Recap / JAGS 03 E 12 Someone To Watch Over Annie

"Someone to Watch Over Annie" is an episode of JAG that first aired on January 6, 1998. Directed by Greg Beeman. Written by Stephen Zito.

Josh Pendry (Will Rothhaar), the young son of one of Rabb's late aviation colleagues, witnesses the murder of a sailor at the Naval Air Facility in Andrews Air Force Base after sneaking into the cockpit of an F-14 in a hangar.

His mother, Annie (Daphne Ashbrook) tells Lt. Commander Rabb. At the Pendry home, Rabb witnesses a drive-by shooting that almost kills all three of them. Rabb takes Annie and Josh to his apartment. Rabb and Annie have sex.

Clayton Webb (Steven Culp) and Rabb find the murdered sailor in the trunk of a car in the pier parking lot. A mercenary, Gunter Harvak (Stephen Liska), kidnaps Josh from JAG. Admiral Chegwidden, Rabb and Major MacKenzie go aboard a foreign ship and rescue Josh.

Tropes

• Artistic License – Law, in-universe: Chegwidden uses the provincial law of the sea to justify boarding a docked ship to rescue Josh. As it turns out, that law only applies to ships that are under way.
• Human Shield: Although Gunter Harvak is large and Josh Pendry is small, the mercenary successfully uses the little boy as a human shield to protect himself from Rabb shooting him, until the boy manages to distract the man and get some distance so Rabb can get a clear shot at the bad guy.
• My Eyes Are Up Here: One of the bad guys on the pier is distracted by Mac's tight outfit, giving her an opportunity to beat him up. Mac then says she doesn't like guys staring at her breasts.
• Parental Substitute: Rabb to Josh, except Annie doesn't want Josh to follow in his father's footsteps.
• Permission to Speak Freely: Mac requests this when complaining about her assignment to supervise computer upgrades. Chegwidden denies her permission simply and flatly.
• Shout-Out:
  • To The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: Rabb and Webb talk while looking for an unfortunate sailor's car.
    Webb: Your ill-timed visit to Andrews has thrown a monkey wrench into our plans.
    Rabb: Oh, yeah? Well, maybe if you'd have brought me into the loop sooner, instead of playing The Man From UNCLE...
  • To Jerry Garcia from The Grateful Dead: According to Josh, "Jerry Garcia was the bomb."^note Garcia died two years before this episode first aired.
• Whip Pan: Used to imply passage of time in a scene near the end during which Chegwidden’s waiting for an update.