User Reviews

This entire episode was problematic for me. But having watched nearly 8 years worth of shows in a short time, the episodes have become pretty repetitive. Now I'm happy with any show that doesn't feature Betty undercover. I was a very young child in the 70s so by the time I was a teen/young adult hitchhiking was not a thing people did at least not where I grew up. So it's hard for me to accept that an upstanding young woman would be silly enough to get into a car with a complete stranger in a known area for prostitution and be surprised when she is mistaken for a lady of the evening. She then freaks out and in her panic falls and hits her head. Which of course kills her. A nasty hit to the head can cause death. But it was probably second only to shooting as the cause of death in nearly every crime show of the 70s. All it took was a tumble or a blow to the head with a feather. Also quite common is the accidental death followed by a purposeful murder to cover it up. Never understood that one.

Not the worst episode of the series. But thank goodness whatever spin-off they were aiming for never got off the ground.

Obviously yet another attempt at a one episode introduction and spin off opportunity. It is so obvious that the producers were trying to capitalize on the success of this show to think that they could pre-package a silly ensemble show Involving an "investigative reporter", sassy gal Friday, rookie cop making a name for himself, etc etc. Cornball at its finest. The hooker trying to blackmail the judge is the same actress that played the amusement park arcade girl that Greg Brady fell in love with in the Midwest amusement park episode of the Brady Bunch. All in all, it definitely reeks of "final season" laziness.

Apparently, "The Final Victim" was designed as an opportunity for a spinoff program....according to IMDB. I assume it would involve Harry Guardino's character...and after seeing it I can see why no such series was made. While Guardino was a good actor usually, he's absolutely terrible here. To make it worse, the show employs a really dumb cliche.

The story begins in a bad part of town. A college age girl has definitely made a bad choice of where she should be, as she's where the hookers ply their trade. In fact, at one point some cops stop and question her...and not surprisingly, she wants to get away fast. The problem is that she accepts a ride from a stranger...and the stranger assumes she's a prostitute and tries to get her to put out. In the process things get violent and he kills her.

As to who the killer is, he turns out to be a judge and one of the 'professional girls' noted that it was he who picked up the murdered girl. So, she does something stupid that is sometimes done in badly written TV shows...she tries to blackmail him! Think about it....the guy is a murderer and you try to blackmail him! How silly can you get?! Regardless, with the young dead girl and the now dead prostitute, what evidence is there left to lead to the killer?

The bad cliche...Guardino's bellicose acting...they both spell disaster for this episode. Hardly worth watching.