Dexter - The First Season
by Michael Cuesta
from Showtime Ent. / Paramount
Dexter is based on the compelling novel "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay. Orphaned at the age of four and harboring a traumatic secret Dexter Morgan (Dexter Morgan (Emmy®- and Golden Globe®- nominated actor Michael C. Hall from "Six Feet Under") is adopted by a police officer who recognizes Dexter's homicidal tendencies and guides his son to channel his gruesome passion for human vivisection in a constructive way - by killing those heinous perpetrators that are above the law or who have slipped through the cracks of justice. A respected member of the police force a perfect gentleman and a man with a soft spot for children it's hard not to like Dexter. Although his drive to kill is unflinching he struggles to emulate normal emotions he doesn't feel and to keep up his appearance as a caring socially responsible human being.System Requirements:Running Time: 655 MinsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097368513648 Manufacturer No: 851364
An interesting and original idea that's very skillfully executed, Showtime's Dexter is never less than watchable, often quite compelling, and sometimes thoroughly riveting. As the 12 episodes from the show's first season (packaged here in a four disc set) reveal, it's also the epitome of "high concept," a kind of Silence of the Lambs for the C.S.I. generation. Creator-executive producer James Manos Jr.'s title character, one Dexter Morgan (played by Michael C. Hall of Six Feet Under renown), works for the Miami Police Department as an blood spatter analyst, visiting crime scenes and helping figure out what happened. He has an avocation, too: during his off hours, he tracks down some very, very bad people who for various reasons have eluded the proper authorities. Seems his adoptive father, a cop himself, taught the kid how to channel his dark side in a "positive" direction; and so, having captured these evildoers (including a child molester-murderer and a recidivist drunk driver with a trail of bodies in his wake), Dex dispatches them with clinical precision, thus making him a serial killer who snuffs serial killers. But there's more--much more, as it turns out. By his own description, Dexter is "a monster," an empty shell who fakes all human interactions and admits to no real feelings for anything or anyone, including his foster sister (Jennifer Carter) and his nominal girlfriend (Julie Benz), a former crack addict and battered spouse who's as uninterested in sex as he is. There's an explanation for Dexter's weirdness, of course, one so deep and traumatic that even he isn't aware of it. It's gradually revealed over the course of the season as he and the cops (who include Erik King, Lauren Velez, and David Zayas, all first-rate) track down the so-called "Ice Truck Killer," a fellow monster whose grisly m.o. both fascinates and taunts our hero, leading to a genuinely shocking and squirm-inducing finale. Dexter can be a bit arch, with an ironic, too-hip-for-the-room tone that get a little old. Still, it's a safe bet that anyone who views this first season will be salivating for the second. Extras include audio commentary on two episodes, a featurette about real-life blood spatter analysis, and a variety of DVD-ROM items. --Sam Graham
Beyond Dexter
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Avatar The Last Airbender - The Complete Book 1 Collection
from Paramount
Avatar: The Complete Book One DVD Box Set includes the collection of all Avatar Water Nation episodes. This 6 disc set will center on the Water Nation and its characters in 20 Avatar episodes (Chapters 1-20) 5 DVD s plus a bonus disc filled with incredible special features!System Requirements:Running Time 489 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: NR UPC: 097368011946 Manufacturer No: 801194
Book 1: Water, Vol. 1
Mysterious, visually beautiful at times, and surprisingly funny, Avatar: Book 1, Volume 1 is the exciting story of Aang, a 12-year-old reincarnation of the ancient Avatar, whose purpose (in an imagined world that seems both ancient and futuristic) is to restore peace and order between warring armies of the four elements: fire, earth, water, and air. At one time or another, over thousands of years, the Avatar has been embodied in masters of each of the elements. Aang (who is freed from a century-long sleep inside an iceberg) happens to be an "airbender," capable of using air and wind as powerful forces for moving objects and defeating hostile armies of firebenders. The feature-length Avatar follows Aang and a couple of friends as he becomes reacquainted with the world he knew before his 100-year hibernation--a world now lost to history. The story also concerns internal dramas within the unforgiving world of firebenders, who are intent on destruction and conquest. This engaging story, very pleasant to look at in its rich tones of blue and orange, is for all ages. --Tom Keogh
Book 1: Water, Vol. 2
