Each of us Angels

Each of us Angels, February 4, 2003

"We are each of us Angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing each other" - Luciano de Crescenzo

Each of Us Angels centers around the lives of four WWII nurses during the Battle of Iwo Jima. The story of these four nurses is told by an older man to a younger woman at the Arlington National Cemetery where they meet for the first time.

This show is a love story told about a nurse named Beverly (Catherine Bell) and a Lieutenant named Ron Graham (David James Elliot). Ron is brought in with his men and pronounced dead until he wakes up when Beverly goes to pull the sheet over his head. For the next few days, they talk, take walks and in one sweet scene they meet in the supply closet where Ron admits that he's falling for her.

When Harm's friend, Corporal Tanner (Chuck Carrington) dies of severe burns, Ron realizes that everyone around him that he truly cares about gets hurt. Bev assures him that she does not need him to take care of her. In a world dominated by men, she became a nurse and came out on her own to work in the battlefield. They kiss just as a kamikaze plane flies into the Goodwill.

Everyone rushes to help the injured get off the boat and Beverly goes in to turn off the oxygen tanks so the ship would not blow up. Ron tries to get to her, but the room blows up and Ron pulls Beverly out of the wreckage and gets her above. She gives him one last look before she dies.

The story returns to the older man and the younger woman. Through her tears, the younger woman realizes that the older man is Lieutenant Ron Graham. He shows her Beverly's grave. It turns out that Ron married nurse Joni (Karri Turner) and they went to Hawaii for their honeymoon. That's how viewers find out that he married Joni. You see, all through the show Joni talked about going to Hawaii. When we met Ron's granddaughter she looked like Joni which proved it.

All the actors gave their best to this show. This is the third episode that has transformed the regular characters into someone else. The first was Ghost of Christmas Past and the second was Mutiny. The chaplain (John M. Jackson) reminded me a little of Father Mulcahy on MASH. The seaman (Scott Turner) was the sweetest man. He knew his Bible just as well as Ron or the chaplain. I loved the scene where the three of them kept quoting scripture. It was a break from what was going on outside.

As for Doctor Rayburn (Patrick Laborteaux), he was a grouchy doctor who as Beverly put it was heartless. However, he showed that he was pained by the inability to help most patients just as much as the nurses. A corpsman (Michael Bellisario) was the comedian in the group. Through the pain of losing his eye, he kept up the humor and kept hitting on the nurse Zoe Mclellan played. Marianne (Isabella Hoffman) played the tough as nails head nurse.

Just as they always do at Christmas time, JAG paid homage to the nurses with a few photos and some words. My hats off to TPTB for this episode. It brought me to tears as Ron held Beverly in his arms as she died. JAG always surprises me with some of the storylines. This was no exception. Thank you, Donald Bellisario and your crew for such a bittersweet story.

Only six more episodes until the BIG SHOCKER is revealed.

Best Quotes of the Show:

"Do you realize you're sitting on the grave of a hero?"~ Ron Graham (as an old man)

"I was nearsighted in that eye anyway."~Corpsman (after losing his eye)

"Those Navy nurses were tops. Better than the doctors."~Ron Graham (as an old man)

"Keep Smiling: that's the rule."~ Ron Graham

"I'm not the only patient she has. Just the best looking."~Corporal Tanner

"I want all those needles dulled and for the love of God put the bedpans in the freezer."~Ron Graham (mocking Doctor Rayburn)

By Kasey

This was the third episode in which our cast of characters appear as...well...a different cast of characters from another time. However, unlike both "Mutiny" and "Ghosts of Christmas Past", "Each of Us Angels" did not have any link whatsoever to the current JAG group. It instead focused on Ron Graham, a Marine during WW2, and Beverly, a Navy nurse. Our link to the present was Ron (as an old man) in Arlington Cementary telling Beverly's story to a youngish woman.

"Each of Us Angels" was, in my opinion, a nice story, but not a good JAG episode. While certain sections were cute - I personally found it very amusing when Ron (played by DJE) was semper fi-ing, to use Harm's verb, and Beverly (played by CB) said "It's okay to not be a Marine sometimes"- when I tune in to see JAG, I want to see at least a little bit of Harm, Mac, Bud, Harriet, the Admiral, et. al, which this episode lacked.

Then there was, of course, what I like to call HMKw/oHMK^3 - Harm and Mac Kissing without Harm and Mac Kissing: part three. First there was Harm and Diane, then Harm Sr. and Jenny Lake, now Ron and Beverly. The doctor scene was a little cliche but cute, but the kiss wasn't as nice as several of the ones they've had. However, for the female fans...DJE for almost the entire episode in a white undershirt - swoon

Overall, not that bad of an episode, but not one I'll probably watch very often; It was a good story, and not enough attention is paid to the noncombatant women who died in America's service, but it wasn't the show I tune in to watch - it just happened to have the same cast.

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