The Colonel's Wife, November 16, 1999

As Reviewed by Rosepetal

As Reviewed by Michele Blackburn

The episode starts off in the Admiral's office with him giving Mac and Harm a case involving Colonel Dunston, the anti-drug person in Panama.  Seems his wife is involved in a drug smuggling ring.  The SecNav wants Harm and Mac to find out what is going on.  Mac is put in charge of the investigation and Harm second chair. 

An old college friend of Bud's is in town and comes to JAG to find him.  Turns out that he is a self made millionare who made his money in computers and Bud had an opportunity to join him when he was in college but he didn't think the risk would pan out.  Turns out he was wrong, BIG TIME LOL.  :) So Bud starts to question why he didn't risk it, etc etc. and everyone in JAG has some sort of story for him including Tiner, the Gunny, and even the Admiral but of course, Harriet makes him snap out of it when she says if you had gone into business with him, we would have never met and we wouldnt have baby AJ.

In Panama, Harm and Mac go on a stakeout to follow the Colonel's wife to see her meet her lover who is the one who used her to send the drugs out.  Harm goes inside the bar, leaving Mac in the car.  He breaks up a fight that starts out and gets the Colonel's wife out of there.  When she offers him a ride, Mac follows them and when she drops him off, she kisses Harm.  Mac busts Harms chops about his interrogating technique.  I loved the jokes between these two.

With the information they gained from Harm's time in the Bar, they set up a trap for the Colonel to see if he is in on this scheme.  They believe he is.  Turns out he isn't but he went the setup for two reasons, one he knew his wife was having an affair and to bust a drug buy which is the leak he got.

After Harm and Mac speak with the wife and the Colonel, they decide to set up a trap to get the lover to bring them to the Big boys so they can take everyone down at the same time.  But when the get there, they hear a shot and find the wife on the floor.  They kill the lover after he starts shooting at them and the wife tells them it was the only way, before she dies.

When the Colonel arrive, they tell him that she had come to tell the lover that it was over and that she wasn't going to ship any more drugs for him.  They tell him that she was shot when she told the lover it was over.  They watch the Colonel leave with his wife in the ambulance.

By Michele Blackburn

Colonel Dunston's wife, Olivia Banning, is involved in a cocaine smuggling ring in Panama. Her Marine Colonel husband is head of the drug interdiction program. The SECNAV sends Harm and Mac to Panama to find out what's going on.

The Admiral puts Mac as head of the investigation.

"Yes, sir." Mac says calmy.

"Commander, is that all right with you?"

Wide eyed and taken aback, Harm says. "Yes, sir." I don't think Harm was expecting the Admiral to put Mac in charge, but since she is a Marine and this is a case involving a Marine, I believe the Admiral thought she could handle it better than Harm.

Meanwhile, Bud's friend Ron Katz, a computer genius, comes to town to visit Bud. The whole office gets involved in Bud's decision to stay at JAG or take up Ron's offer to join him as a partner. Tiner, Galindez and Brumby tell him in their own ways to think about. When the Admiral finds out about it, he asks Bud to walk with him to the elevator.

"Summers in high school," The Admiral begins. "I worked on a ranch in Wyoming." He gets on the elevator. "I had a chance to be a cowboy." The doors close and Bud's left smilng. All of a sudden, the Admiral yells out. "Yee-haw." Completely out of character for the tough, no nonsense Admiral.

Harm and Mac go undercover in Panama as political consultants, Barret and Mann. They follow Olivia to a bar. Mac opens her door and goes to get out.

"Wait. If we go in there like a couple of tourists we'll stand out like lambchops in a lion's den. I'll go in as one lonnly gringo on the prowl for company." Harm goes in and takes pictures of Rojas, an import/export dealer and Olivia. When a fight breaks out, Harm saves Olivia's life. She in turn takes him home.

When she drops him at his hotel, she kisses him goodnight. He gets out, waits for her to leave and then Mac picks him up.

As he gets in Mac says, "Interesting Investigating there, Sherlock. Why follow a subject when you can have them give you a ride home and a kiss goodnight."

"She's a little too impulsive." He tells Mac.

"We're you going to stripsearch her next because that would have really cracked the case."

"Do you want to hear what happened in the bar or not?" Mac drives off.

Harm sets a trap for Dunston to see if he's in on it with his wife. When Rojas shows up at the meeting place that he and Olivia were supposed to meet at and Dunston shows up there's an argument. Both of them leave. That proves to Mac and Harm that Dunston's in on it.

Mac talks to Olivia alone and finds out that she thought she was shipping cigars until she realized it was cocaine. After that she had to keep shipping them or Rojas would tell her husband. Mac sets up a plan to get Rojas and the men he's working for. She sends their contact with Olivia to the travel agency to buy airplane tickets thinking that will scare Rojas into leading them to the "big guys"

Harriet and Bud meet with Ron and his wife. Ron's wife is stuck-up and doesn't like kids. She finds the quickest way for them to leave. When Bud closes the door, Harriet explains to him that if he had taken Ron's offer, Bud would have never gone into the Navy, or JAG, met Harriet, gotten married, or had A.J. Bud finally realizes that he made the perfect decision in staying.

Mac's plan backfires and Olivia takes off. Harm figures she went to see Rojas and they get his address. As they're getting out of the car, they hear shots. Running into the house, they see Olivia laying on the floor. Rojas shoots at Harm. Harm rolls allowing Mac to shoot Rojas once. Harm gets up and shoots him two more times. Olivia tells them "It was the only way." Then she dies.

"For her husband." Mac tells Harm.

"For her husband." Harm agrees.

When Colonel Dunston gets home, Mac tells him that Olivia went to Rojas to tell him the affair was over and that she wasn't going to ship anymore cocaine. Mac precedes to tell him that Rojas shot Olivia when she told him it was over. They lied to Dunston to protect him from the truth. That right there shows how decent Mac and Harm, as people, are.

The scene fades out with Mac and Harm watching Dunston get into an ambulance with his wife's body.

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