Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie is a fictional character and lead role in the American television series JAG, played by Catherine Bell. The character was created by Donald P. Bellisario, as a work for hire for Paramount Television, in the script for the first episode of the second season, which was filmed and then aired by CBS on January 3, 1997. Mac is introduced as a Major in the United States Marine Corps designated as a judge advocate, assigned to the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Navy in Falls Church, Virginia, who has had to overcome many obstacles to get where she is career-wise. The viewer follows her professional career and personal life from that point as the series progresses. With the longevity of JAG, plenty of information on her past life and career is given at various points in the series. JAG ended its ten-year run on April 29, 2005. After a nine season long will-they-won't-they relationship, Mac and the other main character, Harmon "Harm" Rabb (David James Elliott), become engaged during the show's final episode, flipping a coin to see who will resign their commission, but the outcome is not revealed at the end of the series. Character arc in JAG A military brat born in the late 1960s, Sarah MacKenzie had a troubled childhood; her mother abandoned her and her alcoholic father on the night of Mac's 15th birthday. Her father, Joseph MacKenzie, a non-commissioned officer in the Marine Corps, was physically abusive towards her mother, and emotionally and verbally abusive to Mac. As a partial result of this, Mac became an alcoholic in her mid-to-late teens and had no contact with her mother Deanne (Conchata Ferrell) until she reappeared at her father's deathbed. She also learns at this time that her large white mutt, named Ruggles, was abandoned at a boarding house during her mother's travels after fleeing from her abusive father. She showed more sympathy for her father's efforts to be a good dad, pathetic as they were, and more anger at her mother for leaving them to fend for themselves. Sarah MacKenzie ran away from home when she was 17 (her junior year of high school), and apparently married Christopher Ragle a year later. They were both drunk for much of their married life. He was later arrested and sent to prison for motor vehicle theft. At some point, Mac finished high school.