NCIS: LA Season 11 First Look: The JAG Reunion You’ve Truly Been Waiting For
After the big tease that was NCIS: Los Angeles‘ Season 10 finale, JAG‘s Mac and Harm will truly reunite, in person, during the CBS drama’s fall return — and TVLine has your exclusive first look.
In the course of investigating the crisis that closed Season 10, NCIS: LA‘s Callen and Sam met Harmon “Harm” Rabb (played by David James Elliott), now XO of the USS Allegiance. Aboard the ship, Callen and Sam discovered that an embedded NCIS agent had been murdered — and their first suspect was one of multiple Chechen spies among the crew. To draw out other moles, NCIS needed the help of a Russian diplomat. To that end, Hetty called up Lt. Colonel Sarah “Mac” Mackenzie (Catherine Bell), the Marine liaison to the Secretary of State.
Meeting with Hetty, Mac shared that she hasn’t seen Harm in nine years; he passed up a JAG position in London to go with Mac to San Diego, but soon enough “needed to get back in the fight,” Mac said. When an opportunity with the State Department came up, Mac took it, though it meant that their “pretense of a marriage was over.” When the NCIS teams on land and at sea went to compare notes via a video call, Harm was a bit taken aback to see Mac on the screen. “You look great,” he said, after they tended to more urgent matters. Mac in turn smiled, “You haven’t changed. Life at sea suits you.”
Explaining the decision to establish some distance between Mac and Harm in that finale, NCIS: LA showrunner R. Scott Gemmill told TVLine as part of our Fall Preview Q&A, “These people that we’ve grown to like over 10 seasons, we’re seeing where they are 16 years later, and … things don’t always work out the way you thought.” But as Hetty suggested to Mac, the estranged couple’s “final chapter isn’t written yet.”
Though JAG fans had to settle for that videoconference in May, a more physical reunion is on tap when Season 11 of the CBS drama opens on Sunday, Sept. 29, as seen in the photo above. “Their paths get closer and closer as the story unfolds, until ultimately they’re face to face in the same room again,” Gemmill says. “Now, what happens next?”
Want more scoop on NCIS: LA, or for any other show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.
I understand their reasoning, but would it be so darn difficult to give fans what they wanted, especially considering these actors will never go back to these characters full time? Would it be so much to ask???
Having them split up means that the show can then get them back together, rather than just showing them 16 years into a solid, settled relationship. It’s much easier to write a compelling “will they/won’t they” than a “happily ever after, continued”
No, not really. I’m so sick of writers being stuck on “maintaining the status quo.” NCIS isn’t about Mac & Harm and I doubt they will return full time to these roles anyway. AND even if they were, you can still have a compelling story with a strong married couple. The drama can actually be about the main storyline, instead of *gasp*, relationship drama. When drag out the “will they or what they” storyline it literally becomes a drag. The relationship (or sexual tension) should compliment the rest of the storylines, not drag it down. The NCIS storyline would not have been impacted in any way with Mac & Harm being married, but separated by their jobs. People (even those not enlisted in the military) do it every day.
I’m pretty sure OP was referring to the hoped for JAG reboot.. Not what ends happening on NCIS: LA.
It’s certainly lazier to fall back on the same old thing. I think it would have been rewarding for many fans to find out they stayed together in spite of the difficulties involved.
so ^this!! i know the divorce rate is high, but it’s not 100%. Splitting up is not the only way to create drama with a couple. And it’s a slap in the face to those of us who had to put up with YEARS of will-they-won’t-they and finally get a decent ending, only to find out it was for nothing. Maybe it’s realistic, but it’s also supposed to be entertaining, and I don’t find this storyline entertaining. As someone who shipped Harm and Mac, this annoys me and distracts from the story they’re trying to tell. it’s a shame, because one of the things i love about N c i s:LA is that they actually put couples together and keep them together.
Exactly!!!
word suzi I agree with you completely.
I feel completely cheat out of a happy ending and there was no good reason for it
They aren’t writing fan fiction.
But they’re still writing fiction – and TV fiction, not War and Peace.
He is still soooo handsome!
In the bottom picture it looks like he had work done.
You apparently aren’t a JAG fan because
I totally disagree with your statement that this is the “JAG Reunion You’ve Truly Been Waiting For.” I’d go so far to say your article is a complete lie. Loyal JAG fans were waiting for a reunion that would answer the series finale coin toss AND show Harm & Mac as a happily married family. Just because the folks from NCIS LA decided to have Harm and Mac be separated so their little spin off show could be ‘a hero’ to get them back together doesn’t mean reporters should repeat the lies that NCIS LA PR department releases. Their inexcusable lack of loyalty to JAG fans has caused all NCIS shows to loose this viewer. Because my loyalty lies with JAG and Harm and Mac.
