The Second Season

J.A.G.: Judge Advocate General is about the judicial body of the United States Navy, Judge Advocate General's corps (J.A.G.). The individuals who serve in J.A.G. are military officers with specializations in legal matters; they are military lawyers. J.A.G. officers investigate, prosecute, and defend crimes involving persons and property connected to the Navy and Marine Corps. Their investigations take them all over the world, wherever U.S. military presence may be. The crimes include homicide, treason, espionage, terrorism, conspiracies, hostage situations, and other criminal acts. The season two content focuses on both action-packed investigations and courtroom proceedings.

At the end of J.A.G.'s first season, NBC cancelled the show. J.A.G. was given another chance when CBS picked up the series for its second season (and into its tenth and final season.) In the second season, the series takes a slightly different tone, becoming less action-packed and having more of a focus on the dramatic legal aspects. The second season also sees a change in regards to character focus, their general development, and relationships with each other. I found this to be a strong change because there were more characters to get to know, like, and dislike.

In regards to the characters, Harm's new partner is Marine Corps Major Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie (Catherine Bell). Mac has a hard personality, goes by the book, and fails to see eye-to-eye with Harm on many occasions. At first, she comes off as a cold, forced character, but slowly as we get to know her, she becomes an integral part of the show. The chemistry Bell has with Elliott is much better than her season one predecessors. Another addition to the cast is Lieutenant Bud Roberts (Patrick Labyorteaux). In season one, Bud was a guest star in a number of episodes as the public affairs officer on the USS Seahawk. Meg Austin, Harm's season one partner, recommended Bud to work in J.A.G. as a legal aid. In the beginning of season two, Bud was assigned to work with Harm in the day while he attended law school at night. Bud is a fun character who was brought in for comic relief. He adds a nice dynamic to the show's serious tone by bringing lots and lots of laughter.

Ensign Harriett Sims (Karri Turner) is a reoccurring character who shows up in a number of episodes. She plays Bud's love interest. They have an interesting relationship. While not an addition per se, Admiral A.J. Chegwidden's (John M. Jackson) role in the series becomes more than just pushing assignments across the desk to the J.A.G. officers. I thought this was a great move because he's a strong leader and an all-around interesting guy. The last major character to have a fairly big role in the season is the Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of State Clayton Webb (Steve Culp). Webb's title is a long winded cover for a CIA officer. He is the kind of character you aren't always sure if you like or dislike because of his secretive nature. What he offers the main cast is a special contact into the covert side of the government, which Harm uses on more than one occasion.

What I enjoyed most about this season was the change in the character dynamic. The series started to focus a lot more characters than just Harm. Some of these stories were a lot of fun. Bud and Harriett's developing relationship is a great aspect. It adds a lot of fun humor that balances out the serious nature of the show. For instance in "Washington Holiday", they have their first date. Chegwidden, as previously mentioned, is a strong character and he has some interesting back stories addressed in episodes like "Secrets" and "Ghosts". Mac and Harm's new friendship is put to the test in episodes like "Heroes" and "Rendezvous", where the two face each other in court. Clayton continually finds his ties to the CIA being important to Harm in episodes like "Secrets", "The Game Of Go", and "Washington Holiday".

In regards to the season two stories, the less action-packed nature fits well, although there is still a lot of action. And while some of the episodes come off slightly over-the-top in terms of the action and drama, the events were handled pretty well by the cast. The characters make the somewhat unbelievable events into something pretty exciting. Some of the stronger stories of the season include "Code Blue", where Harm faces a group of Islamic terrorists who have taken a hospital hostage, "Ghosts", a face from Chegwidden's days in Vietnam returns with a vengeance, "Force Recon", Harm goes undercover to find out if a Marine captain's training drills are 'deadly', and "Washington Holiday", Harm is put on a protective detail with a sultry princess who is in the crosshairs of an assassin.

Overall, I was quite happy with the season two episodes. I enjoyed the show's change in tone, the focus on a larger group of characters, and the stories all offered some exciting content. In the end, I think fans of the dramas with a legal investigation edge should enjoy everything this season has to offer.

