The ninth season of JAG premiered on CBS on September 26, 2003, and concluded on May 21, 2004. The season, starring David James Elliott and Catherine Bell, was produced by Belisarius Productions in association with Paramount Television.
Commander Harmon "Harm" Rabb, Jr. (David James Elliott) and Lieutenant Colonel Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie (Catherine Bell) are lawyers assigned to the Headquarters of the Judge Advocate General, the internal law firm of the Department of the Navy. Mac, a seasoned Marine and JAG's Chief of Staff, is a lawyer-by-trade, while Harm, a former Tomcat pilot, turned to law following a crash at sea. Together, they investigate numerous cases, including espionage ("A Tangled Webb"), a death in combat ("The One That Got Away"), an Islamic conversion at sea ("Touchdown"), the death of an Iraqi prisoner ("The Boast"), and a Quaker who feels the Navy contradicts his fundamental religious beliefs ("Posse Comitatus"). Also this season, Harm departs JAG ("Shifting Sands") and is recruited by the CIA ("Secret Agent Man"), Commander Carolyn Imes (Dana Sparks) reveals she has faked her legal credentials ("Back in the Saddle"), the Secretary of the Navy (Dean Stockwell) is held accountable for deaths of foreign soil ("People v. SecNav"), the team reflect on what could have been ("What If?"), Mac must track down seized heroin ("Trojan Horse"), and Harriet Sims (Karri Turner) is given a commendation. Also, Bud Roberts (Patrick Labyorteaux) is promoted to Lieutenant Commander, the Admiral Chegwidden (John M. Jackson) retires, and Harm and Mac consider their future ("Hail and Farewell").
Production
During season nine, actor John M. Jackson "decided to 'retire' from his long-running role on the series".[1] The character of A.J. Chegwidden retired during the season finale,[2] and was replaced the next season by David Andrews as Major General Gordon Cresswell.
In Paraguay, Harm and Mac must escape pursuers determined to kill them, while also sorting through their feelings. Gunny Galindez must get an injured Webb to a hospital before he dies. At the end of the episode, there is a tribute to the late Trevor Goddard.
Harm returns to Washington and finds that the Admiral has processed his resignation. Harm visits Webb in the hospital and takes a job flying for the CIA. A Navy Petty Officer believed killed in the Gulf War turns up married to a local Bedouin sheik and is charged with desertion, aiding the enemy, and treason for supplying Saddam's regime with intel against U.S. troop movements.
Harm is recruited by the CIA and his first mission is to drop a bugged limo in the Philippines, but he and his partner end up as impromptu field agents trying to stop an anti-U.S. bombing. Mikey Roberts asks for advice from Mac when he is asked to testify at an honor code hearing. Bud and Harriet have a party after their son is born.
While conducting a flight test in the experimental Aurora spy plane, Harm and his co-pilot must conduct a surprise mission over North Korea. Mac deals with a Marine who let a 10-year-old Iraqi boy leave a combat area unhindered, which led to the boy notifying Iraqi fighters of the Marines' position and then the deaths of two Marines. The main plot is based on the incident surrounding Bravo Two Zero, an 8-man British Army SAS patrol that was inserted behind Iraqi lines with the task of destroying Scud missile launchers and ended up being compromised during Operation Desert Storm.
Mac is asked to defend a sailor accused of working with al-Qaeda after converting toIslam, leading to fraught interactions in court with Sturgis Turner when he doesn't have any issues with the sailor's (deserved) guilt and life sentence being earned via a foreign government's torture of a suspect. Harm's mission to extract an agent from Libya goes awry when the man wants his family evacuated as well, and he attempts the impossible by landing his C-130 Hercules on board the USS Seahawk, which appears to be the only safe landing point. After successfully landing the C-130 on the deck of the USS Seahawk, Harm is inadvertently shown on ZNN, which puts his CIA career at risk.[note 1]
Fired from the CIA (after he was seen on ZNN in "Touchdown"), Harm takes a job as a crop-duster. He meets Mattie, a 14-year-old tomboy and owner/operator of "Grace Aviation". Mac and Bud are surprised when a former colleague, who returns to JAG as Harm's replacement, reveals that her law credentials are fake. The Admiral asks the Secretary of the Navy to reinstate Harm's commission due to the massive backlog created from Commander Caroline Imes' failure to pass the bar exam and having to review all her previous cases.
