How did I know you were going to say something like that? Guess it's time to get out the flame-retardent suit. Well, here goes. I wrote this the same night Adrift II aired, so it's mostly about that episode, but there are several references back to the first part. INSIDE -- HarmyBoard Reviews

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Date Posted: 12:36:20 09/10/05 Sat
Author: TracyJean
Subject: How did I know you were going to say something like that? Guess it's time to get out the flame-retardent suit. Well, here goes. I wrote this the same night Adrift II aired, so it's mostly about that episode, but there are several references back to the first part. INSIDE
In reply to: Araninda 's message, "Episode of the Week Discussion. . . Inside" on 12:34:05 09/10/05 Sat

3 minutes of good don't make up for 42 minutes of garbage, or my thoughts on the JAG season premiere

Gee, can't you tell that I was not happy with the JAG season premiere? Maybe I just wasn't in the right state of mind to enjoy it. Two hours before, I watched Adrift I again so I could edit out the commercials and I spent most of the episode complaining aloud about all the inconsistencies in the episode (fortunately, only my dog was around to hear me rant and rave and he never complains when Mommy sounds a little crazy). So my state of mind was not very good when 7 o'clock rolled around (I'm in the Central Time Zone). After stewing and venting a little on the lists and in the chat room last night after the episode, I decided to write out a detailed critique of exactly what I found wrong with the episode, especially since so many people seem to think this is the greatest thing since Lifeline (yeah, maybe if they could have made an entire episode out of those three minutes I mention in the header - and if you have to ask what I think was the good part, then you obviously did not watch the episode).

- The teaser. I understand the need to recap after four months, but did we really need to rewatch all of Adrift I before the opening credits? I know we didn't really, but it seemed that way to me. Maybe because that's all we saw before the credits. The last time we had a resolution to a cliffhanger (Gypsy Eyes), they did a brief recap, then went into the action, with Harm and Mac managing to evade the missile fired at them. They could have at least shown the end of Mac and Mic's conversation from the end of Adrift I (not that I enjoy Mic and Mac scenes, far from it). Which leads me to the next point �

- JAG is not good at following up on the looks that end seasons. They didn't follow up on the look between Harm and Mac at the end of Surface Warfare and they didn't follow up on the look in Mic's eyes when he saw Mac's tears. It's as if both scenes never happened. Since they were at the end of season ending episodes, you would think the looks were VERY important and merited follow-up. What did we get? Zip. Nada. Zilch. That looked to be the moment when the light bulb went off in Mic's head, but we got another half hour of Mic pushing Mac about rescheduling the wedding (more on that further down). Nor did we see an exploration into Mac's extremely emotional reaction to Harm's disappearance. By the time we see her in the episode, although she'd not quite hunky-dory, you'd never know she'd been crying a river of tears either.

- This is more of a nitpick, but TPTB can't even remember when Mac was supposed to get married. In Valor, she announced that the date had been set as 26 May 2001 and we saw nothing to indicate the date had been changed. Yet at the beginning of Adrift II, the caption read '19 May 2001'. Very poor attention to detail.

- Mic was being an insensitive clod (and I'm being nice here) when they got to JAG. 'Why don't we wait to see what happens before postponing the wedding?' Could he possibly be any more inconsiderate? Mac's best friend is missing, may even be dead for all they know, and he thinks this is a good time to talk about keeping the wedding on schedule? I know he does not like Harm, but being so insensitive to his plight is not the way to win points with Mac. Mac was right. How was she supposed to even think about it at a time like this? In fact, I would not have blamed her if she'd had a stronger reaction to his idiocy.