Avatar The Last Airbender, Book 1: Water, Volume 2 continues the adventurous if half-comic journey of 12-year-old Airbender Aang, reincarnation of an ancient avatar, and his friends Katara and Sokka as they seek a teacher to help Aang fulfill his peacemaking destiny in a war-torn world. The four episodes on this disc, a follow-up to the elegant, magical series introduction, find the trio wandering through sundry Earth Nation cities, where they encounter signs of troubles between the once-harmonious, elemental tribes representing fire, earth, air, and water. They also bump into trouble with the occasional evil kingdom, as in "The King of Omashu," where Aang must go through various trials to save Katara and Sokka from a bizarre execution. (They're encased in growing, crystal structures.) "Imprisoned" finds Katara inadvertently responsible for the arrest of an Earthbending boy who dares to use his powers while his people are under Firebender occupation. The ambitious, two-part "Winter Solstice" is the best production in this collection, a pairing of storylines involving the capture of a Firebender war criminal and the hopes of a frightened village that turns to Aang to defeat a monster from the spirit world. The action is still original and fun on this sequel--most of it continues to be based on exciting uses of the elements--and the lead trio's characters (Aang the scamp, Katara the idealist, Sokka the skeptic) are still a pleasure to be with. --Tom Keogh
Book 1: Water, Vol. 3
The Avatar saga continues with four of the anime series' strongest stories yet on Book 1: Water, Volume 3, mixing goofy comedy with mythic drama in the spirit of Avatar's magical debut (Book 1 Water, Volume 1) and engaging follow-up (Book 1 Water, Volume 2). Volume 3 concerns the continuing (perilous) travels of Aang, the 12-year-old Airbender destined to heal the rift between the world's air, water, fire, and earth peoples, and his friends Katara and Sokka. "The Waterbending Scroll" finds Katara so jealous over Aang's quick mastery of complicated waterbending techniques that the trio ends up in trouble with a cluster of cutthroat pirates. "Jet" is an interesting story of an adolescent boy leading a Robin Hood-like rebellion against the firebending occupiers of his land. Charismatic and rakish, Jet makes Katara swoon and becomes a hero to Aang--until his true colors and agenda show up later. "The Great Divide" places Aang and company in the position of mediating a truce between refugees seeking assistance across a great canyon. Finally, "The Storm" is a superb piece which shows us, in parallel narratives, how Aang was fleeing his oppressed life as an avatar-in-training a century earlier when he became encased in ice, and how the driven, seemingly merciless Prince Zuko lost his own boyhood innocence before setting out to capture Aang. This excellent collection carries on the series' imaginative, graceful animation, making Avatar a real pleasure to watch. --Tom Keogh
Book 1: Water, Vol. 4
Book 1: Water, Vol. 5
Chapters 17 through 20 of Avatar the Last Airbender: Book 1 Water, Vol. 5 find Aang, the 12-year-old Avatar destined to bring peace to the world by mastering the four elements, once again in direct collision with the forces of the Fire nation. In "The Northern Air Temple," a sad Aang visits the ruins of a monastery well known to him in his past life. Aang is shocked to discover a tribe of faux Airbenders living there, presided over by an inventor with a dark and even treacherous secret. "The Waterbending Master" introduces Aang to a mentor he would just as soon avoid: an old Waterbender who can teach him to move, shape, and fight with liquid, prerequisites to Aang assuming his place as the world's savior. Meanwhile, Aang's traveling companion Katara is frustrated by that same master's refusal to sharpen her own natural, Waterbending talent; until, that is, an unexpected link between them becomes clear. (Aang's other friend, Sokka, stays busy--and crazy--chasing a princess who gives him mixed signals about her romantic interest.) "The Siege of the North, Parts 1 and 2" is yet another epic confrontation between Admiral Zhao's Fire Navy fleet and the Aang gang. The twist this time is that Zhao attempts the murder of Prince Zuko, an action that cannot go without consequences. As usual, Avatar is visually exciting and highly original, an otherworldly yet fully accessible fantasy full of dreams and good humor. --Tom Keogh
Happy Days - The Complete First Season
by Art Fisher
from Paramount
The daily lives of the Cunningham family in 1950s Milwaukee, their friends, and their greaser tenant Arthur \""Fonzie\"" Fonzarelli.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: HAPPY DAYS
Title: SEASON 1
Street Release Date: 08/17/2004
Genre: TELEVISION
Less than a year after Ron Howard played a college-bound adolescent enjoying a final, summer-of-1962 romp with old friends in American Graffiti, he turned up as high school innocent Richie Cunningham in the memorable, ABC television network debut of Happy Days, set a few years earlier in Milwaukee. The show would last a decade and go through many changes in tone, cast, and character development, but that first season got a boost from the natural perception that it had some things in common with Graffiti: Howard, of course, but also fumbling teenage sex, drag races, drive-in food, pesky little sisters, and laconic greasers.
