Directed by Terence O Hara
Written by Stephen Zito
Part 2 of 2. The title is given onscreen as
"A Separate Peace"
Part II
in all caps, and centered.
In the unlikely event you've watched Part I but not Part II, note that this recap contains "spoilers" regarding the resolution of the case against Boone and its impact on his naval career. You have been abundantly forewarned.
Lt. Colonel Sarah MacKenzie recommends charging Admiral Boone for killing civilians in Dan Dien, Vietnam on August 12, 1968, when he was a lieutenant. The Secretary of the Navy (Paul Collins) is furious, but agrees to be the convening authority for the court-martial. Mac prosecutes with Lt. Roberts as second chair, Commander Rabb defends with Lt. Singer (Nanci Chambers) as second chair.
Boone, who was nominated to command the Sixth Fleet, is now instead relieved of his current command. Mac offers Boone five years' confinement, loss of pension and dismissal from the service. Boone rejects the offer before even hearing it, and again after hearing it. So a jury must be selected.
Voir dire gets off to a rough start, as Rabb and Singer seem hellbent on challenging for cause each admiral who would be a juror in Boone's court-martial. The judge, Captain Sebring (Corbin Bernsen), reminds Rabb the defense that they need to be able to sit at least five jurors (in a court-martial, they must be of equal or higher rank than the defendant).
The defense challenges Admiral Rockerly (John Mahon) on the basis that he was considered but rejected for command of the Sixth Fleet in favor of Boone. But Mac intervenes to ask Rockerly if he thinks he should have been given that command because he thinks he's the best qualified, and Rockerly says yes. Mac asks the admiral about his impartiality and his attitude towards oaths, so the judge is satisfied and denies the defense challenge.
R. C. Coffin (Raynor Scheine) testifies that he saw then-Lt. Boone kill indiscriminately in Dan Dien, and use a child as a human shield. Rabb questions Coffin about his alcoholism, causing Roberts to apologize to Mac for missing that in his research. Worse, ZNN paid Coffin $50,000 for his story.
Roberts is still very much affected by the death of his daughter, Sarah Roberts, soon after birth. Ensign Sims is also grieving, but she sees no value in her husband scrutinizing medical textbooks in an effort to figure out what went wrong. She goes to talk to Rabb about the situation.
Despite the damage to Coffin's credibility, the case is not looking good for Boone, who doesn't even seem to be worried about the possibility that he might be found guilty. Rabb hopes that a French missionary might be able to testify, but all the missionaries in Dan Dien died.
And there's a deserter, Owen Branson (William Lucking), who is said to live a short distance from where Dan Dien was. But there's no hope of getting him on the witness stand, until Congresswoman Bobbi Latham (Anne Marie Johnson) tells Rabb that Branson is now living under an alias, Jed Howell, and managing an American bar.
Rabb goes see Branson at his bar. Branson declares he wants to say damning stuff about Boone, but can't on account of it not being true. Rabb has just about given up until he notices a tattoo on Branson's arm.
The next day, Rabb calls Boone to the stand. Boone testifies that he did pick up a child, then he tried to hide the child in a somewhat safe place. And he shot Nguyen Kim Tan (An Le), the young woman who held up the severed head of Boone's commanding officer at the time. After that, Boone tried to stop others from killing civilians, but Harry Drax (Larry Bagby) wanted to keep going. Boone called Drax's name and shot him in the back, killing him.
Before Mac can cross-examine Boone, Rabb asks the government to hold off on their questioning so that Branson can come to the stand. Branson reveals that he's actually Harry Drax, and corroborates Boone's testimony except for the part about Boone killing Drax. And also adding that Boone didn't have the stomach to do all the killing that needed to be done.
Boone is found not guilty. But he decides to retire from the Navy anyway. His retirement will be effective in a few months.
Tropes
- Alphabet News Network: ZNN, an obvious reference to CNN.
- Continuity Snarl: Sims says of her lost baby, Sarah, "I lived with her for nine months." But as of 'The Princess and the Petty Officer', the episode in which the baby was almost born prematurely but died, Sims had only been pregnant for eight months. Of course even if Rabb noticed this mistake, it would have been a breach of basic human decency to point it out during a conversation in which Sims clearly needed emotional support. In real life, this snarl was most likely the result of a slight lack of coordination between writers.
- Doing Research: Roberts continues to pore over medical texts pertaining to birth complications, losing sleep over it.
- Human Shield: Boone allegedly used a Vietnamese child as a human shield.
- Once More, with Clarity: In Part I we saw flashbacks showing Lt. Boone picking up a Vietnamese child and then firing his pistol, supporting Coffin's assertion that Boone used a child as a human shield. But when Boone, now an admiral, testifies, we see that he did pick up a child and it looked like he was using the child as a human shield, but we also see that he tried to hide the child under a hooch. When he fired at Nguyen Kim Tan, he no longer had the child in his arm.
- Plea Bargain: Mac offers Boone a deal with prison time and loss of benefits. Boone unequivocally rejects the deal.
- Previously on…: A brief overview of Part I replaces the usual teaser.
- Whip Pan: Just before General Parker testifies.
