escamilla so they knew Tienna was probably as well. They notified Parr that the ambassador was on her way back to the embassy and Tienna was Luminoso. He didn't answer but when Tienna tried to con him again and pulled a gun on him, he shot her.

Mg finally accepted what a good soldier Gunny was as his coffin was being loaded onto air transport. They had finally discovered that all three "Escamilla's" were members of the same shining path cell, none of them were even related and Tienna was not pregnant - it was all a ruse.