Happy Days: The Complete First Season is a sweet trip back to the Garry Marshall-produced sitcom's 1974 entry in primetime television, before political correctness would make stories about clean-cut boys fixated on seducing girls unthinkable, and long before older kids were defined by angst on the WB and Fox TV. At least in its first year, before Happy Days developed more of a comic-book feel and energy, the show was about Richie's all-too-human inclination to grow up too fast, to bite off more than he could chew and learn poignant lessons in the process. He was a sympathetic naif, not the charming braggart he later became, and major characters appear to have been created to provide both ballast and motivation. Among them is best friend Potsie (Anson Williams), a superficial hustler who typically incites Richie's enthusiasm for booze, reputed nymphomaniacs, and sophisticated, older girls, and fast-talking Ralph Malph (Donny Most), owner of a fantastic, yellow hot rod. More important are counterparts Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler), a vaguely dangerous drop-out, and Richie's exasperated father, Howard Cunningham (Tom Bosley), each of whom provides Richie the validation of an experienced male: Fonzie's raw worldliness versus Mr. C's seasoned view of a man's responsibilities. First-season highlights include the pilot episode (co-written by Rob Reiner), "All the Way," in which Richie's typical decency allows him to see past the sex-mad reputation of an amiable girl from school. Season closer "Be the First on Your Block" finds the Cunninghams' plans to build a bomb shelter turning into a popularity contest as Richie's friends vie for a guaranteed spot in the event of nuclear war. --Tom Keogh
Holocaust
by Marvin J. Chomsky
from Paramount
The 30th anniversary edition of Holocaust marks the first time this remarkable, nine-and-a-half-hour television miniseries has been released on DVD. Originally broadcast on NBC as part of an ongoing TV phenomenon in the 1970s called "The Big Event," Holocaust was an original story written by Gerald Green, who later scripted Kent State and Wallenberg: A Hero's Story, the latter another Holocaust-era tale. Holocaust narrowed the enormous story of the Nazis' systematic destruction of Jews by focusing on one family living in Berlin. Fritz Weaver plays Dr. Josef Weiss, a Pole with a longtime family practice. Weiss debates with his wife, Berta (Rosemary Harris), the wisdom of moving out of Germany with their family. She insists they should not be chased away by Hitler, and by the time she thinks otherwise, it's too late for her, her parents, Josef, and the three Weiss children: Karl (James Woods), Rudi (Joseph Bottoms), and Anna (Blanche Baker). Holocaust begins with the marriage of Karl to Inga (Meryl Streep), a Christian, an arrangement already frowned upon by the rising Nazi regime in 1935. In time, Karl, a harmless artist, is dragged off to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, leaving Inga vulnerable to a predatory camp officer who passes notes between the husband and wife. Poor young Anna meets a grim fate that reveals something of the way Hitler was determined to eliminate the mentally ill along with Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other groups of people. The rebellious Rudi ends up fighting the Germans from a different front, while Josef is deported to Warsaw, eventually joined by Berta. There, Holocaust details the plight of the walled-in, so-called Warsaw ghetto, and the despair of the people within. Meanwhile, the destiny of another important character, a rather effete lawyer named Erik Dorf (Michael Moriarty), offers a peek into the internal workings of the Holocaust machinery. Dorf takes a much-needed job as an aide to Reinhard Heydrich (David Warner), Gestapo head and chair of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, which finalized plans for the extermination of European Jews. Holocaust was criticized at the time of its broadcast for allegedly cheapening genocide by shrinking the dimensions of the Nazis' organized evil for commercial television. But as a story free to extend into different aspects of the war on Jews, Holocaust is a real eye-opener. Tom Bell, Ian Holm, Robert Stephens, and Sam Wanamaker are also featured in the cast. --Tom Keogh
An original TV dramatization of one of the most monstrous crimes in world history - the slaughter of 6 million Jews by the Nazis. Dramatically and definitively, the story covers an entire decade, the eventful years from 1935 to 1945. HOLOCAUST focuses on the tragedy and triumph of a single family - the Weiss family. Their story is told in counter-poise to that of another fictional family, that of Erik Dorf, who portrays a Nazi aide to Germany's infamous Heydrich. Starring a brilliant international cast and filmed on location in Berlin and Vienna.
