| Meg Austin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First appearance |
Episode:Shadow |
| Last appearance |
Episode:Skeleton Crew |
| Portrayed by |
Tracey Needham |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | JAG Officer |
Lieutenant, Junior Grade Megan "Meg" Austin (USN), is the main character in the first season of the television series JAG portrayed by actress Tracey Needham.
Biography[]
Meg Austin is the second partner to Lieutenant Harmon Rabb, replacing Lieutenant JG Caitlin Pike (who was later promoted to full Lieutenant). She is from Texas and inherited a friend from her deceased father, an obscure character very well connected in the intelligence community named "Ollie". This is in clear reference to Oliver North (portrayed by himself on three episodes in 1995, 1996 and 2002), who knew her father and who helped her on some of their investigations.
Austin worked with Rabb and saved his life at least once as seen in the episode "Deja Vu".
After her departure from JAG headquarters, she recommended that then Lieutenant JG Bud Roberts be placed on JAG staff.
Trivia[]
- Suffers from extreme claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces).
- Has a Aunt Ellie who taught her how to test if people are hungover, as noted in Episode:Deja Vu.
- Was seen in flashbacks in Death Watch and Shifting Sands.
Awards[]
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation; National Defense Service Medal (given later)
Character Casting[]
The executives at NBC didn't like Andrea Parker's character (Caitlin Pike) in the pilot, so they had to recast Rabb's partner for the series. Andrea Parker went on to work on The Pretender but came back to guest star on a few episodes later in the season.
When JAG was cancelled by NBC after the first season, Needham left the series. When CBS picked up JAG from the second season onward, she was replaced by Catherine Bell, playing then Major Sarah MacKenzie. Her final (non flashback clip) appearance was in the final and rarely aired season 1 episode Skeleton Crew.