Episode
JAG: Chains of Command
Overview
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.
Details
- Series
- JAG
- Season
- Season 3
- Episode
- Episode 16
- Air date
- 1998-03-03
- Runtime
- 45 min
Episode context
Chains of Command is Episode 16 in Season 3 of JAG. It aired on 1998-03-03. The runtime is 45 min.
Previous / Next
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 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.
More episodes from this season
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 18: Tiger, Tiger
When Harm takes young Josh on a weekend cruise for Navy families aboard the frigate, pleasure turns to fear when the ship is taken over by terrorists who intend to fire missiles at Cuba. After Josh and Harm manage to elude the terrorists, they try to contact authorities about the situation. But the plan goes awry when Harm is found out, and he then tries to strike a deal with the terrorists while also racing to foil the plot before the innocent civilians get hurt.
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 19: Death Watch
Mac arrives at Harm's apartment and is surprised to see that he has forgotten she was coming over and that he is getting to leave with a firearm. Stalling him, she gets him to tell her the story 2 years ago of the murder of his then-girlfriend, Lt. Diane Schonke, an Academy classmate, after her ship, the USS Seahawk docked in Norfolk. When Harm shows Mac a picture of Diane, Mac is stunned to see that Diane looks just like her.
When Harm tells Mac that he believes he has finally figured out who the real murderer is (Agent Turque) and that he intends to confront him, she gets him to initially agree to take her with him. Harm however tricks her and drives off, leaving Mac behind standing in the rain. Desperate to find Harm before he does something he'll regret, Mac calls Bud to meet her at JAG. Bud was an Ensign on Diane's ship and was one of the people who found Diane's murdered body. Bud tries to help Mac fill in the gaps and helps Mac learn that Agent Turque isn't the murderer.
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.
Episode 20: Imposter
Clark Palmer, a renegade government agent, breaks into Harm's apartment and incapacitates him. Palmer then makes a cast of Harm's face in order to prepare a mask that he can wear to pass for Harm. Palmer plans to murder the key witness in the trial at which Harm and Mac are currently prosecutors.
When Harm doesn't show up for the start of the trial, Mac takes his place, leaving Bud to search for the missing JAG lawyer. When Bud finds Harm trapped in an ingeniously booby-trapped apartment, the two must find a way to escape before the assassin can carry out his plan.
Episode 11: Defenseless
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.
Episode 21: The Return of Jimmy Blackhorse
Members of the JAG team encounter resistance from Navajo tribal elders when they insist on DNA testing to verify that human remains are those of heroic Navajo ""code-talker"" Jimmy Blackhorse, who has been missing since World War II. Forensic pathologist Lt. Cmdr. Teresa Coulter joins Harm and Mac on the case.
The Navajo elders consider it a sacrilege to tamper with the remains of the dead and, furthermore, the Navajo medicine woman is certain that the remains do not belong to the esteemed Blackhorse. While the veracity of scientific evidence is argued against that of tribal custom and the metaphysical, Teresa finds herself falling for Harm and putting the entire assignment in jeopardy.
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 22: Clipped Wings
Political pressures come into play after an F-14 pilot clips a ski helicopter during a NATO exercise over Italian airspace, killing six civilians. Harm and Mac are assigned to opposite sides in the case, but the Italian government wants to prosecute on its own.