Review of Capitol Crime by Rising Sun

Contact via http://www.geocities.com/jagrslc

 

“Submitted for your approval.” Any fan of The Twilight Zone will recognize the opening gambit of Ron Serling.  This episode of JAG pointed an arrow straight at the worlds of TZ and X-Files.

 

Mac is plagued by a dream of her first jogging through the park then running for her life.  The effort is futile as she is eventually killed. Not a way to start the day.  She’s working on a Memorandum of Understanding that needs vetting by Commander Laura Aiken Ph.D. and the lady is running late as Mac indicates the time.

 

Turner: Why wear a watch?
Mac: It usually saves me from having to answer... ‘How do you do that?’

 

Mac accidentally spills her cup of coffee and that triggers a chain of events that lead them to the Commander’s apartment, then to the park, with Sturgis muttering and grumbling all the way.  By this time Mac is in the full grip of the visions and the park is stimulating her into overload.  There are moments when Sturgis’ logic has her to pause and consider the madness of what she is doing but the park almost playing like a character steps in and pulls her along.  She finds the body and Sturgis has no comeback. 

 

The park is not done with her as she is compelled to reveal her ability to the Police and points out where they should start the search.  Again she hits the jackpot and they catch a Russian.  It seems at first that the guy is just another immigrant down on his luck … that soon changes.

 

Sturgis is seeing all sides of Mac he never knew about. While the physic ability is freaking him, Mac’s linguistic skills are impressing him and her confessions are keeping him off balance.  The poor man needs help and so turns to Harm who is on the Patrick Henry; for assistance.

 

Sturgis: Harm, I need your help, Buddy.
Harm: Name it.
Sturgis: How do you deal with her?
Harm: Use a firm hand.

 

+            +            +

 

Mac: You're missing the point Sturgis
Sturgis: Come on Mac
Mac: I...I've never slept with him
Sturgis: Is that the problem?
Mac: There is no Problem (she gets up to close the door)
Sturgis: Then why don't you just get over it and move on
Mac: It wouldn't work
Sturgis: Why!?
Mac: Cause I'm in LOVE with him

 

+            +              +

 

The various leads take them to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) they begin to suspect a love triangle but the stickler for detail Sturgis is not happy with the letter of transfer request that they find.  The team take a fresh look at the facts, which lead them to lost Uranium and back to the Russian still in Police custody. They “negotiate” for the needed information of who has the Uranium and where it’s headed.

 

Case solved.

 

In the mean time Harm is onboard the most unlucky carrier in the fleet – The USS Patrick Henry.  Although he is there to conduct an investigation into a nighttime mishap (during the War on Afghanistan) what he ends up doing is duplicating the work of the onboard investigating Officer, who by the way had found Captain Ingles responsible.  In what I consider a serious case of brown-nosing Harm exonerates everyone from the Captain down for any culpability and instead ends up thanking Captain Ingles for effectively keeping the known world safe.  Would have been interesting to have had Mac’s reaction.  Lord knows the junior investigator was NOT happy.  I had the impression that Harm was not completely focused on the job at hand and was easily if not understandably distracted by the action onboard the carrier.

 

I enjoy the JAG episodes very much (maybe that’s why I watch huh?) but I particularly enjoyed this episode. It is good to see Mac in the forefront of a story and she was in absolute control despite the best efforts to her visions. At one point she even tells Bud that she is “… definitely insane.”  Mac and Sturgis work well together and it reminds me of the way Harm and Mac used to be, and hopefully will be again.

 

My favrouite line: Mac to Sturgis: That’s because my life is an earthquake!

 

Definitely J J J J J (out of a possible five)

 

 

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