"Nobody's Child" is an episode of JAG that first aired on March 2, 1999. Directed by Tony Wharmby. Written by Stephen Zito.
A little black girl (Aysia Polk) is found dead at the Potomac Naval Complex. She died clutching a Navy insignia. Lt. Commander Rabb is sent to make sure the investigation is thorough. He is distressed to find local law enforcement officers are too cynical and jaded to invest in the case and are just going through the motions.
Rabb asks Admiral Chegwidden to redistribute his case load so he can devote himself to identifying the victim and bringing her killer to justice. Chegwidden agrees, and Rabb flies in Lieutenant Coulter (Trisha Yearwood) to do a more thorough autopsy of the little girl.
Lt. Sims (Karri Turner) accidentally drops a folder with gruesome photos of the dead child. This upsets her so much that she chastises Rabb and even "strikes" him. Sims gives Chegwidden a letter of resignation, but the admiral tears it up and gets her to understand that although she has seen something that is very upsetting, she has overreacted to it.
Rabb brings William Randolph Hawkins (Vyto Ruginis), a registered sex offender, in for questioning, but Major MacKenzie is convinced that the convicted pedophile is not the killer.
Rabb and Coulter follow the clues to Virginia, where they discover the identity of the little girl, and learn something of the pitiful circumstances she lived in. They find her sister (also played by Aysia Polk) alive but hardly well. Rabb starts doing all he can to make sure she is taken care of, and visits her sister's grave, which now bears a name: Annie Lewis. November 5, 1993 — February 24, 1999.
This episode marks the first of four appearances of JAG producer Chas. Floyd Johnson as toxicology expert Dr. Bruce Gasden.
Tropes
- Bilingual Backfire: Rabb and Mac question Hawkins, a convicted child molester, who had violated the terms of his parole and watched school children from his car and said he listened to "Als ich bei meinen Schaffen wacht" in his car. Mac correctly translates the title of that Bach chorale from German to "As I watch over my sheep." Instead of being impressed by Hawkins's taste in music, Rabb and Mac become further convinced that he's an irredeemable pervert.
- The Cameo: Country singer Trisha Yearwood appears as coroner Lieutenant Commander Teresa Coulter.
- Continuity Nod: There are fleeting references to several prior episodes.
- Mac mentions Lt. Coulter on the Navajo reservation, referring to the events of "The Return Of Jimmy Blackhorse".
- Mac characterizes Rabb's search for his father (an arc from Season 1 only recently resolved) and the Roscoe Martin case (from "King of the Fleas" and "The Martin Baker Fan Club") as obsessions that Rabb jumps to and from.
- Cryptic Background Reference: A couple of ongoing cases are mentioned that have never been mentioned before and will never be mentioned again.Chegwidden: Well, what do you have on your plate, commander?Rabb: Well, sir, there's the four sailors charged with trespassing for staging a sit-down protest in Captain Tony's bar.Chegwidden: Is this the bar in San Diego that the bank's repossessing?Rabb: Yes, sir, and the Alvarez deposition.Chegwidden: Alvarez...Rabb: Gunner's mate in Mayport, sir, told his C.O. [commanding officer] he was moonlighting as a bouncer in a dance club. Turns out he was working in a strip joint.Chegwidden: As the bouncer?Rabb: Well, not exactly, sir.Mac: He billed himself as the Mighty Maverick. Apparently, he has a rather large... following.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Hawkins wonders if Rabb is the bad cop and Mac the good cop.Hawkins: Who's she?Rabb: Major MacKenzie.Hawkins: Why bring her in?Mac: This may come as a surprise, Mr. Hawkins. He really doesn't like you. So far, I don't have an opinion.Hawkins: You the good cop?Mac: I'm a Marine lawyer.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: When questioning a convicted child molester Rabb gets dangerously close to this.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Sims is so disturbed by the sight of Annie's crime scene photos that she audibly shrieks in horror. Then, she hauls off and punches Rabb for looking at them, knocking him off his feet, and gives him a chewing out for looking at something so morbid, especially when there's an expectant mother in the building. Later, she realizes she got carried away with her anger and goes as far as to ask for a resignation as penance, but she's forgiven because she meant no true harm to Rabb.
- Pædo Hunt: There are initially few clues as to who the killer of an unidentified African-American girl on a naval facility is. Rabb's initial hunch is to look after convicted pedophiles. It turns out that the killer wasn't a pedophile: but a pedophile was able to give valuable information that solved the identity puzzle because he had violated terms of his parole by watching children.
- Title Drop: Talking about the case with Coulter, and looking at a drawing of the little girl, Rabb says "Nobody's child."
As you were...
Dismissed.