Mork & Mindy - The Complete First Season
by Jeff Chambers
from Paramount
Children who love Robin Williams as the voice of Aladdin or as Mrs. Doubtfire will get a blast out of the show that blasted him into the stratosphere, and made "Nanoo, Nanoo" a national catch-phrase. Mork & Mindy, a spin-off of a season 5 Happy Days episode, was a tailor-made star vehicle for Williams, who won a Golden Globe for this inaugural 1978 season. The role of extraterrestrial Mork from Ork gave free reign to Williams's stream-of-consciousness riffing as Mork observed life on Earth and reported back to his leader, Orson, on all that he learned about friendship, love, family, and emotions. As Mindy, the down-to-Earth Boulder, Colorado, girl who takes the stranded alien under her roof, fresh-faced Pam Dawber does her best to keep up. When Williams is really in the (Twilight?) zone, it's not acting: she does seem like she's dealing with someone from another planet.
The highlight of this first season is "Mork's Mixed Emotions," a tour-de-force that TV Guide ranked among the top 100 TV episodes of all time (#94, to be exact). Mork believes that emotions are bad, and tries to lock them inside himself, but they are unleashed in a lusty, happy, weepy, angry, envious torrent. Helping to launch Williams as a primetime player in the series pilot are Henry Winkler and Penny Marshall in their iconic roles as the Fonz and Laverne. Another notable guest star in season 1 is David Letterman as an abusive EST-like guru in "Mork Goes Erk." Mork & Mindy rapidly jumped the shark, and much of the '70s sitcom trappings have not aged well, but this first season is a giddy time capsule record of Williams at his most spontaneous and out of this world. Shazbot--the set contains no extras. --Donald Liebenson.
A spin-off from the hit show "Happy Days," MORK & MINDY stars Robin Williams as the lovable alien from the planet Ork. Sent to Earth by his fellow Orkans who see him as a misfit, Mork is assigned to observe the customs of the crazy Earthlings. Landing in a giant eggshell in Boulder, Colorado, Mork is soon befriended by Mindy McConnell (Dawber) a music store clerk, and allowed to stay in the attic of her apartment.
The Godfather DVD Collection (The Godfather/ The Godfather - Part II/ The Godfather - Part III)
from Paramount
The complete saga of the Mafia Corleone family, from Don Corleone's childhood in Sicily, his son Michael Corleone's rise to power and finally the struggle to succeed him. Contains, as originally released, the 3 Godfather films.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 2-MAY-2006
Media Type: DVD
Throughout his long, wandering, often distinguished career Francis Ford Coppola has made many films that are good and fine, many more that are flawed but undeniably interesting, and a handful of duds that are worth viewing if only because his personality is so flagrantly absent. Yet he is and always shall be known as the man who directed the Godfather films, a series that has dominated and defined their creator in a way perhaps no other director can understand. Coppola has never been able to leave them alone, whether returning after 15 years to make a trilogy of the diptych, or re-editing the first two films into chronological order for a separate video release as The Godfather Saga. The films are our very own Shakespearean cycle: they tell a tale of a vicious mobster and his extended personal and professional families (once the stuff of righteous moral comeuppance), and they dared to present themselves with an epic sweep and an unapologetically tragic tone. Murder, it turned out, was a serious business. The first film remains a towering achievement, brilliantly cast and conceived. The entry of Michael Corleone into the family business, the transition of power from his father, the ruthless dispatch of his enemies--all this is told with an assurance that is breathtaking to behold. And it turned out to be merely prologue; two years later The Godfather, Part II balanced Michael's ever-greater acquisition of power and influence during the fall of Cuba with the story of his father's own youthful rise from immigrant slums. The stakes were higher, the story's construction more elaborate, and the isolated despair at the end wholly earned. (Has there ever been a cinematic performance greater than Al Pacino's Michael, so smart and ambitious, marching through the years into what he knows is his own doom with eyes open and hungry?) The Godfather, Part III was mostly written off as an attempted cash-in, but it is a wholly worthy conclusion, less slow than autumnally patient and almost merciless in the way it brings Michael's past sins crashing down around him even as he tries to redeem himself. --Bruce Reid
The Ten Commandments (50th Anniversary Collection)
from Paramount
Paramount Pictures celebrates the 50th anniversary of Cecil B. DeMille's Bible epic spectacular THE TEN COMMANDMENTS with a double feature that includes both the 1956 version and the director's original 1923 silent version. See individual titles for plot details.System Requirements:Running Time: 356 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: G UPC: 097360412246 Manufacturer No: 041224
