The eighth season of JAG premiered on CBS on September 24, 2002, and concluded on May 20, 2003. The season, starring David James Elliott and Catherine Bell, was produced by Belisarius Productions in association with Paramount Television.
Two episodes, "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown", also introduced the team who later appeared in the spin-off series NCIS, which became a franchise in its own right.
Plot
Tenacious lawyer Lieutenant Colonel Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie (Catherine Bell), a by-the-book Marine, is tasked with prosecuting, defending, and enforcing the laws of the sea as a member of the Navy's elite Judge Advocate General Corps. Along with her partner Commander Harmon "Harm" Rabb, Jr. (David James Elliott) - a former Tomcat pilot - Mac investigates a plethora of cases including desertion ("The Promised Land"), oxygen deprivation ("In Thin Air"), sexual harassment ("Offensive Action"), a mishap aboard the USS Seahawk ("When the Bough Breaks"), and a death during surgery ("Complications"). Also this season, Bud Roberts (Patrick Labyorteaux) is injured in Afghanistan ("Critical Condition"), Petty Officer Jennifer Coates (Zoe McLellan) joins JAG ("All Ye Faithful"), Commander Theodore Lindsey (W.K. Stratton) returns ("Fortunate Son"), Clayton Webb (Steven Culp) goes missing in Paraguay ("A Tangled Webb"), and Rear Admiral A.J. Chegwidden (John M. Jackson) accidentally ejects from an F-14 Tomcat ("Heart and Soul"). Meanwhile, Lieutenant Loren Singer (Nanci Chambers) is murdered ("Ice Queen"), placing Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and his NCIS team directly in Harm's way ("Meltdown").
Conclusion. Bud and Coates's trip to Afghanistan takes a turn for the worse when Bud, attempting to save a young Afghan boy from a minefield is left badly injured with his right leg being lost after Bud steps on a landmine. As the JAG staff wait for news about Bud, everyone recalls their various meetings with Bud that have occurred over the last seven years, while Admiral Chegwidden and Lieutenant Singer both testify before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about the "dirty bomb" attack that was stopped in "Enemy Below" with the outcome eventually costing Alexander Nelson (Paul Collins) his job as SECNAV.
Harm and Mac are tasked with defending a Marine who converted to Judaism, deserted his unit after facing prejudice from them and his family and joined the Israeli Army. Turner is joined by Singer on the case and ultimately is disgusted by her attitude and actions. Bud returns home to begin rehabilitation after losing part of his leg in Afghanistan and is subsequently awarded the Purple Heart while Singer receives new orders.
Harm defends a Marine Gunnery Sergeant accused of murdering his wife but the man's refusal to let his young son testify hampers the Gunnery Sergeant's own claims of self-defense. Singer leaves and everyone's happy to see her go except for Sergei, which doesn't make Harm happy. Bud's father, Big Bud Roberts (Jeff MacKay) gets over himself and finally arrives at the hospital to help his son with rehab.
As U.S. Senator Edward Sheffield (Dean Stockwell) who was last seen in "Critical Condition" begins his tenure as the new Secretary of the Navy, having been sworn in to replace Alexander Nelson (Paul Collins), Harm finds himself partnered with a new JAG officer, Lieutenant Commander Tracy Manetti (Tamlyn Tomita) as Harm and Manetti find themselves prosecuting a Navy SEAL accused of recklessness during a wargame exercise which killed a civilian deputy sheriff while Mac and Turner defend the SEAL.
A routine flight from the USS Patrick Henry results in the RIO being left comatose after being deprived of oxygen for four minutes. When the RIO eventually dies, having never regained consciousness after slipping into a coma caused by the deprivation, a Petty Officer who works as the maintenance office on the ship is accused of negligent homicide. Harm is assigned to defend the Petty Officer while Mac prosecutes but Harm's attitude and conviction that the Petty Officer is guilty ultimately sees Admiral Chegwidden stepping in and severing Harm's connection to the case while Sturgis Turner is appointed as Harm's replacement. As the case drags on, Harm has a possible theory as to what happened but it's one that could be potentially fatal while Bud is getting increasingly restless and eager to return to work as a JAG lawyer but Harriet intentionally ruins his plans, as she fears for Bud's health.
Harm and Manetti defend a Navy pilot accused of ruining the career of an officer under her command because he rejected her sexual advances while Mac and Turner prosecute.
As a favor from Congresswoman Lillian Dorning, SECNAV Sheffield asks the JAG staff to get the story of a submarine, USS Angel Shark (SSGN-559), which was lost on a CIA mission in 1968, declassified as Congresswoman Dorning's father was the skipper of the submarine. Now, Harm, Mac and Sturgis must now take on the complex system of classified information and the CIA bureaucracy as well as a CIA lawyer who will stop at nothing in keeping the truth covered up.
A Joint Staff wargame ends with Harm battling to save the career of a marine Major General who's up for a court-martial due to the General disobeying orders, where he faces off in court against both Turner's prosecution and the judge, Mac.[note 1]
A misshap on the USS Seahawk results in the death of a man, prompting Lieutenant Singer to request that seven sailors be court-martialed. When Captain Johnson, the skipper of the Seahawk charges Singer with "conduct unbecoming" due to Singer being three and a half months pregnant, Mac is given the assignment of secretly investigating Lieutenant Singer while Harm attempts to find out what really happened.