Mac investigates when a Marine is accused of boasting about killing an Iraqi prisoner. Harm and the Admiral witness a Navy pitcher hit a Marine batter during a friendly baseball game, leading to the pitcher being charged with assault.
Harm's attempts to become Mattie's legal guardian (from "Back In The Saddle") are complicated due to his single status and bachelor lifestyle. Sturgis Turner finds a new girlfriend in the form of a USO vocalist (Erica Gimpel). Harriet Sims manages to complete her OIG liaison assignment. The Admiral has difficulties in giving a present to his girlfriend in time for Christmas, but Petty Officer Jennifer Coates manages to help out. After a Christmas sermon from Chaplain Turner (Bill Cobbs), Mac brings Mattie to Harm at the Vietnam Wall after convincing Mattie's father to allow Harm to be her guardian.
The admiral's investigation into Meredith's diamond engagement ring leads to an international smuggling operation involving blood diamonds, while Harm adjusts to having Mattie around full-time and rents a neighboring apartment for Mattie and Coates. The admiral's investigation leads him to the Naval Research Laboratory and a lieutenant smuggling lab-made diamonds on the black market. Meredith cheats on the admiral with a fellow professor from Italy.
Mac must defend a petty officer accused of murdering a female officer, but the man has no memory of the night in question, while a Navy SEAL who purchased nerve gas needs Bud's help to avoid prison.
When Iraqi civilians are killed in a bombing raid conducted by Navy fighters flying off the USS Enterprise, Secretary of the Navy Edward Sheffield (Dean Stockwell) agrees, in a calculated political move, to stand before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and he wants the best litigators JAG has to offer defending him on foreign soil. A babysitting incident with Little A.J. creates a rift between Bud and his brother Mikey.
A crash aboard an aircraft carrier appears to be a case of the pilot committing suicide, and Harm and Mac face off when Mac wants to hold the pilot's CO responsible.
The terrorist who held Mac and Webb prisoner in Paraguay returns, and Mac must determine what he wants with her. Harm suffers temporary deafness when his car batteryexplodes in his face, courtesy of Sadik Fahd (Bernard White). After a bit of hand-to-hand combat, Mac shoots and kills Sadik before he can destroy an American nightclub.
A former marine is accused of stolen valor after claiming an unearned Silver Star from Panama, 1989. The fallout from Mac's killing Sadik Fahd (from "Persian Gulf") affects her ability to work on the stolen valor case. Mattie continues to work through her feelings about her father. (The episode finishes when Mac says "He hurt someone I love" and Webb thinks she means him, when she really meant Harm for the battery explosion).
As the JAG team celebrates Coates's promotion to Petty Officer First Class, a glance at an alternate reality finds Harm and Mac as a bitter divorced couple regularly berating each other, the admiral a civilian prosecutor, Bud a hot-tub salesman, Sturgis as the manager for his fiancée, Varese, Coates back to her old habits as a master thief, and Harriet a well-to-do but lonely socialite.
Mac gets a handful of trouble when she is assigned to guard a female Marine prisoner (who meets every single 'angry black woman' stereotype) after being critical of the Marines originally assigned to the task. A Navy senior chief who contracted HIV after supposedly getting a blood transfusion in Africa seeks help after being exposed by his commanding officer. The admiral ends his engagement to Meredith. Guest-stars Dennis Haskins.
Harm and Mac square off over a Marine general who spoke about the War on Terror and equated the God of Islamwith Satan. Sturgis must deal with the complaint of anti-Korean bias against him from "Close Quarters". Bud successfully gets the complaint against Sturgis dropped and regains the level of friendship and professional trust lost in the earlier case.
When a kilo of heroin seized during a SEAL operation goes missing, Harm and Mac must determine where it went. The intrigue is compounded by the presence of a British MI6 agent, Simon Tanveer. Bud defends a Marine who won an American Idol-type competition, only to have the record company object when he is deployed.
Harriet is given a commendation for her work with the USO tour and announces her pregnancy with twins and resignation from JAG for the IRR. Sturgis Turner goes to sea to investigate the deaths of 6 people; one of whom is Webb. The Admiral announces his retirement as Judge Advocate General of the Navy. Mac undergoes an exploratory laparoscopy, and the news is not good.[note 2] Harm discovers that Mattie's father was not drunk when her mother died and must let her go back to live with him. Harm and Mac attend Admiral Chegwidden's dining out and once again discuss their relationship and how the 5-year pact they made has come due. The Admiral's final official act on active duty is to swear-in Bud to the grade of lieutenant commander.
