"The Witches of Gulfport" is an episode of JAG that first aired on April 25, 2000. Directed by Tony Wharmby. Written by Dana Coen.
Some Wiccans wearing only robes are standing around a fire. The Wiccan priest instructs all attendees, male and female to disrobe. One young woman reluctantly does so. Later we find out, that the priest and all attendees are active duty enlisted Navy, and that the hesitant young woman, a petty officer has accused the priest, Chief Petty Officer Lane Merker (Todd Allen) of sexual assault.
As Commander Rabb, Lt. Colonel Sarah MacKenzie and Lt. Roberts head down to the naval base in Gulfport to investigate, then prosecute the chief, they are stymied by an evangelical civilian community derisive and hostile to the Wiccans, who in turn have closed ranks among themselves and refuse to rat out one of their own. The only recourse may be for Mac, posing as Chief Petty Officer Bonnie Johnson, an initiate to Wicca, to persuade a young seaman to finally come forward too.
The young seaman is called to the stand, but she refuses to testify. Her refusal means that now Rabb can call Mac to the stand to repeat what the seaman told her, something that would normally be inadmissible as hearsay. The judge presents the seaman with this choice and she agrees to testify. Chief Merker is found guilty.
The Wiccans feel betrayed. One of the Wiccans (Jane Lynch) chides Mac for her deception, and laments religious intolerance and the lack of privacy.
Meanwhile, back at JAG headquarters, Petty Officer Tiner (Chuck Carrington) takes delivery of an all-seeing eye pyramid that Lt. Roberts ordered for his research. Admiral Chegwidden wishes ill on a congressman and a representative from the ACLU. Both of those men inexplicably suffer minor misfortunes.
And down under, Lt. Commander Brumby (Trevor Goddard) goes undercover to investigate a gun runner ring that's stealing weapons and supplies from the Royal Australian Navy. Apparently the Australians don't have an equivalent to NCIS either.
Tropes
- Continuity Nod to the previous episode: At the end of the previous episode, Mac was at the airport about to go to Australia. In this episode, in Gulfport, Roberts asks Mac how her trip to Australia was.
- Dirty Old Monk: The local Wiccan coven's priest is a serial rapist.
- Intimate Telecommunications: Mac and Brumby have phone sex as they discuss sexual encounters while undercover.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: A Wiccan artifact that Lt. Roberts ordered gets shipped to JAG headquarters and is on Tiner's desk. However, whenever Chegwidden complains of certain people and wishes certain small misfortunes upon them, those misfortunes seem to eerily occur to them, exactly as the admiral described it. However, the admiral throws the artifact away and breaks it, the misfortunes stop. Or at least no new ill wishes can be made: Chegwidden's nose gets very itchy, as if a rash.
- The Mole: Mac infiltrates the local Wiccan coven to further investigate its priest, who is suspected of rape.
- Rape as Drama: The episode centers around rape accusations made against the leader of a Wiccan coven who is serving in the Navy.
- Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Both the seaman who relates her own rape on the stand and a female CPO in the coven loathe Mac for infiltrating their coven more than their rapist priest. The chief even says that had Mac been upfront about investigating rapes, she'd have convinced the seaman to come forward.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: Mac's story with Merker and Brumby's story with the woman gun runner are made somewhat parallel.
