Welcome back to The Deep Dive. Today we're, well,
we're basically setting the time circuit for
September 1998. Oh, a great year. Right. The
internet is still making that terrible screeching
dial -up noise. Flip phones are the absolute
height of cool. And on CBS, a certain show about
military lawyers is just, it's about to hit its
absolute stride. We are talking about season
four of JAG. It's, um... It really is a pivotal
moment in television history and certainly for
this series in particular. If you look at the
whole trajectory of JAG, season four is... I
mean, it's really where the show grows up. It
ran from September 1998 to May 1999. And it marks
this incredibly distinct shift in tone, critical
reception, and even institutional support. Exactly.
I feel like those first few seasons, they're
really just finding their legs. You know, balancing
the action with the courtroom stuff. Right, trying
to find an identity. Yeah, they were trying to
figure out if they were a top gun or a few good
men. But season four, this is where the ratings
just climb. The military officially gives them
this massive bear hug. And the storytelling gets...
It just gets deeper. It does. And that's really
our mission for this deep dive with you today.
We want to explore exactly how Jaggy evolved
from a show that was, you know, heavy on the
action adventure tropes into a genuinely sophisticated
legal drama. We have so much ground to cover.
We really do. Everything from the resolution
of the massive MIA father storyline to Mac's
traumatic past just coming back to haunt her.
And we can't forget the international incidents
that the baby packed, which we definitely need
to unpack because that is just a legendary moment
in TV romance history. Oh, absolutely. And the
fact that the season ends with the main character
basically quitting his job. It's a bold season.
But let's start with the production context,
though. You mentioned the ratings climbing earlier.
That really isn't an exaggeration. No, the numbers
are actually wild. According to the data we have,
high school ratings were up 11 % compared to
season three. Which is huge. It is a massive
jump for a drama in its fourth year. I mean,
usually shows start to plateau or dip by then.
JAG was accelerating. And even more telling are
the specific demographics. We saw an 8 % bump
in adults. 18 to 49, and a 10 % increase in the
25 to 54 bracket. Oh, wow. For a network show
in the late 90s, growing your audience four years
in is a huge achievement. It actually finished
as the 14th most watched show in the United States.
That puts it right in the big leagues. That's
beating established hits and cultural icons of
the era. And the critics were starting to notice,
too. We have a review here from Michael Killian
in the Chicago Tribune that really sums up this
whole vibe shift. Right. Killian was one of the
very first major critics to spot what was happening.
He noted that the scripts had become, quote,
more intelligent and realistic. Realistic. Yes.
He specifically pointed out that the show moved
away from the pure action orientation of the
first season towards something much more sophisticated
and personal. It's interesting because usually
critics are pretty hard on military procedurals.
Very hard, yeah. They tend to write them off
as jingoistic or just simple. So for a prominent
critic to say, hey, this is getting intelligent.
That's a really big deal. He even mentioned that
Jag had carved out a niche that was evidenced
by numerous fan Internet sites. Now, for those
of you who didn't live through the Internet in
the 90s, having a dedicated web ring or a message
board community in 1998. Oh, man, web ring. Right.
It was a burgeoning metric of success. It meant
you had a sticky audience that really wanted
to discuss the show long after the credits rolled.
It's literally the birth of Internet fandom.
But beyond the fans and the critics, there was
another group that decided they really liked
what they were seeing, which is the United States
Navy itself. This is a crucial piece of the puzzle
for season four. By this point, the Navy had
become wildly enthusiastic about supporting the
series. Which hadn't always been the case, right?
I mean, early on. No, it had been a bit cooler
in the beginning. In the early days, particularly
when the show was on NBC, the producers wanted
more maverick behavior. You know, defying orders,
going rogue. And... The Pentagon isn't exactly
a fan of that portrayal. Not at all. But by season
four, the relationship had warmed significantly.
We actually have a quote here from Captain Ron
Morse from the Navy Office of Information West,
which, I have to say, sounds like a sinister
organization, but it's essentially just the liaison
office in Los Angeles. Exactly. It's the bridge
between the fleet and Hollywood. Captain Morse
went on record saying, and I quote, we treated
JAG the way we would any other production. We
look at the scripts, the principal characters,
and how they respond to the situations they're
presented. How they respond to situations. That
is really interesting phrasing. It implies they
aren't necessarily censoring the plot. Like,
you can have a murder, you can have a plane crash.
