"The Return of Jimmy Blackhorse" is an episode of JAG that first aired on April 28, 1998. Directed by Alan J. Levi. Written by Dana Coen.
The Marines bring the coffin of Jimmy Blackhorse to a Navajo reservation, but the medicine woman (Betty Carvalho) refuses the body, saying it's not Jimmy Blackhorse in the coffin. Rabb, Mac, Roberts, Sims are dispatched to the reservation.
En route, they get Lt. Commander Coulter (Trisha Yearwood), a forensic expert, to come along. The Navajo hire Paul Begay (Gregory Cruz), a Silicon Valley attorney and himself a Navajo, to represent the People's objection to DNA testing.
Also at issue is the Navy's desire to name a new ship after a Navajo code talker. Eventually Rabb convinces Jimmy's surviving twin brother to give them a DNA sample to test against the Marine's remains. With protesters outside, Coulter begins to test the sample, but then drops it, claiming it's an accident.
When they return to the reservation, they learn that Jimmy's brother has just died. Rabb and Mac travel to New Zealand, and bring back with them Frances Roland (Florence Sundstrom) and Jimmy Blackhorse Jr. (Nick Tate). At the Navajo court (with Joshua Estrada as the judge), Rabb tells the story of Jimmy Sr.'s love affair with Frances and presents the son.
The medicine woman senses the aura of the father and confirms that he is indeed the son of Jimmy Blackhorse. Rabb explains that the father's aura was blackened by the horrors of war. The Navajo accept the father's remains and the Navy's offer to name the ship after Arsenio Price, Blackhorse's code-talking partner.
Tropes
- Cigar Chomper: Coulter, to Rabb's surprise, putting a crimp on his effort to quit cigars.
- Info Dump: It seems unlikely that Sims would not know about Navajo code talkers. But it's very likely that quite a few viewers do not know. So Roberts's explanation is mainly for the viewers' benefit.
- My Own Private "I Do": Roberts and Sims realize that the Navajo reservation is not that far away from Las Vegas, so they ask Rabb and Mac for permission to go. They're granted permission, but providence has other plans. They return to the reservation, still unmarried.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Blackhorse Sr., according to Blackhorse Jr.Rabb: Will you share with the court what your mother told you about her relationship with PFC Jimmy Blackhorse?Blackhorse Jr.: The campaign on Guadalcanal had been hard on him. He was shell-shocked. He'd lost most of his hearing. He couldn't sleep and this made him glum and weary.
- Shout-Out to Tom Jones: Roberts got the singer's autograph, the one bright spot in an ohterwise miserable trip to Vegas.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: Roberts's run-of-the-mill marriage proposal to Sims derails when he lets the ring fall out of the box.
- With All Due Respect: "With all due respect, ma'am," says the officer in charge of the coffin transport detail at the beginning of the episode, but the medicine woman cuts him off before he can get past that preface.
