‘NCIS: LA’ Fans Celebrate ‘JAG’s Harm and Mac Finally Reuniting in Person After 14 Years

During the NCIS: Los Angeles Season 11 premiere, longtime JAG fans finally got what they wanted. Fourteen years after JAG ended, Catherine Bell and David James Elliott appeared together in the same room as their beloved characters Mac and Harm. Fans were stunned to finally see them together after so many years thinking it would never happen.

In “Let Fate Decide,” Callen (Chris O’Donnell) and Hanna (LL Cool J) continued their investigation into the spies that may have infiltrated Captain Harmon “Harm” Rabb Jr’s ship, the U.S.S. Allegiance. Back home, Hetty (Linda Hunt) worked with Lt. Colonel Sarah “Mac” Mackenzie to help stop the missile attack from their end.

During the episode, Mac revealed she and Harm were engaged at one point, but broke up because life “got complicated.” She said the two have not seen each other in nine years. When they did finally see each other, all they could do is exchange awkward glances and shake hands.

After Harm, Mac and the rest of the team saved the world, the two talked about their issues. Why had they gone nine years without seeing each other? Mac theorized they were “scared” to really try things out as a couple. Harm agreed, and revealed that Hetty suggested he take a big job at NCIS in San Diego.

“Mac, what are we doing?” Harm asked.

“I don’t know, but…” Mac said, trailing off.

“But what?” Harm wondered.

“We’re way past letting fate decide.”

The three-part story started in “The Guardian” and continued in the Season 10 finale, “False Flag.” In the finale, Harm and Mac had a quasi-reunion, but they were never in the same room. Instead, they only communicated over a satellite hookup, with Mac in Los Angeles and Harm on his ship in the Persian Gulf. The scene revealed they did not have a happy ending, and are no longer a couple.

Fans were super excited to finally see Harm and Mac in the same room together for the first time since JAG ended in 2005.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Bell said she “always hoped” she would get to play Mac again, since she “loved this character so much.”

“It was my first big role, so there was that,” Bell explained. “It was right up my alley with the fighting and the military stuff. I was like, ‘Yes, this is so much fun getting to shoot on military bases and on working aircraft carriers out at sea.’ It’s such a soft spot for me. Fans had always said, ‘Would you ever reprise your role? What about an NCIS?’ It had been so long that I thought it wasn’t going to happen anymore.”

Bell said she received an email from NCIS: LA showrunner R. Scott Gemmill and reached out. It had been years since they last talked and he inspired him to bring her character back.

“Next thing you know, we made it happen and I was in L.A. getting fitted for Mac and getting my hair done. It was more like a dream that I wasn’t sure would ever happen, but I’m so glad it did,” she said.

Bell called it “surreal” to revisit the role 14 years later and had to go back to watch old JAG episodes to remind herself of Mac’s personality.

“She’s older. She could do different jobs. I’m thinking about what she’s been through and how she’s evolved, but absolutely it was like putting on an old pair of shoes. Like, I remember this girl. This is fun. I really had a blast,” she said.

New episodes of NCIS: LA air Sundays on CBS, following God Friended Me.

Photo credit: Erik Voake/CBS