Showdown! s3ep9

co-starring: Morgan Woodward as Captain Winnetka, John Carter as Parker, D.D. Howard as Carrie, Michael Delano as Kyle Mason, Bill Lucking as Colonel Lynch, W.K. Stratton as Captain Royce
Written by Milt Rosen
Directed by James Fargo

The team go up against a gang who are terrorising the owners of a wild west show while posing as The A-Team.

Certainly unique in terms of its story, this is a distinctive and highly entertaining episode which is driven by plot as much as it is by action. There's an enjoyably light tone throughout, one that is established early on when the team have to disguise themselves to infiltrate the wild west show. Murdock is the indian, Hannibal is the cowboy, Face is the clown and BA refuses to wear a disguise.

The best jokes come from a running gag about Murdock's role in the team. He is not mentioned in a newspaper article about the fake A-Team and then finds that the impostors do not have a Murdock. On the action front, there is an excellent set-piece involving a runaway truck which is as good an action scene as you’ll find in any episode. Latterly, a chase involving the A-Team van and a final battle that includes what can only be described as a gunge launcher also scores highly.

There’s plenty of bright dialogue to keep things ticking along, with Face memorably remarking that “this is the third time this month I’ve been hit in the eye. I’m beginning to lose my sense of humour”. The multiple strands of the plot ensure there is always plenty going on and they compliment each other without ever making the episode seem cluttered.

Lucking plays Colonel Lynch for the third and final time here and his status as a figure of fun (as distinct from the more real threat posed by Decker) is well-suited to the story. Wrapped up with a memorable final escape from Lynch to embarrasshim one last time, this is a top-notch episode and one of the highlights of the third season. 9/10.