Right. But they are heavily monitoring the behavior
of the personnel. Exactly. They want to ensure
that even if the situation is totally dramatic
or fictional, the officer's reaction reflects
the core values of the Navy. And apparently,
Commander Radd and Major McKenzie passed the
test. With flying colors, Captain Moore said
the Navy viewed them as, quote, attractive, smart,
dedicated individuals who behave the way naval
officers should. So the verdict was that the
show reflected well on the Navy. And that kind
of support translates to massive production value,
too. Because of this relationship, the production
filmed partially on location in Washington, D
.C. for this season. You simply can't fake that
level of realism on a soundstage. When you see
Harmon Mack actually walking near the Capitol
or the monuments, it totally grounds the series.
It stops feeling like a backlot in Van Nuys and
starts feeling like a real geopolitical drama.
It creates this symbiotic relationship. The show
gets the authentic backdrop and access, and the
Navy gets a primetime showcase of competence
and duty. It completely differentiates Jaggy
from your standard police procedural. Law and
order has the streets of New York, but Jag had
real aircraft carriers and the actual Pentagon.
Right. Speaking of differentiation, we really
need to get into the story now because season
four kicks off with a massive resolution to a
cliffhanger from season three. We are talking
about the episode Gypsy Eyes. This is the premiere.
And honestly, if this was a movie, it would be
a summer blockbuster. If you recall, season three
ended. with Harm and Mack presumed dead in Russia
after an altercation with a Russian fighter pilot.
Right, the Russians are claiming they died on
a demo ride in a MiG -29. It's a total cover
-up. But we the audience, we know better. We
saw them punch out. Indeed. The premiere reveals
they ejected right before the jet was hit by
an air -to -air missile. But now they are stuck
deep in Russia, miles from any help, and they
need to stay totally under the radar, which leads
to the gypsy connection. They encounter a brother
and sister, Vasya and Rusa. They are essentially
traveling performers, nomads. Harm and Mack have
to disguise themselves as gypsies just to travel
by wagon to a train station. It's very cloak
and dagger. Very Cold War thriller. Yes. But
there is this psychological, almost supernatural
layer here, too. Yeah. Rusa, the sister, has
a terrifying vision. She claims to have the sight.
She actually sees Russian soldiers attacking
her and killing Harm before he can save her.
That sets a really ominous tone for the episode.
Harm is convinced it's just a vision, that it
won't come true. He's the pragmatist, of course.
But as they travel, the tension just keeps ramping
up. They eventually get detected by Falcon, the
KGB agent we've seen before. Rex Lynn's character.
Yes. He's a formidable antagonist, usually. Yeah.
So there's this moment of hesitation. Do they
trust him? They decide they have to. And he takes
them back to Moscow. There, they reunite with
Admiral Chegwiden and Clayton Webb. And we meet
Alexei, who is a double agent. I just love his
motivation here. He's loyal to the CIA simply
because they pay him the best. Practicality over
ideology. That feels very 90s post -Soviet Russia.
It really does. But the real emotional weight
of this arc isn't the escape itself, it's the
destination. They finally arrive in Svichevo.
This is where the core mission of the series
comes to a head. Harm has been years searching
for his father, Harman Rab senior. This has been
the engine of the entire show since the pilot
episode. Harm literally joined Jag to find out
what happened to his dad in Vietnam, and now
they are in Russia, meeting a woman who cared
for Harm Sr. after his escape from the Gulag
in Vorkuta. And this is where that vision from
Rusa comes back into play in a chilling way.
It honestly gives me goosebumps just thinking
about it. The woman tells a story that mirrors
Rusa's vision exactly, except it happened to
Harm Senior, not Harm Junior, and it happened
to her, not Rusa. So the vision was a retro cognition,
like an echo of the past. The woman confirms
that Russian soldiers attacked them. Harm Senia
died defending her. It's a brilliant narrative
echo. It suggests that the trauma of the past
is literally echoing into the present. The woman
in Sfichevo lived the nightmare that Rusa feared.
