Co-starring: Barry Corbin as Kincaid, Jesse Vint as Insane Wayne, Moosie Drier as Bobby Sherman, Red West as Red, Anthony James as Three-Finger Harry, Gillian Grant as Julie
Written by Stephen J Cannell, Frank Lupo
Directed by Craig R Baxley
Murdock is mistaken for a crazed South American General which gets the team mixed up in a dispute over oil rights
A fair but forgettable episode, not really what you’d expect from the writing combination of show co-creators Cannell and Lupo. The opening is interesting, having the team roll into town and meet the villain when they are mistaken for the gang they will eventually fight. They manage to con Kincaid (well-played by Corbin, who may be familiar from his army role in ‘WarGames’) and break out with the gang’s fee.
Unfortunately, after hooking up with Bobby Sherman (the target for Kincaid’s gang), it becomes clear that this is going to be a rather straight-forward story. It all starts to feel like something of a throwback, resembling a weak entry in the third season that passes the time without being anything memorable. The various complications (trying to delay the arrival of the real gang, Bobby being in love with Kincaid’s stepdaughter) don’t spark much life into the episode as a whole
There’s a clever camera shot which tracks the team walking side-by-side as they discuss their next move but it only goes to show how flat the episode is when a camera move is one of the highlights. The plot isn’t light on incident but is light on variety as it basically just moves from one meeting with Kincaid to another. BA does get shot in the shoulder at one point, a rare example of a bullet making contact in an episode.
Director Baxley (who did second unit action on the show before graduating to main director) knows how to stage a good battle sequence and does so at the finale but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Overall, this isn’t a terrible episode by any means but it is one that feels like you’ve seen it before, even if you haven’t. 5/10
I thought this one struck a good balance between the strict formula of season three and the conscious attempt to vary that approach with season four. Thematically, it's also reminiscient of season one's, "A Nice Place To Visit".
ReplyDeleteBarry Corbin and Red West make for good villains, although Moosie Drier is a little too old to be playing a "15-year-old kid". It's no a big deal, but they should've at least tried to make him 17.
I also like the undercurrent of respect that plays throughout, from the team's notoriety to their acknowledgement of Bobby's dad. There's a nice scene where Murdock essentially asks Bobby to give them a chance, and fondly alludes to their time in `Nam.