Jack & Claire Interactions Masterlist Pt. 5
**Additional clips added to Hot Pursuit at end of post!
Ah, we've known them together for only a season, but we know them so well. We know that Jack McCoy is a serial pursuer of his assistants. We know he's snagged his latest, Claire Kincaid, and that they go out for drinks almost every night after work and feel VERY comfortable on his leather couch. It's all here in my Season 5 wrap-up. Now we move on to their next and final season together, with a few lovers' quarrels queued up in the first episodes of Season 6.
For background, check out their first meeting and developing...rapport; the increasingly inappropriate and unprofessional exchanges as their relationship develops; and a deepening bond even when cases shake Claire to her core.
Let's check in with the legal lovebirds!
E1: Bitter Fruit
- Claire's "near death" experience has clearly rattled Jack, even though the perpetrator lost her daughter and killed the defendant in an act of revenge. But eventually Jack concedes that Claire's argument for semi-leniency is a valid one. I like the evident professional respect laid on top of a deeply personal issue. https://imgur.com/a/MZq4dqs
- Oh but he hasn't dropped it. He's scheming ways to get back at the woman who put Claire in harm's way no matter what it takes. https://imgur.com/a/EGgb4wg
- Wait. Whose car is this? Is it Claire's car and he has the keys? Coworkers drive back and forth to places together, I guess, but Jack throwing the keys (and Claire's irritated expression) strike me as couple stuff. https://imgur.com/a/4Mdj7LC
- Little jokes about the mess of a relationship they've just observed in the case, and a VERY suggestive set of looks in the elevator. Tell me they're not going home together on what looks like a balmy night! https://imgur.com/a/fPxSRmX
E2: Rebels
- Claire hits the courtroom! Check out Jack admiring her from the back of the courtroom. Watch the whole clip because he's got a cute line about her cross coming up! https://imgur.com/a/n7gME0e
- She wants reassurance and he's more than willing to give her that. He also steps REALLY close to her right before they board the elevator... https://imgur.com/a/nPKU6HD
- He seems head over heels here, up to the look he gives her as they walk off at the end of the scene. https://imgur.com/a/TjvngKR
- We all know who her "friend" is and why she knows the stats on that Yamaha so well. And why she's so damn defensive. https://imgur.com/a/m4D8jEI
E3: Savages
- Jack & Claire have an intense lunch debating the death penalty. https://imgur.com/a/sEhmrhV plus https://imgur.com/a/WtSGtlH. This feels personal, and you'll see why I think so in the upcoming clips. And isn't it noticeable the way they lean in? Maybe close colleagues would do this, but not what follows...
- Jack looks DEVASTATED at his win because Claire disagrees with him so deeply. And she looks pretty mad herself announcing it. https://imgur.com/a/bDJtAj3
- They can't even look at each other as the verdict is delivered. https://imgur.com/a/A6LB7KJ That must be why Jack left court alone and is eating a sandwich outside rather than walking back to his office with Claire. https://imgur.com/a/Uv0nUQb
- Notice that they're sitting on opposite ends of the couch now. https://imgur.com/a/D0FB3ry And here's Jack walking out of a courtroom alone. https://imgur.com/a/J58ko1a
- The Court of Appeals is refusing to intervene until a death sentence has been handed down. It's hurting Jack and Claire both not to have a concrete answer and to be on opposite sides. https://imgur.com/a/e5npSOF continued: https://imgur.com/a/GGAlGCU
- In the end, there is damage. Any relationship begun in a job like this is going to take on the contours of each partner's beliefs. Claire is horrified and Jack seems none too happy either. https://imgur.com/a/oXcr8rq
E4: Jeopardy
- Claire strategizes and reassures Jack here. https://imgur.com/a/I8wHVqT
- And he leans in to make his point and convince her. https://imgur.com/a/UuJaDAe
E5: Hot Pursuit
- A confrontation between Jack and Claire sets up another moral conflict between the two. Is Amanda Peet's character truly culpable? Claire often struggles with the moral weight of prosecutorial decisions where Jack doesn't. https://imgur.com/a/IiKSK54
- This courtroom exchange kicks off an intimate conflict between Jack and Claire. https://imgur.com/a/3fYhY9a
- Same energy as Savages. There are parts of their cases where he takes the reins and handles things in a way that deeply offends Claire, and there's no way around that sometimes. https://imgur.com/a/uz9QVTC
- Both Jack and Claire look stricken at this verdict. https://imgur.com/a/bBelYgz
- And in the end, Jack doesn't seem sure that he approached any of this the right way. https://imgur.com/a/1BfWVG9
ETA on Hot Pursuit!
- I was going over the old Geocities links when I found this commentary from a reader of the Lust in the DA page. They're right -- look at these interactions between Jack and Claire at the DA's table. I have sat at many a courtroom table in my day and it's never looked like this. There are 3 clips here (you can scroll down to see them all) of them sitting very close together, him with his arm behind her like they're...on their boss's couch or something! https://imgur.com/a/7zzVZPJ
None of these posts would exist if I hadn't first seen these brilliant lists on Geocities, thankfully still available on the Wayback Machine.
http://web.archive.org/web/20021020112224/www.geocities.com/Broadway/2503/jcepisodes.html
Posted Nov 1, 2021, 11:37 PM UTC · edited