Oh, OK.
😂😂😂
Uh, I hate to be the one who points this out to you–but, they all are fictional characters–while there is really a JAG, Harm and Mac, (and Bud and Harriet) are.not.real. I am a loyal fan as well–but, I am very aware of the difference between reality and fiction….
Geeze who died and made you the ship spokesperson and is it too late to resuscitate them
I’d correct the “loose” that should be “lose” here, but tbh loose sounds kind appropriate considering the rest of your comment…
Um, speak for yourself. Not all loyal JAG fans are/were *shippers*.
I would love to have the Jag characters back, but on their OWN show!
Bringing Harm & Mac back on NCIS:LA is a slap in the face!
LA is the absolute worst of the NCIS shows, and it’s an embarrassment to the franchise!
Get rid of the doofus characters (Hetty, Deeks, Eric) and let Harm & Mac run things, and I’m all for that!
Pretty sure, that is the plan,CBS testing waters to see if ratings are high enough to justify, a costly reboot of JAG.
I don’t think the ncisla final did much to convince them so this is round 2
Can’t wait to see it!!!
That will help for everyone that felt cheated by the hype of what wasn’t.
I haven’t watched NCIS LA for a couple of years, but for Mac and Harm, I’ll watch these episodes.
I liked JAG as much as a lot of you but that was a really long time ago. I’m just happy to see them (the actors) again.
I disliked them as a couple so I don’t particularly care they are separated (although the whole writers can’t write for a committed couple because it’s “boring” is still lazy as hell) but why do they still have the same rank?!? And I thought Mac was already a Colonel.
Right. She was promoted full colonel, he a captain.
NCISLA. I hope CBS has the good sense to bring Harm and Mac back. I miss JAG. The show started it all
Donna, you could watch some reruns of JAG on the H&I (Heroes & Icons) channel, which airs every Wednesday on that channel.
My dad likes watching JAG every Wed. on H&I, which we have on DirecTV channel 20 in SoCal
JAG is also available on Amazon Prime.
Maaaan, ‘shippers are such a sad bunch, no matter what tv show or couple they are worshipping.
This whole isn´t really a suprise. From the story it was clear that both would reapear in at least one episode of season 11. They already filmed it in the spring. The picture does also not say anything since it was made behind the scenes (it is not actually a situation in an episode). In my opinion it is clear that there will be some kind of rebound. They will make that clear in the second of the new episodes of season 11. How do I come to this conclusion. If not, they could have put them together as happily ever after in these episodes. It was pretty clear that putting them apart would disappoint all Harm and Mac fans and some of the shipperies episodes in JAG were actually written by Gemmilll. Keeping them apart gives them the chance to start a story to put them together. It is NCIS LA and not the love story of Harm and Mac and so they cannot spend to mutch time in the episodes on their love story. An who of all Harm and Mac fans would not be disappointed either if they put them together again in only a few minutes like in JAG. Especilly since they have not seen each other in 9 years. That would be to mutch of a soap opera. So I think there will be some kind of rebount, Maybe first testing a mini series. What I watched in the last few days strengthen my thought. I have watched JAG regularly on dailymotion.com when I was on my deck. You could find there a lot of the episodes. A few days ago mostly all were deleted bcause of CBS Copyright enfrightment. They´ve been there for years, where watched thousend times and nobody cared. And suddently there ist copyright enfrightment. A rogue who thinks evil. This is just my guess.
Zero interest in them. Never liked JAG but I will watch NCIS LA because I like the team.
Considering the JAG-like The Code fizzled out, they may be looking to do a proper revival of JAG. However, Bud was the only one still working there.
I’ve been watching the old episodes on H& I and WGN, so I’m hoping for a reboot. I always enjoyed JAG.
The Live + 7 day ratings for the final episode of NCIS-LA increased 100% in total viewers and in the 18 to 49 demographic. Does this help JAG get rebooted or are same day ratings more important?
NIce going NCIS LA, you ruined a good ending to a pretty good show in a quest for better ratings. Now I can’t even watch reruns of that show now. Happy endings do happen.
Too bad they can’t figure out a way to bring back LT Meg Austin (Tracy Needham season 1). I always liked her.
why is Mac only a Lt Colonel