"Imposter" is an episode of JAG that first aired on April 21, 1998. Directed by Alan J. Levi. Written by R. Scott Gemmill.
Lt. Colonel Vickers (Sam Hennings) is on trial for selling biological weapons to the Algerians. Civilian attorney James Gribaldi (Stephen Macht) defends, Rabb and Mac prosecute.
Clark Palmer (Peter Murnik) shows up at Rabb's apartment disguised as a delivery guy. Once in, he stuns Rabb with a nonlethal weapon and proceeds to mold a mask on his face. He puts on the mask and one of Rabb's uniforms, and leaves Rabb tied to a chair with a bomb and a motion sensor: the bomb is set to detonate in eight hours or when there is movement in the place (whichever happens first).
Meanwhile, Mac is denied a continuance but nevertheless goes on to establish that Vickers gave the Algerians supplies for insecticides and herbicides with full knowledge that those supplies could be used as weapons against humans, and that Vickers allowed this thinking that no Americans would be injured by those weapons (which however, did happen).
Exasperated by Rabb's absence, Mac dispatches Roberts to Rabb's apartment, and by a lucky coincidence breaks in through the window at the precise moment of a brief power outage. At the next power outage, Roberts unplugs the motion sensor and unties Rabb.
Palmer as Rabb shows up to the courtroom and begins questioning Vickers even though Mac has already asked all the questions the prosecution meant to ask. The real Rabb pulls a fire alarm, forcing Palmer as Rabb to spray a biological agent on Vickers sooner than he intended.
In the hallway, Rabb fights his impostor, unmasks him and orders the Marine guards to take him away. But when he sees Chegwidden applying first aid to Vickers, he belays his order and removes the antidote Palmer had in his leg holster, and then applies it to Vickers. Mac is relieved to see the real Rabb and declares one Rabb in her life is quite enough.
Tropes
- Bluff the Impostor: Chegwidden asks Palmer as Rabb about a presumably made-up case.
- Bride Zilla: Sims, harassing Roberts about the wedding invitations. She blames her mother.
- Commercial Break Cliffhanger: When Roberts bursts in through the window of Rabb's apartment, the tied up Rabb fears that Roberts's entry will set off the bomb. But after the commercial break, we see that there's a power outage and the two of them are okay for the time being.
- Continuity Nod to "Impact": As Palmer is a recurring character from that episode, Palmer and Rabb mention a few scattered details about the events of that episode.
- Incredibly Obvious Bomb: So that Rabb and Roberts can easily tell whether the bomb is active or inactive.
- Latex Perfection: Palmer shows up at Rabb's apartment disguised as a USPS deliveryman with a rubber mask, and later creates a mask of Rabb's face which he wears to assassinate Vickers - leading to Rabb's quip (below) about Mission: Impossible.
- Shout-Out:
- To chess.Rabb: So you're gonna kill Colonel Vickers to keep him quiet, huh?Palmer: You're not understanding the intricacies of global politics. The new world order's exactly like a giant chess game. And sometimes you've gotta sacrifice a pawn in order to save your king.
- To Mission: Impossible: Rabb says Palmer's been watching too many Mission: Impossible reruns.
- To chess.
- Whip Pan: When we first see Palmer putting on one of Rabb's uniforms, and also towards the end for Rabb's frantic running around.
