Directed by Bradford May
Written by Dana Coen and Stephen Zito
After a brief summary of 'Adrift' and the opening credits, "Adrift, Part II" continues with the wedding party, including Renee (Cindy Ambuehl) at JAG headquarters. We are told that this episode begins on May 19, 2001. That's a significant fact, because this episode first aired on Septeber 25, 2001, fourteen days after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
Renee wants to call Mrs. Rabb to let her know about her son. Lt. Roberts doesn't think that's a good idea because at this point they have nothing definitive to report.
Recalling an earlier occurrence of someone being lost, Chloe (Mae Whitman) suggests to Lt. Colonel Sarah MacKenzie that she use her psychic powers to find Rabb. Mac gets a vision of an empty raft on the storm-tossed sea. She goes to a map and points to the location where she believes Rabb is.
Admiral Chegwidden relays this to Captain Ingles (Gary Graham), who is understandably skeptical. Having nothing else to go on, Ingles orders the rescue team to proceed to that location, where they find the empty raft but not Rabb, who has gotten very far from the raft.
Rabb fires a flare gun to no effect. Then he uses a radio transmitter and soon the rescue team find him and bring him aboard the helicopter and fly him back to the USS Patrick Henry. He's not out of the woods yet: the severe hypothermia is impeding his breathing. Lt. Hawkes (Sibel Ergener) is able to get Rabb breathing and talking again.
After Rabb is transferred to a naval hospital on dry land, Mac tells Renee that the JAG staff will visit him after work but he can get visitors as soon as 11:00 a.m. Renee's grateful that they're letting her visit her boyfriend first.
At the hospital, Renee's dismayed to find that Rabb doesn't remember their courtship. A doctor explains that Rabb has "retrograde amnesia": because of swelling in his head, he's forgotten the past year or so of his life, but hopefully he will remember once the swelling goes down.
Mr. Mic Brumby (Trevor Goddard) wants to reschedule his wedding to Mac to the following Saturday, since the hall is available and everything is still there. Mac thinks that's too soon. Also, Mac tells Lt. Sims (Karri Turner) to tell people that the logistics of the wedding are being worked out, nothing more.
Renee's still with Rabb when Mac, Brumby, Chegwidden, Sims and Roberts show up. Rabb asks about the wedding, has it been rescheduled? Mac replies that it is the least of their concerns, an answer that of course doesn't sit well with Brumby. A doctor comes in and tells the visitors that she needs to do some medical work on Rabb. A couple of days later, Rabb is released from the hospital.
Brumby takes all of his things out of Mac's apartment. He doesn't want to have to go back for anything if they break up. Furthermore, Brumby decides to fly back to Australia. Mac goes to Rabb's apartment to talk to him. Rabb gets a phone call from Brumby, but it's for Mac. Brumby knew she'd go to Rabb.
This makes Brumby certain that he should return to Australia. Mac races to the airport. Brumby sees her, but instead of talking to her, he just goes ahead and boards the plane. Mac calls Rabb and updates him on what's happened so far. Rabb asks her to come to him.
Mac goes back to Rabb's apartment. But Renee's there, she just got the news that her father died. Rabb and Mac's conversation about their relationship gets put off yet once more.
Tropes
- Acronym and Abbreviation Overload: Mac tells Renee something about Admiral Chegwidden, a FNAEB and BuPers. Renee admits she doesn't know what Mac's talking about, other than the part about how they're letting Renee visit Rabb first.
- Continuity Nod:
- To 'Psychic Warrior', in which ESP skeptic Mac gets a vision that helps her locate Chloe when everyone else had failed to find the missing girl.
- To 'Lifeline', in which Sims was told about her upcoming promotion. Rabb congratulates her again because last he remembers she was a lieutenant, junior grade.
- Easy Amnesia: Apparently Rabb has forgotten the last year or so of his life, which means he remembers working on a Navy recruitment commercial with Renee Peterson but doesn't remember dating Renee Peterson. Renee of course finds this very significant, she tells Roberts that Rabb "has all his Mac memories" intact and well organized. Rabb will probably be back to full health in the next episode, whereas a man in real life with a similar injury would probably have a long recovery ahead of him.
- Gray Rain of Depression: The episode ends with Mac in the rain, standing like a mannequin, not knowing quite what to do now that Brumby's gone back to Australia and Rabb will probably go with Renee to a funeral.
- Previously on…: A quick recap of Part I replaces the usual teaser before the opening credits.
- Race for Your Love: Mac for Brumby. Though unfortunately for her, this doesn't convince him that she loves him enough.
- Shout-Out to Bruce Springsteen: Rabb must come back because he and Renee have Springsteen tickets.
- Will They or Won't They?: They won't in this episode. The news of the death of Renee's father prevents Rabb and Mac from discussing their relationship.
