This episode is most definitely a
two-stories-in-one episode: an action story and a character story. The
action story is Harm and Bud's investigation of the helicopter collision
at Twenty-Nine Palms Marine Base. The character story arc is Mac coming to
a crossroads in her life.
TPTB did a good job interweaving the two stories so that as we jump from
one to the other, the contrast served to heighten the tension. For
example, we see Harm and Bud facing unknown hostile forces in the desert;
then we jump to Mac, who is also facing unknown and potentially unfriendly
forces in Washington. Danger, danger, as the robot would say.
This episode also featured two characters who shared the remarkable
ability to make people dislike them intensely, Clark Palmer and Dalton
Lowne.
The UFO story was good, and since I love sci-fi, I was, like Bud, more
than ready to buy into it. Okay, JAG is not sci-fi. They had a lot of fun
with it though, chiefly with Bud's earnest explanations, first to an
extremely sceptical Harm, and then an equally disbelieving Col. Barrett.
Of course we are not surprised by Harm's inability to even say UFO. It was
funny, but not a surprise. After all, he had never been a believer and had
enjoyed gently teasing Meg about her readiness to believe in "little green
men" in Sightings. And he had insurmountable difficulty with the acronym
then too!
To
Clark Palmer. Boy, this guy Palmer is one scary character. I think it was
his eyes. They looked absolutely devilish and inhuman. I do sincerely hope
that this is just tremendously good acting. The man is obviously insane.
I'm glad Harm decked him even though it didn't knock any sense into his
head. Of course the contrast between Harm, who was able to joke about
afterburners after a dangerous and harrowing car chase, and Palmer, who
was single-mindedly intent on getting the diskette back made Palmer appear
even crazier. Ugh!
I
like Col. Barrett. He seemed so crusty and no-nonsense. Then we find out
that he has a sly sense of humour. Of course, he also got some good one
liners.
Onto the Mac story. I don't like Dalton Lowne. I keep wondering, what does
she see in this guy? I don't know if I entirely believe her when she told
Harm in Against All Enemies that she was interested in Dalton as a man.
She's got Harmon Rabb in front of her every day. I would think that any
ordinary man would pale in comparison. I do believe, however, that she
realized that she was in love with Harm, and decided that it was better to
cut and run rather than stay in an unrequited love situation. She did lap
up the fake Falcon's attentions rather readily in Ghost Ship and I don't
believe that that was because she found him particularly attractive. It
was probably most reassuring for her to have a man be obviously interested
in her. For at no time did Harm give even the slightest indication that he
was interested in her in a romantic way. (I know Harm/Mac shippers will
disagree with me vehemently on this point. <VBG>) Be that as it may, Mac
made the big decision to go with Dalton to New York, and ultimately, to
leave JAG.
Was she happy to leave, was she excited about spreading her wings and
making history in cases that mattered? No way! She had been backed into
this particular course of action. She did not want to go. That was one
unhappy woman in that Porsche. Can't buy me love.
To
Clark Palmer. Boy, this guy Palmer is one scary character. I think it was
his eyes. They looked absolutely devilish and inhuman. I do sincerely hope
that this is just tremendously good acting. The man is obviously insane.
I'm glad Harm decked him even though it didn't knock any sense into his
head. Of course the contrast between Harm, who was able to joke about
afterburners after a dangerous and harrowing car chase, and Palmer, who
was single-mindedly intent on getting the diskette back made Palmer appear
even crazier. Ugh!
I
like Col. Barrett. He seemed so crusty and no-nonsense. Then we find out
that he has a sly sense of humour. Of course, he also got some good one
liners.
