"Heroes" is an episode of JAG that first aired on January 24, 1997. Directed by Tony Wharmby. Written by R Scott Gemmill.
Petty Officer First Class Mark Harridan (Quinn Duffy) is a Navy SEAL on a dangerous mission to confiscate a terrorist's explosives cache. The SEALs secure the cache, but Harridan dies due to bullets fired by Chief Petty Officer Greg Connors (Steven Flynn).
A hearing is convened to determine whether Connors should be court-martialed for murder. Rabb prosecutes, Mac defends. Mac contends that Harridan's death was the unfortunate result of "friendly fire."
Harridan's mother (Rutanya Alda) brings Rabb a letter her son wrote to her before the mission. Rabb claims the letter proves Harridan knew he was going to be killed on a mission. Mac counters that doesn't prove anything because Harridan was an elite warrior who knew he'd be sent into some very dangerous situations.
Chegwidden expresses to Rabb concern that the tenacious aviator has become "target-fixated" with convicting Connors of murder, but doesn't give any explicit directives for the case. Chegwidden also mentions that Harridan's under consideration for the Navy Cross (a high decoration for a sailor, second only to the Medal of Honor).
Rabb does relent, slightly. But when the case seems to be slipping from him, he makes a last-ditch effort recalling Gunner Perez (Efrain Figueroa) to the stand. At issue is the question of whether or not Harridan's gun jammed, as one of the other SEALs claimed. Perez says he doesn't think the gun jammed, because he test fired one bullet with no problem. Rabb, holding the gun as evidence, loads it and fires a few shots at the courtroom ceiling.
The judge, Captain Morris (Harrison Page), is furious. In chambers, he orders Rabb to apologize to everyone on the record when court reconvenes the next day. Rabb also gets a screaming-to in Chegwidden's office.
Roberts has discovered that Connors discarded Harridan's AZT prescription, and informs Rabb, but tries to conceal it from Mac. AZT means that Harridan contracted HIV from sexual intercourse with a man. If Harridan jumped into Connors's line of fire to commit suicide in order to conceal his dishonesty about his sexual orientation, that would mean Harridan does not rate a military funeral, much less a Navy Cross.
Rabb goes visit Connors in the brig. Connors is initially reluctant to talk to Rabb without Mac present, but he reveals that he's known Harridan since high school and became aware of the sexual orientation of the deceased back then. More recently, Connors became aware that Harridan was taking AZT.
Connors claims that he was firing at a terrorist after Harridan got out of the way of the line of fire. But then suddenly Harridan decided to get into Connors's line of fire. Connors stopped firing immediately, but it was too late, Harridan had been hit.
Connors also claims no one else in the unit knew about either Harridan's sexual orientation or his medical condition. Then Rabb talks to another member of the unit, who does seem to be unaware that Harridan was gay: that other member actually thinks that Harridan had an affair with Connors's wife and that's why Connors wanted to kill Harridan.
The next day in court, Rabb apologizes for his behavior the day before and says he will accept whatever punishment the court deems appropriate. Captain Morris accepts Rabb's apology but defers punishment to Chegwidden's discretion.
Rabb declares the Government doesn't have enough evidence to take Connors to court-martial. With the charges against Connors dismissed and Harridan's sexual orientation now safely secret, Harridan's Navy Cross nomination becomes official. As far as the Navy's concerned, Harridan did not commit suicide to conceal his sexual orientation, but was a brave man who unfortunately took friendly fire in a chaotic situation.
At a bar, Mrs. Harridan seems to still be grieving for her son. But Mr. Harridan does not seem the least bit mournful; he seems overjoyed about his son's Navy Cross and indifferent to the fact that it will be a posthumous award. Rabb throws a drink in Mr. Harridan's face.
Tropes:
- Brand X: Beltway Burgers. Mac eats a burger from that establishment, dropping some ketchup on Rabb's briefcase. Rabb derides Beltway Burgers as containing the four food groups, including "grease" and "dead animal." Later in the episode, Mac brings more food from Beltway Burgers to Rabb's apartment, along with a vegetarian meal for Rabb that presumably comes from another restaurant, but we only see a suggestion of a logo for the other restaurant.
- Bury Your Gays: Harridan, who died in combat, is revealed to be gay.
- Insistent Terminology: According to Mac, Marines never duck, they take cover.
- Once More, with Clarity, lampshaded: One of the later flashbacks clearly shows that Harridan deliberately stepped into Connors's line of fire, and that Connors stopped firing as soon as he realized what had happened. However, this flashback is narrated by Connors in a conversation with Rabb that Mac is not privy to. Rabb says Connors could be telling the truth or he could be lying. The flashback is based on what Connors says happened, it's not a tape or disc that can Rabb can have played in court.
- Penultimate Outburst: The judge delivers a threat to get Harm removed after he fires an MP-5 in the courtroom.
- Public Domain Soundtrack: Rabb whistles "Anchors Aweigh" when the case is going well for him. The next day, Mac whistles the Marines' Hymn when the case is going well for her.
- Starts with a Suicide: This episode, but we don't realize it on first viewing, or perhaps even on repeat viewing.
- Unconventional Courtroom Tactics: Rabb fires a submachine gun in the courtroom to demonstrate it couldn't have jammed. Once Done, Never Forgotten: This incident will be referenced in several later episodes, including one in which Roberts justifies the shooting as preventive building maintenance.