- I understand why Renee was trying to find Trish's phone number, but how about a little discussion on 'government property', 'sensitive information' and the like? As a lawyer, Harm has to abide by lawyer-client confidentiality and there is no way Renee should have known his password on his computer, nor should she have even been trying to access his computer. Harm could get into a lot of trouble if he told her the password for exposing sensitive - and maybe even classified - information to an outsider. And I'm talking Leavenworth kind of trouble. Not to mention he would be disbarred. At any rate, Trish's phone number probably would have been in Harm's personnel folder as his next of kin, or they could have called information in La Jolla and gotten the number. Even if the number is unlisted, they could have gone through the Red Cross to contact her - when it's an emergency, they could have found her phone number any number of ways. And it's not that she didn't know the password and was asking Gunny to access his computer for her (and Gunny shouldn't know the password either). She indicated that she knew the password, but the computer was locking up on her.

- I halfway tolerated the scene with Renee and Bud about calling Trish. They both had valid points and Renee was stressed, so her reaction was logical in that respect.

- Why would Chloe be asking Mac 'Any luck yet?' Mac was hiding in her office while everyone else was in the bullpen where all the action was, which is where Chloe just came from. How would Mac know something under those circumstances?

- Although some people called the whole psychic thing a bit hokey, there was some nice continuity there with the tie-in to Psychic Warrior and Chloe's predicament in that episode. About the only time in the entire episode TPTB actually pay attention to continuity.

- She saw his raft in the middle of the ocean - an empty raft. She can pinpoint coordinates from a map with only that, but doesn�t think that Harm will not be in the raft?

- Nice the way that AJ stood up for Mac's vision with Captain Ingles. He knows that she has done this before and, even better, he knows Harm and Mac and what they've been through together and what they mean to each other. It makes sense that the no-nonsense Admiral would actually believe her in this case.

- The search scenes were pretty well done; at least I assume they were. Since I'm not in the Navy or Coast Guard, I can't speak to the technical accuracy.

- Mic, the insensitive clod, part II. Mic was a little too enthusiastic when told Harm's raft had been found, even if he wasn't in it. As someone who's been in the Navy, he should know that the odds deceased drastically with Harm not being in the raft. It makes it seem all he was thinking about was 'Now we don't have to postpone the wedding.'

- What was the point of the whole scene with little AJ and Renee? Is this TPTB's way of trying to show us what a great mommy Renee would be? Gag. It did nothing to propel the story. If the scene had been with Mac, it could have been explained as AJ wandering in to see his godmother, whom - although we don't see it on the show - is probably a big part of his life since she is close by. This just made no sense.

- And why would Harriet comfort Renee and not try to talk to Mac? I know Harriet actually likes Renee and I don't have a problem with her comforting Renee, but Mac is supposed to be one of her best friends and they were (or were supposed to be) each other's matron/maids of honor. In fact, aside from Lauren's laughable attempt at comforting Mac in Adrift I and Mac's interactions with the Admiral, she doesn't talk to a single one of her co-workers and long-time friends while they're waiting for news. I understand if she was shutting herself off from everyone, but no one even attempts to say anything to her in the way of comforting words. Harriet even takes a moment to ask if there's anything she can do for Mic. How about asking if she can do something for Mac?

- The scene between Renee and Mic would have been fine if there had been progression from there. They realize aloud that they're outsiders looking in at JAG. But what was the point of this conversation? This theme isn't brought up again. It's almost as if the writers said 'Oh, Mic and Renee are in the same boat. We have to throw them in a scene together to commiserate with each other.' We could have done without this scene and nothing would have been lost.

- The scene with Mac and Mic is nauseating. Mac has spent the entire night pushing Mic away and all of a sudden, it's like she wants to drop down and do it on the floor in the hallway. 'I need you'? She hasn't up until this point in the episode. What happened to all the doubts she'd been having going back to Adrift I? Actually, the writers have been very inconsistent with her behavior in these two episodes. She's tormented by thoughts of Harm right up until the rehearsal, then it's like she flips a switch and becomes 'Mic's lovey-dovey bride', then another switch is flipped and doubting Mac returned at the dinner. The kiss smacks of her using him (well, if you think about it, she probably has the entire relationship - using him to forget Harm), but what happened to the woman who was so upset about Harm being missing that she can't even think about her own wedding? It's as if she disappeared suddenly. It would have made more sense if Mic had initiated the kiss as a way to try to distract her and remind her that he loves her. I don't know what TPTB were trying to accomplish here, but whatever it was, it didn't work.

