"Defenseless" is an episode of JAG that first aired on December 9, 1997. Directed by Tony Wharmby. Written by Kimberly Costello.
Ensign Lane (Kate Hodge) kills Colonel Hasan (Michael Saad) of the Turkish Army in her apartment. Lt. Commander Rabb, Major MacKenzie and Lt. Roberts investigate.
Mac believes Lane acted in self-defense; Rabb is skeptical at first but soon he comes around. At the Article 32 hearing, Rabb defends, Imes prosecutes. Rabb's motion for Lane to be released from pre-trial confinement is granted.
Meanwhile, Roberts spends the night at Ensign Sims's apartment. Sims tells him her sexually transmitted disease tests all came back negative. The next morning, Mac figures that out and makes a wager with Rabb.
Lane's recollection of the incident improves once she's back in her apartment, but then her window gets shot. Rabb takes her to his apartment.
At the hearing, Rabb demonstrates Lane was honestly menaced by Hasan. The judge rules a court-martial is not necessary.
Rabb asks Lane out to dinner. After she fails to show up, Rabb finds out the whole case has been deleted off the docket and that Lane was not the woman's real name, and that she was trying to uncover Turkish espionage. Chegwidden tells Rabb he was supposed to lose the case and Lane was supposed to be imprisoned on paper only.
Tropes
- Decoy Trial: Ensign Lane's whole case.
- Flashback: The depictions of Lane's confrontation with Hasan are unreliable because we learn the trial was not for real.
- Rank Up, off-screen for Morris Stiles, he was a captain as of "Full Engagement", now he's a one-star admiral.
- Shout-Out to Free Willy: Roberts tells Sims he's got the PG-rated family movie on pay-per-view at the hotel. But he screwed up, and instead got Free the Willy, most definitely not a G- or PG-rated movie.
- With All Due Respect: Mac barges into Chegwidden's office to talk about her career.Chegwidden: Major, we're in the middle of something here.Mac: Yes, sir, and with all due respect, I think I should be a part of it. I know you believe I should be punished for leaving JAG, and maybe you're right.
