Directed by Harvey S. Leidman
Written by Don Mc Gill
This episode of JAG begins with a Tomcat at 45,000 feet above sea level suffering a liquid oxygen delivery system failure, requiring the pilot, Lt. Albrecht (Scott Paetty) to descend below 10,000 feet. His Guy in Back, Commander Zuzello (Butch Hammett) passes out due to hypoxia, forcing Albrecht to head back to the carrier and land. Upon landing, Zuzello is pronounced dead.
Commander Rabb is sent to the carrier to investigate, and discovers that the "plane captain"note , Petty Officer Moritz (Thad Luckinbill), has had a recent history of minor mistakes as of late.
When the toxicologist detects trace amounts of graphite, normally used to create an airtight seal where the liquid oxygen container is installed, in the lungs of both pilot and radar intercept officer (RIO), Rabb initially attributes blame to the plane captain and recommends charges.
Admiral Chegwidden, however, assigns Rabb to defend the plane captain, while Lt. Colonel Sarah MacKenzie prosecutes. Rabb tries to get out of it but the admiral won't let him. When the client raises some concerns about the unenthusiastic defense Rabb is putting up, the admiral sits in to observe the trial. He determines that Rabb isn't vigorous enough in defending his client, and yanks Rabb off the case, replacing him with Commander Sturgis Turner (Scott Lawrence).
However, Rabb can't let it go. He has Petty Officer Tiner (Chuck Carrington) load the flight path data into a desktop computer flight simulation program, leading him to notice a strange anomaly in the aircraft's flight path data. Rabb comes up with two or three theories to explain the anomaly.
When Mac spouts some aviator jargon at the next court session, Turner immediately requests Mac be taken off the case for communicating with Rabb about the case. Chegwidden summons Rabb, Mac and Turner to his office, and reluctantly allows Rabb to go to the carrier and fly as Albrecht's RIO.
Meanwhile, Mac visits Zuzello's widow again and finds out that Jeannine Zuzello (Wendy Benson-Landes) used to date Albrecht when he was an airman (Navy enlisted). Albrecht attended Zuzello's wedding. Maybe Albrecht has been jealous of Zuzello all these years and now decided to kill him in the air, with Moritz as the perfect fall guy. So maybe Albrecht didn't kill Zuzello before because he didn't have a fall guy lined up before.
In the air, Rabb discovers that Albrecht suffers from vertigo, which he had so far been able to hide from the flight surgeon. After landing on the carrier, Rabb tells Albrecht his theory (that Zuzello had figured out Albrecht's dishonesty and that's why Albrecht killed Zuzello and framed Moritz), but laments that he can't prove it. However, the ship's crew had been alerted by Mac, and Albrecht is arrested and read his Article 31 rights.
Meanwhile, Lt. Simms (Karri Turner) orders Tiner to not send Lt. Roberts any more JAG case files. Tiner asks what reason to give, so Simms tells him to make up an excuse about new security protocols and that he'll have to talk to Chegwidden about it. And also that Chegwidden is out of the office.
Three days later, Roberts confronts Simms about this, since it's strange that the admiral has been out of the office for three days in a row. It also comes out that Roberts has been excused from physical therapy this week because he pushed himself too hard the previous week.
At the end of the episode, Roberts shows up at the office on crutches with Simms bringing some pizza boxes. Chegwidden tells Roberts that he expects the recent amputee in the office again soon but without crutches. At this point, however, the question of whether Roberts can even stay in the Navy hangs in the air.
Tropes
- Career-Ending Injury: Albrecht's vertigo.
- Continuity Nod:
- To "Clipped Wings", in which Rabb defended Lt. Gordon, who was accused of of crashing into a civilian helicopter over the Italian Alps. Gordon was so impressed by Rabb that he told everyone in the flight squadron that Rabb is the go-to guy if you're ever in legal trouble. That's why Moritz specifically requested Rabb.
- To the previous episode, in which Mac gave Roberts a model of the USS Seahawk. Now in this episode, we see Roberts and his son A. J. are putting it together.
- Conviction by Counterfactual Clue: A reason why Rabb thought Moritz was guilty was because the F-14's flight profile indicated a possible wing rock due to a roll stability control system malfunction, and it was Moritz's job as plane captain to maintain it, too. However, when Rabb flies in the back seat with Albrecht to confirm the existence of this control system glitch, Albrecht loses control of the airplane while descending from a very high altitude. This allows Rabb to discover Albrecht's vertigo, and thereby a possible motive for murdering the RIO.
- Death in the Clouds: Zuzello dies of hypoxia at 45,000 feet.
- Frame-Up: Albrecht, a former enlisted plane captain, sabotaged the liquid oxygen system so that a current plane captain would be blamed.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Mac and Turner suspect that Albrecht killed Zuzello because a long time ago, Zuzello "stole" Albrecht's girlfriend and ultimately married her. They are only partially right.
- Secret Test: Chegwidden insisted on Rabb at the defense table because the admiral was evaluating whether Rabb had the impartiality and objectivity to be elevated to the bench as a judge. Rabb failed this test.
- Up Through the Ranks: Albrecht was once an enlisted aircraft handler/mechanic, whom Zuzello recommended for Officer Candidate School.
