Everytime I watch the pilot episode for JAG I can't help but wonder about the squandered potential of the series. While I'm still a fan of JAG I would have liked this series more if they had followed the plan outlined in the pilot episode. A fun, adventure of the week series with military action and sparingly used legal drama instead of overdrawn legal battles in the courtroom which permeated the eventual series. The pilot episode was fun, exciting, and action packed. It was airy and lighthearted while still managing to highlight (rather well I may add) the tension and high stakes of every situation in the episode. It well written, funny and the cast was well balanced and preformed spectacularly which brings be to the biggest what if...the cast. I know this will probably be an unpopular opinion but the dynamic of the pilot cast was better suited than when we got in the actual series. I don't know what was the excuse the network or producers put forth to not make Andrea Parker, Kevin Dunn, and W. K. Stratton part of the regular cast but in my opinion they would had better contrast to David James Elliott how was by far the right casting choice for Harm and played the part excellently in both the pilot and series (right up to the end when he just looked rather uninterested). Not to say that the eventual castings of Catherine Bell, Patrick Labyorteaux, and John M. Jackson gave bad performances, because they didn't but there was hardly any chemistry and no balance whatsoever (i.e. Look at both the Admiral and Mac trying to constantly outdo each other as the gruffest person in the room). Dunn and Stratton's Bovo and Lindsey had great contrast with each other and provided balance to Harm (Bovo's good humor and nature in contrast to the straight laced Lindsey balanced out the charming, debonair Harm). My last point is probably the least popular but Andrea Parker and her character Kate were a better love interest for Harm than Catherine Bell and Mac. At the end of the pilot episode it is heavily implied (and later confirmed) that Harm and Kate had a relationship which would have hopefully ended the tedious 'will they/won't they' trope the series struggled through from season two onward (Not to mention the horrible Mac looks like Diane plot points - did Harm love Mac for Mac or because he reminded her of Diane?) There could have been tension as a result of a fallout from their relationship but there would be closure in the sense that they would have confessed their feelings for one another and had a relationship instead of the quagmire that has never been resolved. Case in point look at Harm and Mac's cameos in NCIS:LA which still showed them as having never married despite the series finale of JAG itself. A twenty-year 'love affair' with no closure whatsoever did a great disservice to the characters and to mention the fans of the series. Also, Parker / Kate's personality was way more lighthearted, charming, and funny while still being assertive and demanding when the situation required. A stark comparison to the mostly emotionless Mac who always seemed like a statue. And I know it's choice since Mac was a Marine but the woman never looked like she was a pleasant person to be around. After all, television like movies should be escapist in nature primarily and that's what was sold in the pilot episode however, unfortunately JAG may have been one of the biggest bait and switch series in history. Like I said, the series was good and I saw every episode but when looking at the pilot I just can't help to wonder what could have been and the wasted opportunities.
Review of A New Life: Part 1
