Washington Holiday, February 28, 1997

By Shirley

This episode did honour to the movie that inspired its title, Roman Holiday with the incomparable Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Washington Holiday was a delight to watch, chock full of shining moments.

This time around, the princess in question was not tired of the official burden of too many duties and responsibilities. In actual fact, Alexi was spoiled rotten by her doting father, and had no thought in her pretty head but to enjoy herself. That said, I should also note that Alexi, as played by Kiersten Warren, was a spunky, intelligent and totally delightful princess. Poor Alexi had always been stuck with old, dull and unattractive escorts. But in Washington, to her surprise, she found that none other than Lt. Cmdr. Harmon Rabb has been assigned as her official escort - not old, and certainly not unattractive. This didn't stop her from her usual tricks, but Harm proved up to the challenge. That was a wonderful scene, when Harm just scooped her up and carried her back to the limo as the cameras flashed.

Now that Harm had her full attention, Alexi decided that it was more fun to flirt with him. I just loved the scenes in his apartment, as he tried to put Webb off the scent - '... pigeons, it's mating season ... ', then found his new neighbour coming by. It was almost like a Marx Brothers movie.
 

Harm's new neighbour Meghan O'Hara, was played by DJE's real life wife, Nanci Chambers. I was quite anxious to see her. Having a nosey bent, I wanted to know what his wife looked like, and see her act with him. They make a good-looking couple. And she's a good actress. There was definitely chemistry - I guess there should be, eh? They both worked the looks, eyes, and body language, as well as the innuendoes. Harm, 'That's what neighbours are for.' Meghan, 'Just coffee?'

It was fun to watch Mac playing matchmaker. I think CB is settling into her role. She's not quite as stilted, and in fact, is able to handle some of the comedic scenes with some conviction. She still doesn't have the timing that the others have, but she is improving. She certainly looked like a million bucks in that fantastic gown with her hair slicked down. So Harm doesn't look on her as a sister. Question, counsellor, what do you look on her as? Judge: the witness will answer the question.

Of course, something must be said about Harm's attire. He always looks wonderful in dress whites. But Washington Holiday gave us more. It gave us Harm in mess dress. Wow! No wonder Ensign Nestor was all but swooning as she twirled about in his arms. I bet that she 'accepted' Bud as her date because it got her closer to Harm. Come on, ladies, if you think you could get a dance with our favourite sailor by going out with Bud, would you even hesitate to befuddle that young man into a date? I also liked the casual jeans and pullover shirt he wore in his apartment which made him look young and carefree.

I loved the golden oldies they played at the ball. And on subsequent viewings, I discovered that there was a Canadian flag prominently stuck in there amongst all the others in the ballroom. Note to the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Television Commission, the watchdog of Canadian content), there was lots of Canadian content in this episode.

Bottom line, this is my favourite episode to date.


 

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