- 3 hours is very short as far as survival time given the conditions. I did a lot of research for DOALS and I found out two things. The approximate water temperature where he is in late May would be mid- to upper-fifties and the survival time under those conditions can be anywhere from six to eighteen hours depending a lot on the general health and fitness of the victim. Although it doesn't come until later in the episode, already being in stage four hypothermia at that point would have been stretching it. Where did they do their research?

- That's not how you lift a person with hypothermia. You lift them horizontally. That makes it easier for the blood to flow to their entire body. The blood isn't flowing very well to his head in that position, which is very bad (yeah, I know he's been in the water for several hours in that position, but frogmen should be trained to alleviate the problem, not compound it). They should have had a special litter that they could have strapped him to before lifting him up to the helo (think the rescue scene in Apollo 13 and it was sunny and 80 degrees where they were). And you definitely don't shake hypothermic patients, as they were doing in sickbay on the Henry (and this point comes from a paramedic, who would know this stuff - thanks Tina for pointing this out). Of course, he probably got shook really well for that ride back to the Henry. That can cause cardiac arrest in a hypothermic patient. More sloppy research (assuming they did any research at all.

- How stupid was Renee's comment about the Springsteen tickets? If he's going to make it, it's not going to be because he might miss a concert, even if it is The Boss. What was the point?

- I almost thought Harm was going to think Skates was Mac and try to kiss her, the way she was trying to wake him up. That was too intimate, especially since there's never even been a hint of desire for romantic involvement between them.

- Renee was very petty in the scene with Mac the day Harm was transferred to Bethesda. What was the point of saying that she knew they were letting her see Harm first except to rub it in to Mac that she was getting to see him and Mac wasn't? That was completely uncalled for. And Mac was being nice and trying to prepare her for Harm's condition.

- Why was Harm kept on the carrier for two days before being transferred to shore? If his condition was serious enough that he ended up spending two weeks at Bethesda, then he probably should have been stabilized on the Henry and transferred as soon as possible to the nearest shore hospital, which would have been Portsmouth near Norfolk, not Bethesda. It's almost as if TPTB couldn't decide how serious his condition was supposed to be.

- His 'temporary amnesia' isn't really amnesia; it's more like confusion, which is a symptom of hypothermia. That would explain why he remembered some things and not others and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to what he remembered (as in forgetting a certain period of time), although you almost get the feeling Renee was helping him along on some of those memories before the JAG staff arrived. That might explain why he remembered the wedding - Renee could have reminded him by telling him he was flying back for it when he went down (and it would have been keeping with her character if that was the case for her not to mention that it didn't happen and to make him think Mac was now unavailable to him, especially given what she says to him later).

- Harm almost grimaced when he saw Renee and couldn't figure out what she was doing there. That does track with how he felt about her when they first met - he was doing everything he could to avoid her in Into The Breech. And it's been nearly a year and a half since the commercial - January 2000 to May 2001 - not a year. Sloppy (again). And she apparently does fill him in on their relationship, as she'd pretty cozy with him when the rest of the JAG staff shows up and he's not exactly pulling away and even makes a comment about apparently being very involved with Renee or 'so he's told'. Indirectly makes Renee look pathetic (and a few other things) by trying to stake her claim when he's in no condition to argue otherwise.

- When Mac asked if Harm would remember the recent past, it's very easy to suspect she was thinking about their kiss (or maybe how mean she was to him before he left).

- Why is Mic even there at the hospital? From the look on his face as they all enter the hospital room, he does not want to be there (nor would Harm really want him there). His presence added nothing to the scene. And what was the look for? Mac was behaving pretty neutrally and so was Chloe, neither of them gushing over Harm, which would be the only reason I can think of for that expression as he followed them into the hospital room.

