Ghosts, February 14, 1997

By Shirley

That crazed CIA killer, Gayle Osbourne, is back. This time, he is out for revenge. He blamed Chegwidden for his problems with his bosses who, disgusted with his failure to execute his mission in Secrets, sent him to Africa in the midst of an outbreak of the Ebola virus. So now Osbourne wanted to get even. He succeeded even better than he had intended. He ended up killing Chegwidden's new love, Laura.

This was JAG's Valentine's Day episode? It had more in common with the Valentine's Day Massacre than our usual thoughts of Valentine. All I can say is this, poor Admiral Chegwidden. He seemed to have found some measure of happiness, with a woman who is still married, 'tis true, but she was getting rid of her drunken husband, and was absolutely determined to share in AJ's life, even the bad times. Unfortunately, the bad times are very bad indeed. She died in Chegwidden's place. Poor Admiral.

TPTB did a fine job of using the flashback footage to add sizzle and mystery to the intriguing story. They certainly managed to cast actors who were convincing as the characters' younger versions in the Vietnam sequences. I suspected that Osbourne had a lot to do with the attacks as soon as he planted that bug in Chegwidden's office. But it was neat watching Harm and Mac unravel the mystery.

I am glad that they dealt with some of the sordid garbage from the Vietnam War, such as the remains of the servicemen, and the scams practised by the unscrupulous on these grieving families. These issues needed to be aired, and are accessible to more people when presented this way, having Harm and Webb discuss it, rather than in a documentary. It was especially touching to see Harm hoping against hope, his heart thudding, as he watched the computer screen for the results of the search on Harmon Rabb, Sr.

Once again, we see that Chegwidden has the utmost trust and respect for his right hand man, Harm, and he is right to place his trust there. Harm does not let him down. He cares to the extent that he prevents the Admiral from killing Osbourne himself. The Admiral was too emotionally involved to see that that course of action was not right. His trusted friend Harm made sure that he did not do something that he would later regret. That is what a friend does.

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