I wanted to write a review of this episode primarily because I remember being very unhappy about its treatment of Native American culture during its initial airing.  I was less unhappy when I rewatched the episode prior to writing this review, as it became more evident that the writer, director, actors, et al. at least tried to present a more balanced view of Native American culture than it initially had seemed to me.  That doesn't mean they totally succeeded, but I can now see evidence that they tried.  The greatest problem I see here, is that, because of the one-hour format of the show, there wasn't a lot of time to present three-dimensional Native characters.  So instead, they tried to balance their stereotypes by presenting characters who represented various aspects of Native American culture.  So we see the stubborn, traditionalist medicine woman who refuses to
listen to "reason" about scientific proof and who only reverses her stance in the end when she sees which way the wind is blowing and wants to save face.  We see the hypocritical Native lawyer who, while paying lip service to tradition and Native culture, is revealed to be a Silicon Valley lawyer who is reaping the rewards of "white man's capitalism."  Jimmy Blackhorse, Sr. becomes representative of the age-old stereotype of Indians who can't hold their liquor.  But on the flip side of the coin, there was Johnny, who was open-minded enough to assist the scientist's pursuit of the truth, and there was the young
couple with the baby, who were traditionalists regarding their culture but also friendly and reasonable; they represented the appeal  of leading a more simplistic lifestyle.  (If they could have developed the characters of the young couple a bit more and gotten rid of the lawyer, I think they would have been on the right track in terms of portraying three-dimensional Native characters.)

On the plus side, there was evidence in the script that care was taken to try to overturn the stereotypes presented above.  Trisha Yearwood's character, in particular, struck me as the show's mouthpiece in defense of Native culture.  And at the end of the episode, Harm's statement that he doesn't believe Jimmy Blackhorse was a drunk or a rapist, but a troubled man with complex problems (brought on by his experiences in the war), was absolutely necessary to alleviate the racism inherent in portraying a Native character as a drinker who forced himself on the woman he loved.  Essentially, though, I remain
somewhat troubled by this episode for one basic reason:  Like almost every Hollywood portrayal of Native culture, it is told from the mainstream white culture's point of view.  If we could have seen this story told from the perspective of the Native Americans, I'm sure it would have been  very different.  Instead, it was told from the Navy's point of view, with the Native Americans being portrayed as an obstacle to overcome.  That's the typical cowboys vs. Indians mentality that I find so distasteful in Hollywood.  Even the teaser of this episode, when the Marines carry Jimmy Blackhorse's flag-draped
casket out of the helicopter and face the Native Americans astride their horses, was a visual reminder of the old "cowboys and Indians" movies.  (On the other hand, since we don't often get a chance to see the reverence with which the military treats its dead, I enjoyed seeing this in the teaser; I just wish it had been in a different context.)

I'm willing to concede that I might be overreacting a bit to this, but I'm used to seeing Native American culture portrayed the correct way, from the Native Americans' point of view:  If you really want to get a feel for the reality of Native life, try getting ahold of episodes of the wonderful CBC (Canadian) series North of 60.  Or if you want to read some books about Native culture by Native Americans, I highly recommend anything by Louise Erdrich or N. Scott Momaday, and the book The Grass Dancer by Susan Power.

Mac doesn't play a huge role in this episode, but it's worth noting as a good Mac episode if only for the coffee room scene in the beginning.  This was a wonderful scene from start to finish for many reasons. To begin with, the ongoing unresolved sexual tension (UST) between the Admiral and Mac following their near-kiss in The Stalker was nice to see, as was their mutual discomfort with it.  It was amusing to see how quickly Mac scurried back to the other side of the room when Harm walked in on them.  Then, the scene turned even more amusing when Bud and Harriet come in looking for the Admiral to play mediator about their wedding.  I especially loved the exchange between Bud and the Admiral:  Bud:  "And while we're at it, might we get your position on the Bunny Hop, sir?"  AJ:  "No."  Then when Harm said "Well, it looks like we have a quorum, sir.  Is there something you'd like to tell us?" the looks on both the Admiral's and Mac's faces were priceless!  It was obvious they thought he was referring to what he'd walked in on earlier.  AJ maintained more control over his facial expression than Mac did, merely glancing at her after Harm's remark, but the quietly panicked look on Mac's face was hysterical!  Catherine is really great at these sorts of subtle facial expressions, even when she doesn't have any lines to go with them.  I also enjoyed Mac's surprised
reaction to the Admiral sending her off to Arizona with the others, when clearly not so many people were needed for this case.  When the Admiral added, "Please," there is a look of dawning understanding on her face that he's trying to put some distance between them to resolve their mutual discomfort.  Well done.