Legendary silent film director Cecil B. DeMille didn't much alter the way he made movies after sound came in, and this 1956 biblical drama is proof of that. While graced with such 1950s niceties as VistaVision and Technicolor, The Ten Commandments (DeMille had already filmed an earlier version in 1923) has an anachronistic, impassioned style that finds lead actors Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner expressively posing while hundreds of extras writhe either in the presence of God's power or from orgiastic heat. DeMille, as always, plays both sides of the fence as far as sin goes, surrounding Heston's Moses with worshipful music and heavenly special effects while also making the sexy action around the cult of the Golden Calf look like fun. You have to see The Ten Commandments to understand its peculiar resonance as an old-new movie, complete with several still-impressive effects such as the parting of the Red Sea. --Tom Keogh
The 4400 - The Complete Fourth Season
by Morgan Beggs
from Paramount
Over the last century thousands of people have gone missing. Suddenly and inexplicably 4400 missing people are returned all at once exactly as they were on the day they vanished. Unclear what this world-altering event means the government investigates the 4400 to piece together where they've been and why they've been returned. It quickly becomes apparent that their presence will change the human race in ways no one could have foreseen.System Requirements:Running Time: 561 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097368525047 Manufacturer No: 852504
There's nothing like a psych-out to shake things up. In The 4400's fourth season opener, everyone has taken the medicine Jordan Collier (Billy Campbell) distributed in year three, and all's right with the world. Then he wakes up from his dream. In truth, promicin helps some and harms others. Soon, Shawn (Patrick Flueger) emerges from his coma and Isabelle (Megalyn Echikunwoke), who tried to kill him, escapes from prison. As for NTAC, agents Tom (Joel Gretsch) still mourns the missing Alana, while Diana (Jacqueline McKenzie) returns to work when she finds out her sister, April (Natasha Gregson Wagner), has taken the shot. As the season continues, promicin-related strangeness accelerates, like the outcast (Cameron Bright) who becomes a messiah--and insists his followers only listen to TV on the radio--or the librarian (Constance Towers) who can astral project. An attractive new NTAC supervisor, Meghan Doyle (Jenni Baird), joins Tom and Diana to monitor the positives and those they affect, including Tom's son, Kyle (Chad Faust), who helps Collier establish Seattle's Promise City, an all-positive community. As ever, shades of grey dominate, and anyone can change at any time. Even an NTAC agent can become one of the Marked.
The fourth year ends with a viral outbreak, followed by the death of a key character. For the most part, though, the conclusion holds out hope for relations between the positives and the rest of the population--if they can stop the Marked in time. Because the USA Network chose not to renew the show, some questions may never be answered. Fortunately, The 4400 went out with both humor and heart. Extra features include deleted scenes, featurettes, a blooper reel, and commentary from creator Scott Peters on "Till We Have Built Jerusalem" and the director's cut of finalé "The Great Leap Forward." --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Laverne & Shirley - The Complete First Season
by Cindy Williams
from Paramount
As a spin-off from Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley was an instant hit and one of the most popular sitcoms of the '70s. It's a bit quaint by contemporary standards, and its light-hearted sentiment is strictly old-school, due to the crowd-pleasing influence of producer and cocreator Garry Marshall, a veteran of The Dick Van Dyke Show whose subsequent film career peaked early with Pretty Woman. As working-class roommates in mid-1950s Milwaukee, Laverne De Fazio (Penny Marshall, future director and Garry's sister) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams) were a classic case of opposites: Laverne was relatively saucy and cynical, while Shirley was cheerfully naive and eternally optimistic. As bottle-cappers at the Shotz brewery, they regularly associated with colleagues (and eventual neighbors) Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander), and as an inaugural ratings-booster, Happy Days superstar Henry Winkler (as "Fonzie") appears in the first three episodes including "Bowling for Razzberries," later named by TV Guide as a classic episode. As Shirley's crooning would-be beau, Carmine "The Big Ragoo" Rugusa (Eddie Mekka) provided a touch of romance to Shirley's otherwise lackluster love life.
