Ep 3. The Good of the Service

The episode "The Good of the Service" is the third episode of the third season of JAG, the military drama television series. The show follows the legal proceedings and personal lives of the staff of the fictional Judge Advocate General's Corps.

In this episode, Lieutenant Bud Roberts is assigned a case in which he must defend a Navy SEAL who is being accused of disobeying orders during a mission in Bosnia. The SEAL, Petty Officer First Class Silva, disobeyed orders during a mission to save some Bosnian refugees who were being held by the Serbs. Silva refused to leave the civilians behind, and as a result, his team was captured and held prisoner by the Serbs.

As the case unfolds, it becomes apparent that Silva may not have been acting solely on his own initiative. His commanding officer, Captain Curtis, had given him orders to save the civilians at all costs, but those orders were not included in the official mission briefing. Curtis claims that he issued the orders orally, but no one else on the team heard them.

Roberts and his superior officer, Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr., must navigate the complicated legal and moral issues at play in Silva's case. On the one hand, disobeying orders is a serious offense in the military, and Silva's actions put his team at risk. On the other hand, saving innocent civilians is a moral imperative, and Curtis's failure to include the orders in the official briefing is a serious breach of protocol.

As the trial progresses, the defense team uncovers evidence that Curtis may have intentionally left the orders out of the briefing in order to avoid criticism and protect his own career. Roberts and Rabb must decide whether to pursue this line of inquiry and potentially implicate a fellow officer, or whether to focus solely on exonerating Silva.

Meanwhile, other members of the JAG staff are dealing with their own issues. Commander Sarah MacKenzie is struggling with feelings of guilt after acquitting a Marine of a crime he may have committed. Lieutenant Harriet Sims is dealing with the aftermath of her husband's deployment to the Gulf War.

The episode culminates in a tense courtroom scene, in which Roberts and Rabb make their final arguments to the judge. The outcome of the case has far-reaching consequences, not just for Silva and his team, but for the entire military justice system.

Overall, "The Good of the Service" is a gripping episode of JAG that explores complex moral and legal issues in the context of military life. It showcases the show's strengths in depicting the human impact of legal proceedings, and in highlighting the unique challenges faced by those who serve in the armed forces.