As the fifth season of JAG opens, Harmon “Harm” Rabb (David James Elliott) is no longer with JAG. During season four he had been cured of night blindness and resumed his career as a fighter pilot. However, he soon realizes that as good as he is, the time away from the cockpit has cost him any real meaningful career as a pilot–his place is with JAG. It should be noted that the first few episodes when Harm has resumed his flying carrier provide some standout moments during JAG’s fifth season. In the season opener, “King of the Greenie Board” Harm does his level best to try to reign in a young hot-shot pilot. Unfortunately in the next episode, “Rules of Engagement” Harm is forced to defend the young flier after he mistakenly shoots down some Russian peace keepers.
When Harm does return to JAG, he finds things have changed a lot. Sarah “Mac” MacKenzie (Catherine Bell), promoted to Lt. Colonel and now the JAG chief of staff, has taken over his old office. Lt. Commander Bud Roberts Jr. (Patrick Labyorteaux) has become a seasoned lawyer now trying cases. His wife Harriet (Karri Turner) has just given birth to their first child and is serving on a limited basis in the Naval Reserve. Gunnery Sgt. Victor “Gunny” Galindez (Randy Vasquez) is the new guy; a tough Marine in charge of running the office and helping to investigate cases.
The fifth season follows JAG’s successful formula of mixing investigation, high court drama and action. Several episodes during season successfully combine all three elements to create noteworthy episodes. “Rogue” in which Bud Roberts is assigned as the legal attaché to a Special Forces unit that gets over zealous after their funding is cut. They go against their bosses and take a nuclear submarine hostage with Bud aboard. As a result, the Navy faces a possible terrorist attack. In “The Bridge at Kang So Ri” Harm and Mac are assigned to investigate charges that American GI’s shot and killed civilians during the Korean war. They board a commercial flight to Seoul, along with a former soldier who claims to have taken part in the killings. En route, Korean terrorists take over the plane, set on punishing those responsible for the alleged war crimes.
During season five, JAG also found time to inject a little bit of romance into the show. Midway through the season, Mic Brumby (Trevor Goddard), the Australian Royal Navy lawyer on detail to JAG, is recalled to his native country (“Life or Death”). Later, during a two part episode titled “Boomerang” Harm, Bud and Mac travel to Australia to investigate a case involving a sailor that was thought to be dead, who is now accused of murdering an Australian soldier over twenty years earlier. In the midst of all this Mic professes his love to Mac and Harm acknowledges the chemistry between himself and Mac–both acknowledge that their respective careers prohibit such an affair. What a love triangle!
All 25 of JAG’s fifth season episodes are highly entertaining. There is a good mix of the action and drama JAG fans have come to expect and the romantic tension between Harm and Mac remains intact.
JAG’s fifth season is presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 ratio widescreen color format. However, the majority of the episode “Ghosts of Christmas Past” and assorted scenes (primarily stock footage) are given in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color, which is formatted in a widescreen presentation (black bars exist on the sides). In general, the picture quality is fairly good. There is some ghosting during high-motion scenes. The audio track supplied is an English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo surround sound. The only special feature is a “gag reel” that runs just over three minutes.