I also liked the fact that Mac (an alcoholic) could tell just by the tone of Jimmy Blackhorse's letters that he'd been drinking.  Nice detail.  I wasn't so enamored of the exchange between Mac and Begay:  When he tells her that, as someone with Cherokee blood in her, she should understand why his people are resisting the DNA testing, she goes into some detail about the differences between the Cherokees and the Navajos.  While I liked the fact that she stood up to him, I still sensed that making such sweeping statements about how the Cherokees and the Navajos behaved to situations in the past and trying to imply that they should still be behaving the same way today was, again, a stereotype.  And, of course, many of us heard from HarrietJAG the story about how the Mac-Begay kitchen scene was cut short.  They should have left it out altogether.  However, I would have liked to have seen more of Mac in the courtroom scenes (this is a common complaint of mine: too much Harm and not enough Mac in the courtroom).

What's also notable about this episode, of course, is that it marks the acting debut of country singer Trisha Yearwood--and what an impressive debut it was!  Having seen many unsuccessful attempts by singers to move into the acting arena, I didn't have high hopes, but she was a pleasant surprise.  She delivered her lines very well.  I found her very funny, from her comment to Bud and Harriet to "save their money" by having a buffet instead of a  sit-down meal to her sarcastic remark when Harm tells her about Johnny's TB: "Great, we can rifle through his garbage for used tissues!"  :-)  If the producers are smart, they'll bring her character back.  She's great.

Other high points of the episode:  The theme of Faith vs. Science; despite how long this struggle has been going on, it hasn't gotten any easier to resolve.  The director's (Alan J. Levi) choice in contrasting the scenes of the DNA testing process with Johnny's Sweat Lodge Ceremony nicely represented this theme in a visual way. While I felt the context forced (see "low points" below), I enjoyed the use of Trisha Yearwood's music in this episode.  I really liked the guy (Nick Tate) playing Jimmy Blackhorse, Jr.; while the sappy--I mean, happy--ending was a bit too quickly resolved into a touchy-feely "welcome home to your people" scene, I definitely could picture Jimmy Jr. fitting into the Navajo community, in spite of his obvious New Zealandness.  In fact, I think it would be a pretty interesting mix.

Other low points of the episode:  Lack of continuity:  In this episode, it is established that Harriet has a sister; however, in
Wedding Bell Blues, Harriet indicates to Mac that she doesn't have a sister.  The JAG writers really need to develop character bibles so they can keep these details straight.  Contrivance:  Trisha Yearwood's character is the first person to make the young couple's baby laugh and must then throw a feast in the baby's honor (as is required by Native custom).  This was a blatant excuse to provide a forum for playing Trisha's music and for having our heroes interact with the Native Americans in a friendly, rather than adversarial, setting.  Bleh.  Can we say "forced," boys and girls?  The wedding plans of Bud and Harriet were so obnoxious in this episode--their background bickering while Harm and Mac were trying to talk to the Admiral over the phone, their constant haggling over the details, etc.--that I half hoped they actually would elope while in Las Vegas just to get it over
with.  (But then we wouldn't have gotten the wonderful episode Wedding Bell Blues.)  Finally:  Why does every female guest star on this show fall for Harm?  He can't be everybody's type, for crying out loud; nobody is everybody's type.

Favorite quote:

Bud:  "We have to invite him.  He's my uncle."
Harriet:  "I thought you said he was the devil."
Bud:  "But he's still my uncle."