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By Shirley
I always feel uneasy whenever we have an
episode that focuses heavily on the other characters. Why? I think that
it's because DJE is such a strong leading man and he has put his stamp on
the show so indelibly, that when the focus of a show is away from him, it
loses its intensity as a JAG episode. I think some others on the various
lists mentioned that this didn't feel like a JAG episode. I agree. Sure
it's great to see the other characters featured and we do want to know
more about them. But ... I really noticed how everything just seemed to
fall into place as soon as we got back to Harm and AJ doing their thing to
rescue Francesca in the last 10 minutes or so.
As for Francesca - I have to say that she certainly isn't a dull
character. In fact, she may have inherited a lot of smarts from her real
Papa. She knew she was in danger, and she understood that Luscino, her
former lover, was her only way out. She may or may not still have been in
love with the guy, but she knew that she had to placate him, and try to
use him to get away. I think she had the mafia stepfather figured out a
long time ago. And when Luscino shot Papa, that was it for him. She had no
hesitation in shooting him then. I think she'll have to live with Papa in
the States now, to stay out of the mafia's clutches. Thus she becomes a
'core character', to quote TPTB. Hey Harm, are you listening? Get your
running shoes on. Set, GO!
It's amusing to recognize shooting locations from old episodes. It also
tells me that I've been watching too much JAG. Last week in Embassy, we
saw the pagoda/gazebo from The Prisoner, which interestingly this time,
isn't blowing gale-force winds. This week we have the nice garden that was
used in Defensive Action. Of course, the all-time most unintentional but
weird juxtaposition occurred when Washington Holiday and Game of Go were
shown back to back, and we saw the same hallway and circular staircase in
both episodes.
And a really odd final thought - I thought at first that that was a photo
of Harm! And when Luscino got out of the car, for a split second, I
thought he looked like a coarser, beefier version of Harm!
  
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