The rescue at the beginning of the episode of a man from a power pole, apparently a power company worker since there are no telephone or cable TV wires visible, is so hokey as to be unbelievable. I know that this series takes a lot of literary license but they really blew it on this one. As a telephone company worker of almost 30 years and the climber of hundreds of poles in the 1970's, I can truthfully say that the man on the pole was very poorly portrayed. He would not have, even after being knocked loose from the pole by a car, have had his safety belt up under his armpits and would have been wearing a safety helmet, though that could possibly have come off in the accident. The belt would have been holding him snugly about his waist. This guy looked like he just came from a stroll through the mall. The phone and power companies, even in the 70's had much greater safety standards for linemen. Also the rescue workers would not have climbed the pole without wearing long sleeve garments like "turnout coats". This was a strict requirement of the power and phone companies and I'm sure for the Fire Department as well, due to the dangers of severe splinters on creosote soaked poles.
For me this blows the whole episode. Perhaps I'm picky but I climbed poles for too many years to believe this at all. This is not one of the better episodes for realism.
For me this blows the whole episode. Perhaps I'm picky but I climbed poles for too many years to believe this at all. This is not one of the better episodes for realism.