- And if they're not certain as to the extent of Harm's amnesia, wouldn't it be better not to hit him with all his friends all at once? I would think the doctor would know better. That's like bombarding him with too much information and expecting him to remember it all. Very traumatizing for the patient (AN - having a brother who went through partial amnesia with his own head injury 11 years ago, I unfortunately have some familiarity with the subject)

- At least Harm's voice is properly hoarse considering all the salt water he probably swallowed. But why don't the condition of his lungs seem to be a concern? And how did he hit his head?

- What's the point of Chloe being in the hospital room? Harm doesn't even mention her and if he had forgotten her, why didn't he ask who she is?

- Harm called for Mac. Shows how pathetic Mic and Renee are that they turned around too. What Harm had to say was none of their business. And it was obvious that Harm really wanted to talk to Mac, but realized he couldn't because of all the people around.

- Mic the insensitive has disappeared, only to be replaced by Mic the pathetic. Mac has just now seen for herself that Harm's okay and has probably spent the last two days worrying over his condition (with little or no sleep, I�m sure), but now she's just supposed to turn it off because Mic insists it's time to concentrate on the wedding? It doesn't work that way. And he wants to do the wedding in THREE DAYS? It's not unreasonable for her, given the circumstances, to need time to think about it.

- Chloe, the world's number one shipper, has been replaced by someone I don't even recognize, going back to Adrift I. She's always been a big Harm/Mac fan, didn't really feel warm and fuzzies towards Mic the first time she met him and now all of a sudden she's his biggest fan? What happened to the girl who dreamed of being flower girl at Mac and Harm's wedding? I don't know this girl here. She's barely mentioned Harm the entire time she's been in Washington. And don't get me started on her behavior at the airport about coming back for the wedding once it's rescheduled. She acts like it's the greatest thing in the world. And her hugging Mic like they're old pals? And you'd think she could have at least asked to be notified when Harm gets out of the hospital. Then again, she didn't really show much concern for him when they visited him at the hospital. And her last line is barf inducing. It's almost like TPTB is trying to hit us over the head with how bad Mac and Mic breaking up really is. Sorry. This relationship was SO wrong from the start, but that's a topic for another time.

- Now Mic the pathetic has been joined by his dark twin brother, Mic the complete and total ass. They are walking through the airport and he chooses now to press the wedding issue yet again by dropping the indefinite postponement in her lap? Can we say that this is so obviously not the time or the place? He comes off as spoiling for a fight and doing it in a public place is what really makes him the ass. She was trying to compromise, even suggesting next month as a new date, although I don't understand how Mac the indecisive suddenly got replaced by Mac the 'I must marry this man at all costs'. More on that later. And his throwing the 'let me think about it' at her was downright cruel. She was under a lot of stress because her best friend nearly died, yet she's supposed to push that all aside and ask 'How high?' when Mic says to jump? Unfortunately, she's been doing that their entire relationship (again, a topic for another time).

- Harm's cane is too short for his six-foot, four-inch frame. You can't tell me they don't make them long enough for tall men. And when and how did he injure his head? That still hasn�t been explained TPTB is throwing injuries at us without logical explanation. And I already mentioned the length of time he spent in the hospital.

- The conversation between Harm and Skates wasn't half bad.

- Since when has talking things out ever been a hallmark of Mac and Mic's relationship? Harm and Mac seem to talk more than they do and we know how those two are about talking things out. Again, why is Mac suddenly so desperate to marry this man? Desperation has never been one of Mac's character traits. Who is this new character and why the hell did TPTB chose her to replace our kick-ass Marine? Then again, that problem's been brewing ever since she got involved with Mic. And her 'we have to' remark only underscores how desperate she is. Why does she have to marry him? Why do they have to get past this? Even Harriet, who seemed to be all for this marriage before, seems to be having doubts now.

