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People v Rabb, November 25, 1997 |
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By Shirley I sat down to watch this episode with a
great deal of curiosity and trepidation. I was curious about Mac's fate -
would there be a new partner? I was apprehensive about how bad things were
going to be for Harm. I know we're supposed to trust in TPTB. But I'm
always so worried that they might have an off week or two, and churn out
something unmentionable, or worse yet, put Harm in an unspeakably
embarrassing situation.
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Well,
I was right to trust in TPTB. It wasn't as bad as I had feared, in fact,
it was good. First of all, Mac came back. So the status quo, as far as
Harm's partner situation goes, is maintained. Mac realized that indeed she
had been deluded, both by herself and by Dalton, into believing that the
grass is greener on the other side. She left JAG ostensibly to 'spread her
wings' and to be a part of history being written. She found out, very
quickly, that what she got was a gilded cage and that the only history she
would be a part of was the reading of it. Of course we all know that she
wasn't in love with Dalton despite her brave protestations. How can she be
when she's in love with Harm? But if the man you're in love with only sees
you as his partner, then perhaps the smart course of action is to leave.
And for Mac, it was a boost to her ego to be able to leave under such
circumstances. However, we all know her heart was breaking. That was one
unhappy woman in the Porsche. So is it any surprise that she literally
threw everything away to go to his side when Harm beckoned? Call and I'll
come.
Harm
was quite unlike his usual self in this episode. This was due to the fact
that he has allowed his obsession with his search for his MIA father full
rein. Consequently, he did some pretty stupid things, which are completely
understandable but still stupid. How else would one describe his agreeing
to a meet in the middle of the night in a deserted warehouse with a
complete stranger to buy dubious documents in a foreign language for
twenty thousand dollars cash? As though that wasn't bad enough, even after
all the warnings from everyone from the Admiral down, he still
single-mindedly went after the documents, with no thought for his own
welfare. This is Harm obsessed to the nth degree. Yes we have seen him in
this mode before, the search for the truth mode, but never with this blind
intensity.
It is
because of this emotional fog that he did not react at all like the
topnotch lawyer he was when
charged with murder. He asked Caroline Imes whether she believed he did
commit murder. She very properly told him that that was not the point. She
was his lawyer; she would defend him the best way possible under the
circumstances. Mac also had the same problem with him. He wanted her to
put him on the stand. She had to use brutal tactics to make him see
clearly.