Despite personal rancor that later erupted between its energetic costars, Laverne & Shirley was always a showcase for polished, professional comedy and effortless chemistry between characters, giving it the same widespread appeal later enjoyed by Friends. A mid-season replacement with a prime time-slot (following Happy Days at 8:30 Tuesdays on ABC) the show placed its good-natured characters in a variety of standard sitcom predicaments, typically set in L&S's apartment, the "Pizza Bowl" diner run by Laverne's father Frank (Phil Foster), or the Shotz brewery, where some of the show's funniest slapstick humor emerged. These 15 episodes are guaranteed to please longtime fans on a stroll down memory lane, but bonus features are nonexistent, and newcomers may not relate to the clean-cut humor of a bygone era. Still, Laverne & Shirley started strong and continued to improve, at least for another season or two, with a variety of popular guest stars. This three-disc set represents the best of times for everyone involved. --Jeff Shannon
Getting its start as a spin-off from "Happy Days," LAVERNE & SHIRLEY takes place in Milwaukee in the 1950's and features Laverne, an outspoken, hot-headed woman who would love more than anything to be rescued from her job by a nice man, and Shirley, a naïve young woman who worries about her reputation and often finds herself assuming the role of Laverne's conscience in an effort to keep her best friend out of trouble. The two quirky friends have many fun times with Lenny and Squiggy, two greasers who share an apartment above Laverne and Shirley and always seem to have some kind of scheme up their sleeves.
JAG (Judge Advocate General) - The Sixth Season
from Paramount
In this explosive hour-long dramatic adventure series David James Elliott stars as Lieutenant Commander Harm Rabb Jr. a brave outstanding Navy Lawyer and officer in the Judge Advocate General (J.A.G.) Corps. His missions are to investigate and prosecute all crimes accidents acts of terrorism and espionage related to the Navy and Marine Corps. Playing the diverse roles of investigator prosecutor and defense attorney Harm and his partner Major Sarah Mac MacKenzie (Catherine Bell) use their intelligence and determination to uncover the mysteries behind cases involving murder treason espionage and other high crimes to bring world-class criminals to justice. JAG combines all the intensity of the battlefield and all the suspense of a criminal investigation into an action-packed hour!System Requirements:Running Time: 1056 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097361327143 Manufacturer No: 132714
JAG (Judge Advocate General): The Sixth Season begins with a bang in the two-part "Legacy," a complex story that sees Commander Harmon "Harm" Rabb, Jr. (David James Elliott) sent to Russia to help the former Communist nation evolve its military justice system. While there, Harm becomes involved in an investigation of a corrupt general running guns to Chechnyan rebels while fighting them at the same time. What Harm doesn't know is that his work happens to be intersecting with an investigation by Lt. Colonel Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie (Catherine Bell) into the murder of an American naval officer tried for espionage. Everything is leading toward an assassination plot of global dimension, but there is a remarkable development in these episodes concerning Harm's efforts to find out more about what happened to his father, a naval pilot shot down over Vietnam. Following "Legacy," most of The Sixth Season carries on with the series' typically interesting stories about the prosecution of military law. But there are also some very strong personal developments, including a tragedy endured by Lt. Bud Roberts (Patrick Labyorteaux) and his wife, Lt. Harriet Roberts (Karri Turner). There are also major complications surrounding Mac's engagement to her Australian boyfriend, Lt. Commander Mic Brumby (Trevor Goddard). By complications, of course, one is really speaking of Harm's unexpressed feelings for Mac, a subject that finally comes to a head toward the end of the season, particularly in a cliffhanger finale taking place on the eve of Mac's wedding.
"Florida Straits" is a very good episode about Harm's investigation of a Cuban-American Navy captain who manipulates events so that a little Cuban girl can possibly qualify to live in the U.S. "JAG TV" finds Mac a television sensation when a court martial she prosecutes makes her a cable TV star. "The Princess and the Petty Officer" puts Mac squarely in the middle of America's relations with a Mideast nation when she defends a princess who left her arranged marriage back home to wed an American in the navy. The two-part "A Separate Peace" is an unnerving tale of a high-profile admiral (Terry O'Quinn), a friend of Harm's father, whose possible appointment to an important position is jeopardized by rumors he participated in the slaughter of innocent Vietnamese civilians decades before. The admiral doesn't help himself by being vague with Mac, who is trying to defend him. "Miracles" is an odd story about a Marine sergeant (Gerald McRaney) accused of murdering his wife. Though the evidence points to him, the accused officer is defended by Harm in his claim that he did not kill his spouse but rather found her body after being led to her by the spirit of a former chaplain. Finally, "Lifeline" and "Adrift (Part 1)" bring Mac and Harm's true feelings for one another to the surface, forcing them to figure out what they're going to do now that Mac is getting married. Making matters worse is the terrible situation in which Harm finds himself after trying to fly through a terrible storm while Mac and Brumby host their pre-wedding rehearsal dinner. --Tom Keogh
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