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The Princess and the Petty Officer, November 14, 2000 As Reviewed by Michele Blackburn As Reviewed by Salvatore Saitta (in Italian) |
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I loved the scene in the beginning of the show where the Admiral is making coffee and offers Harm and Bud some whom can't take the Admiral's strong coffee. Then the Admiral's old CO comes in who is Rudy from Survivor and takes a cup and tells him its a little weak. Mac and Mic are still fighting over the People article from the previous episode where he told the magazine that they were engaged when they still really aren't. I also loved the scene with the Admiral and Harriet when they start talking about when Harriet cleaned out the refrigerator when she was pregnant the last time and she threw out his lunch. In this episode, not only do we see Mic and Mac fighting but we see the Admiral and Dr. Walden breaking up when he tells her that he thinks her son has a drug problem. Later we see Mic and the Admiral in a bar drinking and talking about how they will never understand women.
TPTB shocked many of us in this episode
in more than one way. Five things deserve mentioning some honorable some
dishonorable: LA PRINCIPESSA E IL SOTTUFFICIALE
previous episode review//next episode review
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In this episode Harm is assigned to
defend a man whom smuggled a Muslim Princess into the country and then
married her. Instead of facing a lengthy trial at which he would
probably be convicted, he pled guilty and received a lower rank and will
have to give up 3 months pay. Harm enlists Mac to help in the
defense of the princess in a deportation hearing. She gets the
deportation hearing delayed when a supposed second husband appears at the
trial and they will go before a Muslim court to find out which of the
marriages were legal. It seems that the princess only married the
Petty officer to get into the country but in the end she and the petty
officer declare their love for each other and will wed again. 
When
Harriet and Bud goes in for a routine ultrasound, they find out that
Harriet is actually in labor and complications arise and her doctor is
nowhere to be found when this happens. Another doctor prepares for a
C-section delivery just as Harriet's doctor arrives to take over.
But I guess by this time its too late. We see Bud in JAG and he
tells the Admiral that Harriet went into labor. The Admiral is
really happy and is giving him congratulations but Bud tells him that the
baby whom we found out in the past episode is to be named Sara, died.
I can't watch this ending without crying my eyes out. I feel so much
for Harriet and Bud because my own daughter almost didn't make it through
delivery but I was lucky because she actually made it. 
First:
Humor. This taut episode was filled with little slivers of humor starting
at the beginning with the Admiral and the guys in the kitchen making
coffee. Good grief, the Admiral put a lot of scoops in that filter. Then
when the guys didn't like it, he went to a real coffee drinker.
Unfortunately, Mac was too busy arguing with Mic over the PEOPLE magazine
article (Yes, TPTB does do a good job of bringing back little things from
previous episodes) When she slammed the door the Admiral looked at Mic and
said, "Well, I guess she's had too much coffee this morning." He and
Harriet also had a good scene in Bud's office where they brought up her
nesting problems again (Remember, the files and the Admiral's thrown away
dinner) 
Second:
Rudy Boesch's visit to JAG. IMO, the best thing about his showing up was
the music they played at the beginning of each of his scenes. He was stiff
and sounded like he was reading off of cue cards. (For those of you, who
want to see a behind the scene look at his arrival, go to CBS's JAG page)
Third:
Mac/Catherine Bell. She did an excellent job in the Muslim courtroom. As
everyone probably knows, Catherine's grandmother really did teach her
about the Koran and the Shariah. She als taught her Farsi, which we have
seen Mac speak fluently several times since her second season debut. 
Fourth:
Mic and AJ in the sports bar crying over their women. AJ over Sydney
breaking up with him and Mic over Mac. Then the cute toast they made "To
the only women that will stay with us." The Admiral said. Mic raised his
glass and said, "To mum."Mic left after that when he got a call. The
Admiral decided to leave the bar and go to Headquarters. Good thing he
did. 
Fifth:
Bud. Bud did an excellent job in this episode. He made a terrific
performance against his mentor, Harm in the courtroom. He didn't seem
scared and he didn't back down. When Harriet went into labor, he played
the perfect expectant and worried father. And last, there in JAG
headquarters when he told the Admiral that Harriet went into labor. The
Admiral congratulated him and then in a somber voice, Bud said. "Baby Sara
died, sir." Bud's breakdown made me cry. Not since Little House on the
Prairie has he made me cry like last night. This will affect the whole JAG
office and not just Harriet and Bud.