It connects Harm's father's suffering directly
to the danger Harm is currently in. And the outcome
of all this. The woman takes Harm to the location.
Harm Sr. was buried in an unmarked grave in the
Taiga. Harm actually finds the grave. He finds
the cross. Wow, that's just final. For three
years, fans thought, maybe Dad is still alive,
maybe he's a prisoner, maybe he's a spy. And
Gypsy Eyes shuts that door completely. It is
a massive narrative pivot for the writers to
take. From a character psychology standpoint,
Harm has to find a completely new purpose. He
can't be the son searching for his father anymore.
He is just a man now. a man who finally knows
the truth. It forces a heavy maturity onto the
character. He has to accept loss and figure out
how to move forward, but he isn't the only one
facing major demons this season. If the first
part of this deep dive was about Harm's past,
this next section is undoubtedly about Major
Sarah McKenzie's past. Mack goes through it.
Season four really puts Mack through the wringer.
It feels like the writers decided to deconstruct
her stoic marine exterior just to see what was
underneath. We have to talk about People v. Mac.
This is such a heavy episode. Mac is actually
charged with murder. And the victim is her estranged
husband, Chris Ragle. Played by Joe Lando, he's
a really shady character. He's an ex -convict
who shows up in an earlier episode, Mr. Rab goes
to Washington looking for money. He's basically
the living ghost of Mac's bad decisions. And
later, in People v. Mac, he's found dead in a
hotel room. And it looks incredibly bad for Mac.
Her fingerprints are on the weapon. But it gets
complicated fast because Mick Brumby, the Australian
Exchange Officer, is defending Mac's former lover
and commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Farrow.
It becomes this intense triangular conflict in
the courtroom. Harm is defending Mac. Brumby
is defending Farrow. Both Mack and Farrow were
at the scene, and Brumby's strategy is essentially
to blame Mack to save his own client. Which causes
a massive amount of friction. Farrow claims he
killed Chris to protect Mack. Mac claims she
killed Chris. Huh. Harm and Bud Roberts realize
that neither of them is actually telling the
whole truth. Right, they're both trying to fall
on their swords for each other. It turns out
there's a surprise witness who was hiding in
the bathroom. The absolute truth is revealed
that Mac killed Chris accidentally in self -defense
when he pulled a gun on her during a struggle.
It clears her name legally, but think about the
psychological trauma of that. Killing your estranged
husband. Even in self -defense, that leaves a
permanent mark. It forces Mack to confront the
violence of her past relationships head on. And
this episode also highlights the introduction
of Commander Ted Lindsay, right? Yes. He leads
the prosecution against Mack, and he manages
to permanently alienate himself from the entire
JAG staff during this trial. He represents the
bureaucratic cold side of the law, the side that
doesn't care about the truth as much as securing
a conviction. It really highlights the internal
politics of the JAG office, showing that sometimes
the enemy is inside the building. But Mac's family
trauma doesn't stop with her husband. We absolutely
have to talk about Juggle Bells. A Christmas
episode with a very dark twist. This introduces
Chloe Madison, played by a young Mae Whitman.
She's essentially Mac's little sister from a
mentorship program. But Chloe is a real handful.
She's tough. She's cynical. Very precocious.
She initially claims she's suffering abuse from
a stepfather, which instantly triggers Mac's
protective instincts. But it turns out Chloe
is lying about the abuse just to get attention.
However, the real tragedy is her actual backstory.
She is the daughter of a sailor who died in the
USS Stark incident. For you listening who might
not know, the Stark was the frigate hit by Iraqi
missiles back in 1987. So Chloe is a Navy junior
who lost a parent to a very real historical war
event. Exactly. Mack has to navigate this incredibly
fragile relationship, which forces her to confront
her own maternal instincts and her ability to
connect with a damaged child. It's Mac looking
in a mirror in many ways. And it connects the
fictional narrative of Jag to real naval history
again. Mac isn't just helping a random kid, she's
helping a child of the fleet. And then the hits
just keep coming for Mac. In the episode's second
site, her father is dying in a Catholic hospice.
And she struggles with deep, deep resentment.
