Episode
JAG: Defenseless
Overview
Harm's skills as a lawyer are challenged when he defends a female ensign who claims she murdered an officer because her ""instincts"" told her he meant to hurt her. The ensign claims that when the officer entered her apartment on false pretenses, she felt threatened by him and killed in self-defense. Though the defense is decidedly thin -- no weapon was even found on the man's body -- Mac and Harm decide to stick with the case and are determined to help the ensign remember forgotten details of the event.
Details
- Series
- JAG
- Season
- Season 3
- Episode
- Episode 11
- Air date
- 1997-12-09
- Runtime
- 45 min
Episode context
Defenseless is Episode 11 in Season 3 of JAG. It aired on 1997-12-09. The runtime is 45 min.
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Episode 10: People v. Rabb
Harm meets with a Russian 'contact' in order to purchase documents that will prove his father was taken to Russia after being shot down in Vietnam. However, during the transaction, they are interrupted by a KGB agent, Col. Parlovsky who shoots & kills the Russian, then runs off as FBI agents show up, finding Harm over the body, with the gun & documents he wrestled away.
As the FBI wants to hold him for the murder of the Russian, Adm. Chegwiggen manages to have Harm transferred to a military brig, and court-martialed, much to the dismay of the FBI agents. CIA agent Clayton Webb, knowing that it was Parlovsky, not Harm that committed the shooting, arranges for Harm to escape from custody in hopes Parlovsky will contact Harm.
In the end, Parlovsky makes contact with Harm, but they both get away before Webb can catch them. Parlovsky tells Harm the documents were a fake and burns them. He then leaves, refusing to help clear Harm of the shooting.
Episode 12: Someone to Watch over Annie
Annie Pendry, a widow, comes to Harm for help after her young son, Josh, witnessed a murder while on a class trip to Andrews Air Force Base. After Harm and Josh are the targets of a drive-by shooting, Harm moves Josh and Annie into his apartment -- and into his life. Harm discovers that the original crime and the drive-by shooting are tied to a ruthless international arms dealer, but not before Josh is kidnapped by the dealer in order to silence him as a witness.
More episodes from this season
Episode 9: Impact
Harm & Bud are sent to Twenty-nine Palms Marine Base to investigate the mid-air collision of 2 helicopters & subsequent crash of one helicopter which killed the pilot.
Upon arrival at the crash site, they learn that the ""other"" aircraft was not another helicopter as was first thought. A piece of wreckage that is found that belongs to the ""other"" aircraft only deepens the mystery. When members of the Defense Security Division appear onscene with orders to take over the investigation and crash site, Harm becomes convinced that a major cover-up is in the works.
The base commander, Col. Barrett gives Harm time to investigate further. When Harm & Bud are out driving the base at night, they see an unknown type aircraft flying above them and follows it, but are soon blocked by a fence over the road marking the property of the ""Bradenhurst Corporation"".
Episode 13: With Intent to Die
Admiral Chegwidden investigates the apparent suicide of his mentor, Admiral Clancy, who allegedly shot himself while on a hunting trip with several friends. Chegwidden can't believe that his friend would kill himself, and discovers that someone else may have actually pulled the trigger.
Episode 8: Above and Beyond
When Harm, Mac and Bud are ordered to run a routine background check on a Navy SEAL who is a candidate for the Medal of Honor, they uncover unsavory information that may make him unworthy.
Lt. Rivers is up for a medal after he single-handedly rescues the undersecretary of state from fundamentalist terrorists. Harm and Mac, in their investigation, find Rivers, an African-American, to be a very tough, complex and uncommunicative individual who is totally devoted to his country and his duty. But his men paint a different picture of him as a gung-ho loner who doesn't care about the safety of his team and, in fact, botched the mission by leaving one of his men behind. Rivers finally agrees to open up to Harm -- but only if Harm can withstand arduous SEAL training for one day -- including the brutal manhandling required of the ""hostage interrogation.""
Episode 14: Father's Day
Due to frustration at being unable to wrest custody of his son from his drug addicted wife, Corporal Wetzel was distracted during a war game exercise and crashed a tank. Accused of dereliction of duty, Wetzel admits to being diverted on the job, but insists that Mac and Harm must keep him out of jail, since his arrest would certainly mean losing his son.
Harm and Mac like Wetzel and understand that his frustration accounts for his poor judgment. But nobody's more surprised than they when Wetzel winds up in a tank in a stand-off with the military, questioning why he's being forced to choose between being a marine and being a father.
Episode 7: Against All Enemies
International tensions mount as Harm, Mac and Bud board an aircraft carrier in the Sea of Japan to investigate the accidental shooting down of a North Korean civilian airline by Navy jets.
While negligence on the part of the Navy fliers is indicated, Harm and Mac uncover evidence of a spy aboard the carrier. Meanwhile, the threat of war becomes real when a U.S. salvage vessel is sent to the site to help with the investigation and two North Korean warships threaten to sink it if both U.S. ships don't leave the area immediately.
Episode 15: Yesterday's Heroes
When a luxury yacht owned by a reputed South American drug trafficker mysteriously sinks and the Navy is suspect, Harm, Mac and Bud are put on the case. Meanwhile, Artemus Sullivan, a World War II Navy veteran, with the help of his aged cronies, devises plans from a nursing home to make sure the drug dealer responsible for Sullivan's grandson's death is brought to justice. But when Sullivan is kidnapped by the drug dealers, his mettle is tested, as is that of Harm and his team as they race to rescue the war hero.
Episode 6: Vanished
When a fully armed and piloted Navy F-14 disappears during a storm, the JAG team is called in to investigate all possible scenarios, from pilot suicide and terrorism to the curse of the Bermuda Triangle and UFO interference.
When the plane's co-pilot surfaces, bloodied and disoriented, Harm and Mac get some new information that steers them away from Twilight Zone explanations and instead points them in the direction of kidnapping, terrorism and a hard-core militia group's plot to assassinate a PLO delegation heading for Washington by using the pilot -- and his plane -- to do the dirty work.
Episode 16: Chains of Command
Harm, Mac, and Bud investigate claims of sexual harassment aboard an aircraft carrier. Mac's boyfriend, Dalton Lowne, is the defendant's attorney, and Mac is shocked when she discovers that he has been copying information from her files.
In order to solve the case, and combat Lowne's dirty tricks, Harm enlists the aid of Congresswoman Bobbi Latham. Justice is served, though many people's lives are changes as the result of Lowne's tactics.
Episode 5: King of the Fleas
When a former Vietnam POW arrives at JAG headquarters to report a murder he's just committed, Harm confronts a very complex individual who may know something about his MIA father.
When Willie relates the fact that he was imprisoned with Harm's father and then blindsides Harm by claiming that his father was a turncoat, the information has a profound effect on the JAG lawyer. Willie, a very complex individual, has been waiting 30 years to tell his story in his own way. Ultimately, Harm finds out that Willie's murder victim was the contemptible, sadistic commander of the POW camp where Willie had been -- but that's just the beginning of Willie's incredibly sad war story.
Episode 17: The Stalker
Following her ugly break-up with Dalton Lowne, Mac has reason to believe that he's stalking her -- until he's killed during an apparent car-jacking and the stalking continues. Much to Harm's dismay, the strain of the two events pushes Mac to the edge -- and to the bottle. Concerned for Mac's safety and sobriety, Harm intensifies his search for Mac's tormentor before he causes her bodily harm.