"The Black Jet" is an episode of JAG that first aired on November 24, 1998. Directed by Jeannot Szwarc. Written by David Zabel.
Lt. Commander Jack Keeter (Michael McGrady), an old friend of Rabb's, goes down in an F-117 flying over Iran. Of course the Iranians charge Keeter with espionage.
Admiral Chegwidden initially plans to send Lt. Commander Brumby (Trevor Goddard) to Iran. But both Brumby and Lt. Commander Rabb try to convince the admiral to send Rabb instead. So the admiral sends Rabb and Major MacKenzie to Iran to defend Keeter.
Agent Webb (Steven Culp) tasks Rabb with retrieving the F-117, and after Lt. Roberts convinces him, also with breaking Keeter out of jail. Rabb, Mac, Keeter arrive at the F-117 site, to find the plane has been claimed by the Bedouin.
Tropes
- Bedouin Rescue Service: Mac convinces the Bedouin leader that she'll stay behind as collateral for Rabb to leave with the plane.
- Bilingual Bonus: Mac explains how she always knows the exact time without looking at a timepiece by saying something in what is presumably Farsi. Rabb asks her to repeat it in English, but she refuses, because "it would lose something in the translation."
- Coming in Hot: Rabb apparently suffers flight control systems failures while flaring to land on the carrier. Then the scene cuts to Rabb in a simulator. Rabb had successfully landed the F-117 with no problems earlier, but was trying to see if he could still land the plane with failed avionics in a simulated environment. Turns out he can't.
- Continuity Nod:
- To "Going After Francesca", in which Chegwidden went to rescue his daughter in Italy. Rabb mentions this to convince the admiral to allow him to participate in Keeter's rescue in Iran.
- To "Smoked", the last time we saw Jack Keeter, who got himself into similar trouble on a CIA mission to Cuba for which - just like this one - Agent Webb was pulling the strings.
- Cool Plane: An F-117 stealth fighter that is capable of landing on a carrier.
- Double Agent: Sina Kazzari (Eddy Saad), an Iranian-born CIA agent with U. S. citizenship.
- Great Escape: Keeter, out of an Iranian prison.
- Gunship Rescue: F-18s give Rabb cover as he takes off in the recovered F-117.
- Kangaroo Court: Of course Keeter won't get a fair shake in an Iranian court. The judges allow witnesses to change their testimony to be damning to Keeter and pretend that they have in fact not changed their testimony, without concern for perjury.
- Running Gag: Two Iranian men tell Mac her American accent when speaking Farsi is very slight.