Her father was an alcoholic, her childhood was
abusive, and just incredibly difficult. In this
episode, her mother appears, played by the wonderful
Conchata Farrell, and reveals the truth about
why she left Mac with her father all those years
ago. It's layer after layer of Mac's past being
peeled back. She thought her mother abandoned
her. Turns out her mother was literally forced
out. Mac has to process all this new information
and find a way to forgive while her father is
literally taking his last breaths. And then on
a professional level, there is Act of Terror,
where she faces her former law professor. one
need a wrestler. A very antagonistic figure.
Wrestler once told Mac she'd make a better lap
dancer than an attorney. Ouch. That is so specific
and cruel. It shows the sheer disrespect Mac
has had to overcome. She had to fight to be a
Marine, fight to be a lawyer, and fight to be
taken seriously by the people meant to guide
her. So when you look at season four specifically
for Mac, it is a season of profound confrontation.
She confronts her ex -husband, her father, her
mother, and her mentor. It perfectly explains
why the critics called the show more sophisticated.
You just can't tell these stories with only explosions
and dogfights. You need real acting. You need
character -driven drama. It's not just about
who flew the plane upside down anymore. Although,
to be totally fair to the genre, we do have plenty
of case files this season that deal with planes
and military ethics. Let's move into those. There
are some truly fascinating ethical dilemmas presented
this season that really stand out. Take Angels
30, for example. This one sounds wild. An F -14
pilot refuses to fire on an Iraqi plane. Why?
Because he says he hears the voice of God. It's
a classic conflict between faith and duty. Harm,
being the pragmatist and the lawyer, desperately
seeks a scientific explanation. He just can't
accept, God told me not to shoot as a valid legal
defense or a tactical reality. The Navy runs
on orders, not divine intervention. So what exactly
does he do to prove it? He attempts to duplicate
the exact mission. He actually goes up in the
air to treat and find a physical source for the
voice. He suspects some kind of atmospheric interference
or radio cross -chatter from another channel.
It's a great example of how the show treats these
mysteries with genuine respect for the pilot's
spiritual experience, but an absolute need for
factual evidence. It's interesting that Harm,
who just had a somewhat supernatural experience
with the vision in Russia, is the one demanding
science here. That's the duality of his character,
perfectly summarized. He wants to believe, but
his training demands proof. Then we have Mr.
Raab Goes to Washington, which feels incredibly
relevant even today. It deals with media ethics
and essentially fake news. It really does. A
ZNN reporter named Norman Delaporte claims U
.S. troops used chemical weapons, specifically
sarin gas in the Gulf War against defectors.
That is a massive accusation. I mean, that's
a severe war crime. It is. Harm is assigned to
assist Congresswoman Bobbi Latham in the official
investigation. They dig deep into the claims,
and this is where the show takes a very hard,
specific stance. And what do they find? It's
a sensationalist fraud. The reporter was completely
driven by ratings, not truth. He deliberately
manipulated footage and coerced witnesses. And
we should be clear for you listening, we're just
analyzing how the writers chose to frame this
issue. The show uses this plot to present its
own perspective on media. I love the observation
harm makes here though. He asks a rhetorical
question. Why should the public believe ratings
-driven reporters over the ordinary service members
who bear the real cost of war? Right. It reinforces
that Navy endorsement we talked about earlier.
The narrative positions the military personnel
as the truth -tellers against what it portrays
as a sensationalist media complex. It's a very
specific worldview. We also get some intense
international incidents this season. Embassy
sounds like a pure action movie plot. Harm and
Mac are trapped in the Sudanese embassy. It is
a total diehard scenario. Rebel sees the building.
Mac has taken hostage along with all the VIPs.
Harm is loose in the building, crawling through
ducts, taking out bad guys one by one. And this
is where we get the classic MacGyver style move.
Harm uses a cigar to signal Morse code via the
live news feeds. It's brilliant television. The
rebels are broadcasting their demands on live
TV. Harm finds a camera, stands in the background
in the shadows, and uses the glowing tip of a
cigar to flash a message to the outside world.
He intentionally fails to light the cigar in
a rhythmic pattern, so the rebels just think
he's struggling with a match. It perfectly blends
the action hero trope with the intelligence officer
skill set. He's not just shooting, he's communicating.