- Renee the complete and total ass, get thee to thy soul mate, Mic the complete and total ass. Harm just got out of the hospital and seems like he wants nothing more than to crash (a common occurrence given the circumstances, even after spending two weeks in a hospital bed), and she is pressing him to open up about deep and painful topics. Just like with Mic in the airport and at JAG pressing the wedding issue, NOW IS NOT THE TIME!!! Harm's right. If she knows she shouldn't be doing it, WHY IS SHE? At least she has a little bit of sense in that she does walk away from the discussion and doesn't press Harm the way Mic was pressing Mac. Maybe she's only half an ass.

- Mic the pathetic has completely disappeared, leaving only his twin, Mic the complete and total ass in his place. I'm almost missing Mic the pathetic. Oh, and Mic the insensitive clod is back. Having your fianc�e show up and see your packed boxes is how you tell her you're moving out? I thought Mac said they were talking things out? She's obviously delusional as well as desperate. And when did he move in with her? Nobody I've talked to seems to remember that happening. 'Oh, by the way, they're living together' is not good storytelling.

- Who is this woman in Mac's uniform and what happened to our Mac? After fifteen months of 'Me, too' being the most she could say when confronted with her feelings for Mic, now she's suddenly throwing out 'I love you' as if she says the words everyday. Why is she so pathetic? I understand she doesn't want to be alone, but this is ridiculous and completely out of character. At least Mic hit the nail on the head, but what has he ever seen to make him think the only reason she is with him is because she doesn't want to be alone? Even though it's true, what made him realize this? This line came completely out of the blue. And he was an ass to walk away when she was trying to talk about it. Why is she just now confronting him about making unilateral decisions without her? He's been doing that for their entire relationship and it's always just rolled off her back before. His asking who cancelled the wedding is insensitive. Canceling was the only thing to do under the circumstances with Harm missing at the time. Going through with the wedding at that time would have been insensitive to say the least. When Mac says she wasn't ready to get married the following weekend, he yells that he wasn't allowed a vote. What kind of marriage would they have had if her head wasn't into it? If he could see past his own selfishness, he would see that postponing was the best thing or that marriage would have self-destructed before it even got started. Seems like we've got a new character, Mic the desperate. Was he that desperate to marry her that he did not care that her best friend might be dead or dying? Girl, you are better off without this jackass.

- And what does he mean that he's the last one she looks to in a crisis? They've only really had two since they've been together - this and what happened in Drop Zone and SHE RAN TO HIM in Drop Zone. Yeah, she did talk to Harm a little bit about it (which Mic wouldn�t necessarily know), but she flew halfway around the world to see him. Maybe she didn't turn to him in this crisis because she knew that he wouldn't give a damn that her best friend might be dead. I sure as hell wouldn't turn to a man like that.

- This girl is really desperate because she's now lying to Harm, telling him that she loves Mic just weeks after evading that question and telling him he didn't have the right to ask. And Harm is trying to be so noble, encouraging her to tell Mic, even though it must be killing him. A lot of people accuse Harm of being a jerk and he can be at times, but he comes off the best of the four in the last two episodes (five counting Chloe the traitor). He's the only one who is even remotely in character and consistently written. He's also the most honest one. The other three are all over the map (Chloe's consistent, but is 180 degrees from her previous character). And that was exactly what she needed, someone to talk to with no pressure. She sure wasn't getting that from Mic and would have gotten it from Harm apparently if they hadn't been interrupted....

- I haven't quite figured it out, but Mic's phone call bothers me. Maybe it's because he seemed to be calling less to tell her he's leaving and more to check up on her. First, he's just moving out because he needs time to think, then within a matter of hours he's packed up, closed his office and has got a flight back to Sydney? It's almost as if Harm was right and his leaving was a spur of the moment decision based on finding Mac at Harm's - or knowing that he was going to find her there. And I've moved overseas. You don't do it overnight or in the course of one day between the time of making the decision to the execution. He's almost have to have planned this before hand, making him even worse than an ass for dragging it out, seemingly so he could cause Mac the most hurt.

