JAG (TV Series) Desert Son (1995) User Reviews

"He said he was sorry"

[hindsonevansmike · 8/10 · 30 June 2021]

Action abounds in this October 1995 episode (so I don't regard anything written 26 years later in 2021 as a "spoiler").

This was Meg Austin's second episode and her character's chance to show some of the enthusiasm, grit and ingenuity which the writers were trying to impart to the "Harm side-kick" character as they moved on from Andrea Parker's Caitlin Pike character from the pilot episodes.

Tracey Needham gets into the role and - apart from driving Harm into a "free-fire zone" on a range (one knocked-over road-sign is all that it takes) - she comes up to the expected standards.

She also meets up with "Ollie North" (RL US hero from the time of filming) and generally the Harm-Meg duopoly is forming nicely.

The sub-text (retired General projecting expectations onto second-born after first-born has died "heroically") is well-handled.

"Desert Son"

[allmoviesfan · 8/10 · 14 April 2023]

Harm and Meg are in Twenty Nine Palms following a live fire accident where the wrong coordinates were communicated from Marine spotters to the artillery crew. The spotter in question was the son of the Marine commandant, a reluctant soldier following in the footsteps of his father and brother. As it turns out, father and son do not get on at all. Add that familial discontent to the fact that a Marine artillery captain seems to be stonewalling the investigation process in various ways, and there is plenty for the JAG investigators to unpack and unravel.

Dale Dye features as a Marine sergeant - I love Dye, a Marine Corps veteran who saw service in the Vietnam War, in everything - and a random cameo from Oliver North, who plays "Ollie" (zero marks for originality when naming that somewhat mysterious character) and who, of course, gained some notoriety from the Iran-Contra affair.

Another good episode in what I think is JAG's forgotten season. David James Elliott and Tracy Needham have an easy chemistry between them.

Some issues not valid

[shatch-56720 · 5/10 · 10 February 2023]

Being in a Direct Fire Field Artillery unit in the 1980's, a few errors were not accurate.

When a gun "shoots out", that gun is placed in a decommissioned mode. All members at the gun at the time exit the gun and the unit stands down until further notice. A cease fire freeze would take place at this point.

Also each FDC has a safety chart so they don't send inaccurate coordinates, azimuth and deflection. This is double checked by FDC.

I know it's just TV but it's so far off I had to laugh. Also nobody would ever be allowed in an active hot zone. Most of these issues happen when the battery is doing Hi Angle fire which requires the gun to lower its muzzle in order to reload.