Harm and Manetti travel to Naples to investigate whether a series of prostitute murders in Europe is related to a U.S. destroyer that makes ports of call in the same cities while Harriet learns of Singer's plight and tries to help her.
As the JAG team attempt to get together for Christmas, they each face a different crisis of their own. As Turner helps a young Corporal who has lost his home due to the Corporal's loud drumming playing and whose wife is due to give birth any moment, Harm and Admiral Boone attempt to get back to the United States and Petty Officer Jennifer Coates joins the JAG office on a permanent basis.
Harm and Mac are asked to investigate claims by a Marine General that a Navy doctor was negligent and killed the General's sixteen year-old daughter during surgery with the General believing that there was a cover-up concerning his daughter's death. Mac soon finds herself also battling to save the General's career when the General himself faces a possible court-martial after intimidating the Navy personnel who helped treat his teenage daughter while Bud is left increasingly frustrated by the low-level work he is given, until he stumbles onto a disability case that doesn't sit well with him while Harm angrily confronts Singer about her pregnancy. Bud is eventually granted permanent limited duty, bringing him back to JAG on a full-time basis.
A Navy whistle-blower claims a high-tech combat system is severely defective, but when Mac gets him released from the service, she discovers that he had an ulterior motive. Harm is targeted by an ambulance-chasing lawyer in a scam while the JAG staff hold a ceremony to celebrate Harm and Sturgis's respective and recent achievements (at the end of last season).
An American pilot accidentally bombs a British combat position in Afghanistan, killing three British soldiers and wounding three others. As the public and high-profile case gets underway, Mac and Bud prosecute while Turner defends with Harm serving as the judge, leading to tension between Harm and Mac as the case progresses.[note 2]
When Admiral Chegwidden accidentally ejects from an F-14 piloted by Rabb over the George Washington National Forest, he must call upon all his Navy SEAL training to try to survive until help arrives. While Rabb searches for him, Mac has to judge a case with Sturgis and Roberts as advocates.
When a torpedo with a nuclear warhead mysteriously disappears from a Navy submarine at Naval Station Norfolk, the base is put on lockdown. Sturgis personally heads to the submarine to investigate if the warhead's disappearance was accidental or something more sinister. Meanwhile, Harm is trapped in the base, having arrived to search for evidence concerning a Lieutenant who has been accused of stealing and is facing a court-martial. Harm soon discovers evidence of a Petty Officer who's planning to steal ten million dollars from the base.
When a Marine pilot who was born in Vietnam and came to the United States as a refugee at thefall of Saigon confesses to human trafficking, Harm and Mac must dig deeper to find the truth before the INS arrests him. In the aftermath of Chegwidden ejecting from an F-14, Commander Theodore Lindsey arrives at JAG for a review at the SECNAV's request, where the unpopular former JAG staff officer clashes with everyone he meets and promises to overturn the place he once worked.
177
19
"Second Acts"
Kenneth Johnson
Story by : Don McGill Teleplay by : Philip DeGuere, Jr.
The JAG office must come together to prevent Commander Lindsey's recommendations from being enacted. An enlisted Navy man who prevented a major terrorist disaster in Uzbekistan turns out to be the same person who was listed as having died in the 9/11 terror attacks.
The JAG staff find their usual routines being interrupted and their lives turned upside down as well as their dark secrets exposed when the badly decayed remains of Lieutenant Loren Singer who has been missing for three weeks are discovered in a tree in Potomac Park by a young boy scout searching for his arrow. As the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) team led by Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) investigates the circumstances surrounding Singer's murder, evidence eventually puts Harm forward as the prime suspect while Sergei, Harm's half-brother is believed to be the father of Singer's unborn baby. As this goes on, NCIS must also break a terrorist who could contain key information on a potential terrorist attack.[note 3]
As the JAG team try to cope with Harm's upcoming trial and also with the fact that they will have to testify against him, NCIS continue their investigation into Singer's murder while attempting to stop an impending terrorist attack but when Gibbs leaves to interview a captured terrorist, it falls to Gibbs's colleagues, NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Vivian Blackadder (Robyn Lively) to find the evidence that will ultimately lead them to the true killer and save Harm from a lifetime in the brig but time is running out...
CIA agent Clayton Webb returns and recruits Mac for a high-risk, undercover CIA assignment in the South American country of Paraguay while Bud must defend Sturgis when he is accused of incompetence on a case and Harm returns to work after being cleared of murdering Lieutenant Loren Singer.
With Mac undercover and out-of-touch, Harm turns to CIA attorney Catherine Gale (from "Need to Know") for help. Harm also plays along when she asks him to pose as her boyfriend in front of Gale's mother who is dying of heart failure.
When Webb and Mac go missing in Paraguay, Harm subsequently resigns his commission and heads off to rescue them. The episode ends with the biplane Mac and Harm are in crashes into a forest after being shot at by the group of terrorists pursuing them.
