Directed by Terrence O'Hara
Written by Stephen Zito
In this episode of JAG, which starts off on June 5, 2001, Mac is still reeling from Mic dumping her for good and going back to Australia. Harm has just recovered from his ordeal in the middle of the ocean and is anxious to resume his duties. When Major Holmes (David Lee Smith), a marine JAG officer aboard the amphibious ship USS Guadalcanal is reported to have gone overboard and presumed missing, Mac takes the chance to get out of Washington and clear her head. Gunny Galindez (Randy Vasquez) goes with her. Onboard the ship, Mac suspects murder or suicide, and looks into all the people the major had brought up on charges. However, an examination of his hard drive reveals a lot of correspondence with Susan Evans (Maeve Quinlan), an USO administrator — and a woman who isn't the major's wife. This takes the inquiry in an unexpected direction.
Back at JAG HQ a replacement has been found for Brumby — and he is ex-submariner and Harm's academy classmate Commander Sturgis Turner (Scott Lawrence). The two end up on opposite sides of a case involving an enlisted airman, Seaman Tyree (Russell Sams) who without permission, taxied a trainer aircraft, went too fast, momentarily caused the plane to lift off then landed it hard, causing a damaged undercarriage. Although, Sturgis has an airtight case as prosecutor, Harm may have one trick left up his sleeve.
Also, Lt. Roberts prosecutes Master Chief Edwards (Michael Garvey) for swearing in front of children, including a Freedom Scout (Scotty Cox). The boy writes down a list of forty "bad" words, many of which Roberts doesn't even know (though he might have known to look them up on Urban Dictionary, a website that did exist back then). The list is damning enough that Edwards's defense lawyer, Lt. Singer (Nanci Chambers), agrees to a deal and then even suggests a deal: two hundred hours community service with the Freedom Scouts at Norfolk. If Edwards says even just one swear word, he'll go straight to the brig.
Tropes
- Continuity Snarl: During his safety board review, the inspector asks if he has it in him to "punch-out a second time." The premise of the show is that Rabb punched-out when he had a bad night landing.
- Didn't Think This Through: Did Major Holmes really expect that he could get away with desertion — by shacking up with a woman who still uses her credit card and enjoys other creature comforts Americans take for granted — and not expect the Marine Corps to pursue them?
- Faking the Dead: Holmes pretends to be dead so that his wife and kid back in the United States can get his serviceman's life insurance benefits.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: The young boy is so reluctant to utter the swear words Edwards said that he would rather than write them down. But soon after he writes the list, he says that Edwards cusses great and no one gave a damn.
- Love Makes You Stupid: Major Holmes deserted his country, the Marine Corps and his wife and child — because he was so much in lu-u-u-ve with a USO admin, and just wanted to somehow be with her always.
- Off on a Technicality / Truth in Television : Harm bypassing a guilty verdict to plead his case to COMAIRLANT to assume convening authority and undo the verdict. This is a real quirk in the UCMJ, where a flag officer can completely undo a court martial verdict or even stop proceedings and essentially "pardon" the accused, if he thinks that doing so serves a greater interest to the service than a guilty verdict. In recent years, this particular power of the convening authority has become controversial.
- Scout-Out: The Freedom Scouts are essentially Boy Scouts with different uniforms.
- Up Through the Ranks: Harm convinces an admiral to sponsor his enlisted client for a NROTC scholarship so he can earn a commission and become an aviator.