Episode Guide

1. We The People: The original Declaration of Independence is stolen and being held for ransom by a Marine colonel who wants to remind the nation of its original meaning.
2. Secrets: A convicted spy escapes the brig and takes Admiral Chegwidden hostage, then orders a mock trial be held in order to prove that he is innocent.
3. Jinx: As the JAG team investigates a "cursed" squadron's streak of mid-air accidents, Harm finds himself attracted to his late friend's widow.
4. Heroes: Harm and Mac oppose each other in court for the first time over the case of a Navy SEAL accused of gunning down his best friend.
5. Crossing The Line: After being subjected to a hazing ritual, a female fighter pilot files sexual harassment charges against her commanding officer.
6. Trinity: When a Navy lieutenant's baby son is kidnapped in Ireland, Harm and Mac learn that the main suspect is the baby's father, an IRA terrorist.
7. Ghosts: When the Admiral's jogging path is booby-trapped, and a tiny Buddha statue is left as a calling card, he suspects a rogue CIA agent he knew from Vietnam.
8. Full Engagement: Harm and Mac are forced to make an emergency landing in the Appalachian mountains, where they encounter backwoods poachers who just murdered a game warden.
9. Washington Holiday: Harm escorts a beautiful Romanian princess around Washington, with a deadly assassin ho ton their trail. Meanwhile, Bud has his first date with Harriet Sims.
10. The Game Of Go: Harm tries to outsmart a Colombian drug lord who is using the body of a dead marine as a pawn to get what he wants from the U.S. government.
11. Force Recon: The JAG team investigates a Force Recon test exercise that nearly killed several men, and a tough Marine captain's old-school methods are being blamed.
12. The Guardian: The JAG team defends an ex-Navy SEAL, now homeless, when he is accused of using excessive force in killing three men who tired to hold up a convenience store.
13. Code Blue: Mac Rushes Harm to the emergency room after he is hit by a car. But while there, the entire hospital is taken hostage by an Islamic terrorist group.
14. Cowboys And Cossacks: When Harm and Bud board a Russian submarine in order to observe a war games exercise, they soon discover that the Russian captain plans to actually attack the U.S. submarine.
15. Rendezvous: Mac's new case hits too close to home when she is ordered to defend an abusive husband who is charged with murdering his cheating wife's boyfriend.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in its original television aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame color. The picture quality is not great, but it is not awful either. The picture has a fair amount of noise with noticeable dirt and grain. The picture, while rough, is still very viewable and should not ruin the viewing experience.

Audio:
The audio track supplied is an English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo surround sound track. The track is pretty clean sounding. Spoken dialogue is audible throughout the episodes. There is also a fair usage of the surround sound setup used with sound effects from gunfire, explosions, military aircrafts, etc. There is also support for closed captioning.

Extras:
The second season of J.A.G. comes with a collection of audio commentaries and two featurettes. The audio commentaries cover episodes "We The People" with Catherine Bell, "Crossing The Line" with David Bellisario and Avery C. Drewe, and "Washington Holiday" with Karri Turner and Patrick Labyorteaux. Setting Sail On Season 2 (17:40) is the first featurette. It features Charles Floyd Johnson, Donald P. Bellisario, Julie B. Watson, Avery Drewe, David James Elliott, Catherine Bell, Karri Turner, and Patrick Labyorteaux. They talk about the differences between season one and season two--direction of the show, different networks, etc. They also talk about characters (Mac, Bud, Chegwidden), the Navy and Marine Corps supporting the show, the issues they addressed, and so on. The last extra is Inside The Real JAG Corps (8:46) and it features real life JAG officers talking about the JAG Corps role, their experiences and pasts, the realism of the show, etc. The Navy officers who provide commentary are Lieutenant Commander Doug Barber, Commander Tracy Riker, and First Lieutenant Melissa Adams.

Final Thoughts:
After the first season of J.A.G. the series was cancelled by NBC. Fortunately, another network, CBS, was interested in keeping it around. CBS picked up the series and kept it running for an additional nine seasons. Along with the network change, there were changes made to the show's dynamic in terms of its characters and storylines. While the show remained action-packed, it started to focus more on developing a larger set of characters and incorporated more drama and humor. The end effect was a much better show. The new cast worked out much better and offered many exciting episodes. The only downside to season two is a small billet of episodes, because of the network switch only fifteen episodes were produced for season two. Regardless, J.A.G.: Judge Advocate General - The Complete Second Season comes strongly recommended.