- Most people seemed to think that Renee was being informed that Mic was leaving in the phone call and that seems to be what we were supposed to believe. This is obviously a direct slap in the face to shippers. Otherwise, there's no point to that scene of Renee receiving the phone call. It would have worked just as well (or just as poorly, as this is so obviously a pointless plot point to keep the hero and heroine apart - so soap opera-ish) if Mac has just shown up at Harm's apartment and Renee had been there telling Harm her father just died. We didn't need to see the phone call and be made to believe it was something it wasn't.

- Chasing after Mic at the airport is so beneath Mac and so far out of character. This needy and whiny and desperate woman is not someone I want to watch for one episode, let alone an entire season. Again, who is this woman? Watching this episode again, even though it pains me, the look in Mic's eyes before he turns away almost seems like contempt. He seems to think she's weak and needy and desperate for running after him. At least Mic the insensitive clod, Mic the desperate, Mic the pathetic and Mic the complete and total ass are now all gone and out of our lives. Good riddance.

- And how did she know what flight he was on or what airline? It is unlikely, given the distance, that there is a directly flight from Washington to Sydney. He likely would have had to connect in LA or Hawaii. He also could have been flying out of BWI instead of Dulles. Yet she showed up at the right gate in the right airport without being told by him when or where he was flying out from. And how did she even know he was leaving right then and there?

- The best part of the episode, shortly to be followed by the worst. The phone call, I won't get into that much except to say that there is so much subtext and layer to it. This was going to be it, we all got the feeling. Then the other shoe - which weighed as much as an anvil - fell on our heads. I think I have a concussion from the blow to the head.

- Harm's behavior at the end I don't fault for the most part. He was really caught between a rock and a hard place, although he could have at least stepped out into the hall for a few minutes to really make sure Mac was alright. And he obviously wasn't too concerned that she might turn to drink or he would have insisted she stay anyway or go to someone (maybe Bud and Harriet). No, he had wanted to talk to her about the reasons why Brumby couldn't let go of them and why they couldn't let go of it either. It had nothing to do with thinking she might get drunk.

- Now, about Renee's father. As I said before - pointless plot point. They could have kept Harm and Mac apart without resorting to such a tired clich�. How about Harm and Mac talk and mutually agree that Mac needs to get over Mic before they pursue anything between them? That would have been the adult way to handle it and probably wouldn't have offended the non-shippers too much (although there are some who get offended at even the hint of ANYTHING between Harm and Mac). I'm not even saying that they had to get rid of Renee in this episode. But there was a better way to keep them apart and keep the tension up than what we were actually served.

- And from where Mac was standing, there's no way she could have seen into Harm's window to see him consoling Renee. Again, an obvious slap in the face to shippers. We also could have done without that. TPTB were hitting us over the heads again. And why did Mac practically promise that they would talk when he got back, then apparently hightail it out of town as evidenced by the previews - and without even telling Harm. Now who's being insensitive?

To sum it up - characterization (with the exception of Harm) was all over the map, so much so that it seemed like we had three or four different people with the same names walking across the screen. Story was weak, clich�d and soap opera-ish. Consistency was almost non-existent, especially between Adrift I and II. Are we sure the same person wrote both episodes? Continuity was often lacking.

This is the worst season opener of JAG I've ever seen (AN � at the time) and not an episode that I look forward to seeing again - well, I could watch the phone call between Harm and Mac over and over again, except for her being a sobbing mess.

AN - The relationship stuff in the episodes was a complete 0. The flying scenes deserve a 5. So we'll split the difference and call it 2.5 for the episodes overall. Honestly, if Mic hadn't been gone and the writing on the wall that Renee was on the way out, I would have dropped JAG after this episode - that's how bad I thought it was.

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