Jaggle Bells, December 15, 1998

By Shirley

Well, TPTB extended an olive branch. Jaggle Bells was a peace offering. As such, it was nicely innocuous and guaranteed to slide down easily when taken with a modicum of goodwill. There were no controversies. A number of loose ends were quietly tied up. Jaggle Bells was not a great episode. It wasn't even a good episode. It was a decent episode. The only reason it seemed better and more enjoyable was because of its contrast to the last few truly bottom-of-the-barrel episodes.

First off, Harm finally talks about his search for his MIA father. Not to Mac, not to his mother, he unloads to a complete stranger, albeit a sympathetic and receptive one. That was most perceptive of TPTB. It is usually easier to voice one's deepest thoughts to someone newly met rather than to one's relatives or closest friends. The added bonus of having Harm confide in Lt. Cmdr. Parker is that it shows his almost instant rapport with her, as well as allows them to lay the foundation for a future relationship in the space of hours. It helped that she was a psychiatrist and had already done a neat off the cuff analysis of his life. Christmas Eve at the Wall. Poor Harm!

There are pluses and minuses to knowing all about new developments in the storylines beforehand. Because we know that Parker is going to be Harm's girlfriend, the tendency is to instantly read more into their initial meeting. We want to see the spark. If I had not known that she was to be "the one", I would have said that here are two supremely attractive and available people who are equally lonely, their loneliness accentuated by the Christmas holiday and the storm. They feel the age-old male-female attraction, and they have discovered a certain meeting of minds, but that was all for now. If we never saw Parker again, that would be the end of it, as it was with Ensign Lane in Defenseless. However, we will see Parker again, and I for one am looking forward to it. Thus far, TPTB seem to be handling this particular relationship nicely. I will just keep my fingers crossed.

Bud and Harriet are back to their old selves. I can almost forgive Bud his aberrant behaviour during the November sweeps episodes as I watched their antics, getting ready to play Santa and his helper elf for the sick children in hospital. Harriet made an adorable elf.

Now for the child Chloe. I was pre-disposed to like her. I liked the brief glimpses of her in last week's preview. (I must confess here and now that I deliberately did not watch the repeats the last couple of weeks. I thought a complete break would perhaps help to restore my zest for the show. But I did turn the TV on for the preview for Jaggle Bells.) I love sentimental shows with cute little kids. I was horrified to find that I did not like this little kid. I found Chloe to be a most tiresome child and by the end, quite frankly, I couldn't wait to see the last of her. It can't be that the writers are unable to write an attractive child, because they have done it in the past, to wit, Josh Pendry, Kathy Gold, Trevor Anderson and Erin Terry. Is it possible that the writers absolutely hate Mac? That would be an explanation of why they saddled her with such unsavoury specimens - Dalton, Coster, Chris, Brumby, and now Chloe.

I'm still quite jittery when it comes to Mac herself. My trust in her has been destroyed. I keep watching her for flashes of stupidity. It's quite unsettling and really lowers the enjoyment quotient.

As for the Harm/Mac "relationship", there was a world of finality in Harm's voice when he told Mac she was a good "friend".

So there we have it. To quote both Bud and Harm, apology accepted, TPTB. Merry Christmas and Jaggle Bells to you too. Have a good rest, and come back refreshed.

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