The NCIS franchise is one of the biggest on the small screen nowadays, and it can be easy to forget that the universe actually began years before the original NCIS hit the airwaves. JAG is the show that started it all, way back in 1995. JAG has been off the air since its tenth season ended back in 2005, however, and series stars David James Elliott and Catherine Bell never reprised their roles for any of the other entries in the franchise... until now, thanks to NCIS: Los Angeles.
Yes, the actors who brought Captain Harm Rabb and Lieutenant Colonel Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie will return to the roles for the first time in nearly 15 years. News actually broke last week that David James Elliott would appear on NCIS: LA before the end of the current tenth season, but there had been no word that Catherine Bell would be back as well. Now, TVLine reports that Bell will appear in the Season 10 finale in May.
David James Elliott will actually return before Catherine Bell. He appears in the penultimate episode of Season 10, reportedly after Callen and Sam contact him due to an ISIS sympathizer plan to attack American aircraft carriers. He is the captain of the USS Intrepid and will appear in the finale as well.
When news of David James Elliott's appearance on NCIS: LA broke, his run on the show was described as "a multi-episode arc." Whether this "multi-episode arc" is really only two episodes or it will extend into Season 11 (assuming a renewal happens) remains to be seen.
Harm's big return to TV will take place on the May 12 episode of NCIS: LA, called "The Guardian." Mac won't be back until the next episode on May 19. She'll appear after Hetty -- who only recently returned to the show herself -- reaches out for help to prevent an attack on aircraft carriers. The threat will presumably be the same one that connects Callen and Sam with Harm.
Interestingly, it sounds like Mac's involvement in the case could be independent of Harm's. Is this a sign that things didn't work out between them? After all, JAG ended with one of them set to retire from the Navy so they could be together, and surely they wouldn't both be contacted for aircraft carrier help if one of them was living the civilian life.
Then again, the NCIS universe version of the Navy isn't so strict about relationships anymore, if NCIS: LA is anything to go by. Kensi and Deeks recently had a full episode devoted to their wedding, and they're still partners! Maybe Mac and Harm are together, and their on-screen reunion will just show fans what they've been up to in the years since JAG ended.
We'll have to wait and see. At this point, it's hard not to wonder if the NCIS: LA episodes could be used to launch a JAG revival. It's not the wildest idea, as only one entry in the franchise failed to get off the ground, and revivals are all the rage nowadays. Besides, wouldn't it be at least a little bit funny if the show that spun off NCIS back in 2003 is revived via NCIS' first spinoff?
Tune in to NCIS: Los Angeles on Sunday, May 12 to see David James Elliott back as Harm, and then on May 19 to see Catherine Bell back as Mac in the mix with Harm once more in the Season 10 finale.