And on the completely other end of the spectrum,
we have innocence. This is a massive culture
clash episode set in Japan. A U .S. enzyme is
accused of rape. The team goes to Japan and they
have to navigate the extreme differences between
the Japanese and American legal systems. Specifically,
they deal with the Status of Forces Agreement,
or SOFA. The Japanese legal system has a very
high conviction rate, historically around 99%,
and operates very differently regarding the presumption
of innocence and interrogation techniques. The
show explores the real -world tension of a U
.S. service member being subject to foreign law.
So it's not just a who doonit about proving he
didn't do it. It's about navigating a foreign
culture where the rules might feel totally alien
to an American audience. Exactly. And to make
matters worse, his commanding officer makes these
off -the -cuff arrogant comments to the press
that just inflame the situation. It vastly complicates
the diplomatic relations. It forces the viewer
to step outside the American comfort zone. And
it highlights the role of the JAG officer, not
just as a lawyer, but as a diplomat in uniform.
It shows the show's incredible range. I mean,
from diehard in Sudan to comparative legal theory
in Tokyo, range is definitely a good word for
it, because while all this high stakes legal
stuff is happening, the personal lives of the
characters are getting. Very complicated. Let's
talk about relationships. Well, we certainly
have to talk about the newcomer, Royal Australian
Navy Commander Mac Brumby. Mac Brumby. He arrives
as an exchange officer and immediately there
is just intense friction with harm. It's a rivalry
on multiple levels, professional and personal.
They clash in the courtroom repeatedly, most
notably in People v. Mack, as we discussed, and
later in Wilderness of Mirrors. Brumby is the
perfect foil for harm. He's brash, he's Australian,
he's very open about his feelings, whereas harm
is reserved and traditionally American. And Brumby
isn't shy about his romantic interest in Mack.
Not at all. He pursues her openly. This forces
harm to confront his own feelings, even if he
flat out won't admit them to himself. But the
absolute biggest relationship moment, maybe of
the whole series up to this point, happens in
the episode. Yeah, baby. Ah, the baby pact. Yes.
You have to set the scene for us. This is iconic.
So Bud Roberts is prosecuting a pregnant Marine
Sergeant who really wants to stay in the Corps
despite her pregnancy. Meanwhile, his wife, Harriet
Sims, goes into labor with their child. Emotions
are running incredibly high regarding parenthood,
family, and the future. And on the steps of JAG
headquarters. Harm and Mack have a quiet moment
alone. They are reflecting on Bud and Harriet's
happiness. And they make an agreement. If they
are both single in exactly five years, they will
have a child together. A child? Not just we'll
try dating, but we will literally have a baby.
It raises the stakes of the will -they -won't
-they dynamic to an astronomical level. It acknowledges
that they see a future together, even if they
aren't emotionally ready for it right now. It
gives the fans, the shippers, a concrete timeline.
five years. That is a defining moment for TV
romances. It's basically them admitting, you
are my backup plan, but really you're my primary
plan that I'm just too scared to execute right
now. Perfectly put. But Harm does have a personal
life outside of Mac this season. He dates Navy
psychiatrist Jordan Parker. Played by Susan Haskell,
she appears in Juggle Bells and Wilderness of
Mirrors. It's a significant relationship because
it shows Harm actually trying to build a connection
with someone who can clinically analyze him.
Jordan challenges him. She calls him out on his
emotional unavailability. It's perhaps exactly
what he needs after the death of his father,
someone to help him process his grief. And speaking
of Harm's physical and mental state, there is
a massive medical breakthrough for him in Second
Sight. He learns he was misdiagnosed with night
blindness. This is a huge plot point. Remember,
Harm was a pilot first. He lost his flight status
because of night blindness, which is the entire
reason he became a lawyer. Right. The whole foundational
premise of the show is pilot becomes lawyer because
he can't fly at night. But in this episode, a
doctor tells him it wasn't night blindness at
all, but a different minor condition that can
be fully corrected with laser surgery. This is
huge. Because if that gets fixed... It opens
the door for him to return to the cockpit. It
plans to see that Jaggy might not be his permanent
home. Before we get to where that leads, we absolutely
have to mention Bud and Harriet. They are the
stable heart of the show. They're growing up
too. Bud is promoted to lieutenant. Harriet is
promoted to lieutenant junior grade. But they
face severe family drama in the adversaries.
