Above and Beyond

Against All Enemies, November 4, 1997

This is yet another weak and hackneyed episode. I couldn't decide whether it was a weak episode because they decided to cast Montel Williams (I'd better confess that I'm not familiar with his work. All I know is that he's got a talk show and is a celebrity. I didn't even know what he looked like!) in an episode and they had to piece together this one for him, or whether they just plain didn't have enough time to work out all the problems. Perhaps it was a case of both of the above in combination with an opaque performance from Williams which made it difficult to feel anything for Lt. Curtis Rivers. The father, Edgar Rivers, was wrongfully convicted, most likely because he was the "wrong" colour. As a result, his son is convinced that the entire world is against him because of his colour. He has a grudge against the world and he will nurture it instead of joining the human race. Unlike Harm, I felt like saying, so what?

Rivers has to be the most unheroic hero ever. The Congressional Medal of Honor is meaningless to Rivers because he has nothing but contempt for his fellow human beings. Their approval meant little to him. I almost get the feeling that life itself meant very little to him because he was afraid that he would get hurt as his father did if he came out from behind the barrier of his grudge. He saved the politician's life because that was his job and because he was damned good at his job. I somehow don't think that Edgar Rivers would have been proud of how his son had turned out, Medal of Honor or not. This is why Rivers could not keep the Medal; this is also why he could not find peace.

Who is the real hero? His Dad. There was no doubt in the son's mind. There is no doubt in mine either. The son could never measure up. His Dad had the courage and grace to face up to life, even when the odds were stacked against him. Edgar Rivers was a great human being. It was too bad the son was too afraid to try to emulate that.

Now for the little bits of business. We have the lovesick Bud, mangling Delilah at the karaoke bar. It brought an indulgent smile to my face. Next we have Mac, who may or may not be lovesick (with Dalton?!!), but who certainly does not have her attention focused on the matter at hand. This brought forth a very perplexed frown. Then finally we have Harm, who is forced by the script to not one, but two one-on-one confrontations with Rivers. Harm looked great in his casual clothes in confrontation number one, at Rivers' house. The fight, confrontation number two, was nicely staged. Both guys looked tastefully bruised. What did it prove? Darned if I know!

By Sarah Perry

Above and Beyond opened with a hostage in danger of his throat being slit. As the next shot comes on, we see a team of Navy SEALS let by a black Lieutenant. The hostage is saved but a SEAL is hit. JAG is sent in order to see if the LT is qualified for a Medal of Honor. Montel Williams played Lt. Curtis Rivers and personally, that character is very annoying. Every time he comes on the screen, I either want to turn the channel or boo him. However, I did enjoy some parts of this episode that did include Lt. Rivers.

The first part that I enjoyed was when Mac defended Harm and Rivers made a comment about Harm having to have his women protect him. When I saw this I was like "Ooo, he's in for a butt kicking from either Mac or Harm." The invite to join in on "hell week" was quite interesting. When Harm came out in his green uniform (at least I think it was a uniform) I thought that this would be very interesting. The fight was very good. Rivers gave Harm a good butt kicking and Harm returned with an even better butt kicking.

The very beginning scene with Harm, Bud, Mac and the Admiral was interesting. I liked the Admiral's final line there. "Oh, and don't let the fact that I am a former SEAL damage your case." After that, when Bud was talking to Harriet about breaking their plans then trying to act all macho in front of Harm by saying stuff that he probably had no idea what he was talking about was funny.

My favorite scene from this episode has to be the bar scene between Mac and Bud. He was totally plastered and he went up and sang. PL has a very good voice I must say. When Bud sang, I was laughing my butt off. I thought that it was very funny and I totally loved that scene.

Overall, if I had to rate this episode on a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it about a 7.5. The episode was good but there were many parts that they could of worked on.

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