The Court Martial of Sandra Gilbert, September 30, 1997

By Shirley

I felt really uncomfortable with this episode. And I also felt that TPTB missed a step and deviated from their past code of ethics with this script. There was no sense that it was wrong for Lt. Gilbert to have an affair with a married man. In Pilot Error, both Meg and Tess stated that neither of them would consider sleeping with someone who was married; not only that, both stated that neither would Harm or Luke "... that's not who we are ...". We did not get this kind of declaration in this episode. The focus was solely on Gilbert's violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and because she was Harm's client, and he was sympathetic to her since he believed her story that she was the victim of unfounded accusations, it skewed our (the viewer's) point of reference. I do not for one single moment believe that Harm would even consider having an affair with a married woman, and I feel that this needed to be reiterated in some way, given the story line. It wasn't, and suffered as a result.

I enjoyed the repartee between Harm and Bobbi. That scene with the two of them in the officer's club was out of this world - the sax in the background, and Bobbi saying to Harm "Women like you, Harm,". They sure do, Harm. I think Bobbi does, too.

It was cute the way DJE handled the scene in the Colonel's office, where Bobbi is demanding a ride in the Cobra. He played it just right. (BTW, that was the Chief from Black Ops. One episode he's a chief, next one he's a colonel.).

Bottom line, I liked the way the scenes were played. I question the basic premise of the script.

previous episode review//next episode review