This is the episode with Bud's father, Big Bud.
Bud has to defend his father against major fraud
charges. It's an incredibly tricky legal and
emotional situation. And harm actually prosecutes
the case. That is so awkward, prosecuting your
best friend's dad. It is. But the interesting
beat is at the very end. Harm wins the case effectively,
but he orders Bud Senior never to tell Bud the
real truth about the case outcome, specifically
about a plea deal or the specifics of his guilt,
just to protect Bud's idealized image of his
father. It shows Harm's deeply protective nature
over his younger colleagues. Okay, we are heading
toward the end of the season now. We have some
major recurring bad guys. Clark Palmer returns
in Wilderness of Mirrors. He's a former DSD agent,
Department of Special Defense. He plays a remarkably
cruel game, gaslighting Harm by pretending to
be his dead father on the phone. That is twisted,
especially after Harm just found his father's
grave a few months prior in Russia. Exactly.
Palmer knows exactly where to hurt harm most.
He also kidnaps Jordan Parker. It's a full -on
psychological thriller episode. Palmer isn't
physically imposing, but he is mentally terrifying.
He attacks harm's sanity. And the admiral even
gets involved in this one. He enlists Bud, Mac,
and Mike to help while he's also trying to prepare
for a Supreme Court case. Yes. There's a great
subplot where Bud has to act as the mock chief
justice to help Chegwooden prepare. It adds some
much needed levity to a very dark episode. Then
we have Charlie Lynch. The serial killer. He
appears in Nobody's Child and returns in the
finale, Goodbyes. He is a total chameleon. He
targets a young girl and Harm becomes entirely
obsessed with the case. Harm sees himself as
the ultimate protector. Which leads us directly
to the season finale, Goodbyes. The title really
says it all. Harm tracks Lynch to a ship to save
the twin sister of a previous victim. There is
a brutal confrontation and he manages to save
the girl. But the real climax happens back at
JAG headquarters. Admiral Chegwitten offers Harm
a choice. Harm's eyes are fixed now. He is officially
medically cleared to fly again. Chegwitten gives
Harm a chance to stay at JAG to keep doing the
legal work. He basically says, you can stay here
and be a great lawyer. And Harm declines. He
declines. He chooses to fly. There's a beautiful
scene where he receives F -14 manuals from his
old RIO, Skates Hawks. He holds them like they're
pure gold. And the season ends with Harm leaving
Jag. It completely upends the status quo. The
lead lawyer is no longer a lawyer. He's a pilot
again. It signals that season five is going to
be completely different. It was a massive gamble
by the showrunners. Imagine being a fan in May
1999. The show just had its best season. Ratings
are way up and the main character just walked
out the door. It created immense anticipation
for the next season. It showed that the show
wasn't afraid to change its fundamental dynamics.
So let's wrap this up. What a journey. We started
with Harm and Mack basically dead in Russia and
we ended with Harm quitting to fly at 14s. It
is definitively a season of maturing. The production
values went up, the ratings went up and the characters
had to grow up. harm let go of his father's ghost,
Mac confronted her family trauma, they made a
pact for the future. And the Navy gave it two
big thumbs up. Which brings us to our final thought
for you to ponder. The collaboration between
the Navy and the production team was tighter
than ever in season four. It definitely added
realism, but it does make you think. It raises
a very valid question. Does the Navy's enthusiastic
support reviewing scripts to see how characters
respond to situations make the show a more authentic
portrayal of duty? Or does it subtly turn the
entertainment into a carefully curated public
relations tool? Is it art imitating life or life
curating art to ensure the image remains pristine?
That is definitely something for you to chew
on, especially when you watch Mr. Rab goes to
Washington and see the media portrayed as the
villain while the military is the victim. It's
a perspective worth analyzing for yourselves.
Absolutely. Thank you for listening to this deep
dive into JAG Season 4. It's been a pleasure
unpacking the dossiers with you. Always a pleasure.
We'll see you on the next one. Dismissed.