For Beatles fans, the title "Nowhere Man" may stir up fond memories of Jeremy Hillary Boob PhD, but alas there's nothing lighthearted in this deadly serious episode of CANNON, one wholly devoid of cute kids and tuba-riffed fat jokes. What began as a routine assignment quickly escalated and called upon Cannon to prevent a chemical weapon catastrophe!
This episode boasts a big plot far from the rodeo heists, truck hijackings, and runaway rock singers featured thus far in the fledgling series. This story is more MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE in scope, reminding me, in fact, of the first season M:I episode "Operation: Rogosh." Is it by coincidence that Fritz Weaver was the guest star of both shows, spoke with a foreign accent, was disheveled in appearance, and was similarly plotting a grand scale catastrophe that the good guys had to race against the clock to prevent? That's not a complaint, as I thoroughly enjoyed each story and can acknowledge the many differences.
Here Weaver plays Leo Kern, a Holocaust survivor who suffers nightmares and is haunted by the fact he survived while all his family died. He sees Germans smiling behind their beer steins and Americans enjoying afternoons at amusement parks, evading the harsh realities of war and its aftermath. But paradoxically, Kern is employed as an accountant at a fertilizer plant that is a front for a factory producing chemical weapons for the military. Off-screen, plant manager McMillan tapped Kern to be his patsy to steal and ransom a canister of nerve gas, a ruse that would allow McMillan to raise funds to cover debts. Kern performed the theft out of principle, but upon learning from Cannon that he was duped, Kern inexplicably plans to use the nerve gas. Unwittingly, McMillan and Cannon were responsible for loosening the screws on the already unhinged Kern.
Curiously, Cannon shows sympathy for Kern, a man who is unrepentantly ready to detonate a canister of nerve gas capable of wiping out 20 square blocks of innocent men, women, and children. The heady conversation Cannon and Kern engage in while the clock inexorably ticks down to disaster smacked of Weaver's theological colloquium with Burgess Meredith in "The Obsolete Man" episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Kern believes America needs a wake-up call to face the reality of war and suffering, which it is avoiding by escaping into fun, games, amusements, and excitement. Cannon agrees Kern has a point, which I found surprising since that just indicted every person sitting in front of their televisions watching CANNON!
Speaking of Rod Serling's iconic series TWILIGHT ZONE, four-episode veteran Barney Phillips has a too-brief appearance in this story as Inspector Daniels. He'll be back three more times, as will his fellow guest stars Robert Webber and Richard O'Brien. The breakout star of the guest cast, however, has to be Jeanne Cooper as brassy landlady Sylvia Barberio, who could tell by the cut of Cannon's suit he was no general issue flatfoot. And she's a woman who knows about fashion, as those yellow go-go boots testify. She was a highlight and did succeed in briefly lifting the mood of a heavy episode. Conversely, Lynn Carlin as Kern's "plain as a blanket" wife Helen failed to make a strong impression in a thankless role.
This episode appears to have been filmed on location at a June 1971 Expo, with Weaver filmed wandering through real crowds as you can glimpse people in the background gawking at the camera.
A suspenseful and thoughtful episode, even if it stretches credulity. The military would never entrust the recovery of the nerve gas canister to a private detective. And the police interrogation of Kern is almost leisurely, even though countless lives were at stake. Contrast Cannon plucking out the deadly canister and carrying it away with the bomb squads in hazmat suits and robots one sees today. The Seventies were a saner time and we need men of Cannon's caliber today.
This episode boasts a big plot far from the rodeo heists, truck hijackings, and runaway rock singers featured thus far in the fledgling series. This story is more MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE in scope, reminding me, in fact, of the first season M:I episode "Operation: Rogosh." Is it by coincidence that Fritz Weaver was the guest star of both shows, spoke with a foreign accent, was disheveled in appearance, and was similarly plotting a grand scale catastrophe that the good guys had to race against the clock to prevent? That's not a complaint, as I thoroughly enjoyed each story and can acknowledge the many differences.
Here Weaver plays Leo Kern, a Holocaust survivor who suffers nightmares and is haunted by the fact he survived while all his family died. He sees Germans smiling behind their beer steins and Americans enjoying afternoons at amusement parks, evading the harsh realities of war and its aftermath. But paradoxically, Kern is employed as an accountant at a fertilizer plant that is a front for a factory producing chemical weapons for the military. Off-screen, plant manager McMillan tapped Kern to be his patsy to steal and ransom a canister of nerve gas, a ruse that would allow McMillan to raise funds to cover debts. Kern performed the theft out of principle, but upon learning from Cannon that he was duped, Kern inexplicably plans to use the nerve gas. Unwittingly, McMillan and Cannon were responsible for loosening the screws on the already unhinged Kern.
Curiously, Cannon shows sympathy for Kern, a man who is unrepentantly ready to detonate a canister of nerve gas capable of wiping out 20 square blocks of innocent men, women, and children. The heady conversation Cannon and Kern engage in while the clock inexorably ticks down to disaster smacked of Weaver's theological colloquium with Burgess Meredith in "The Obsolete Man" episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Kern believes America needs a wake-up call to face the reality of war and suffering, which it is avoiding by escaping into fun, games, amusements, and excitement. Cannon agrees Kern has a point, which I found surprising since that just indicted every person sitting in front of their televisions watching CANNON!
Speaking of Rod Serling's iconic series TWILIGHT ZONE, four-episode veteran Barney Phillips has a too-brief appearance in this story as Inspector Daniels. He'll be back three more times, as will his fellow guest stars Robert Webber and Richard O'Brien. The breakout star of the guest cast, however, has to be Jeanne Cooper as brassy landlady Sylvia Barberio, who could tell by the cut of Cannon's suit he was no general issue flatfoot. And she's a woman who knows about fashion, as those yellow go-go boots testify. She was a highlight and did succeed in briefly lifting the mood of a heavy episode. Conversely, Lynn Carlin as Kern's "plain as a blanket" wife Helen failed to make a strong impression in a thankless role.
This episode appears to have been filmed on location at a June 1971 Expo, with Weaver filmed wandering through real crowds as you can glimpse people in the background gawking at the camera.
A suspenseful and thoughtful episode, even if it stretches credulity. The military would never entrust the recovery of the nerve gas canister to a private detective. And the police interrogation of Kern is almost leisurely, even though countless lives were at stake. Contrast Cannon plucking out the deadly canister and carrying it away with the bomb squads in hazmat suits and robots one sees today. The Seventies were a saner time and we need men of Cannon's caliber today.
