User Reviews

Honey and Sam are hired by an ex-con to discover who is copying his old style to pull off a series of robberies.

I'm glad to be finished going through this stretch of Honey West episodes. Beginning at about #122, it's a bad stretch without one episode that I would call "good". There's a Long, Long, Fuse A'Burning may be slightly better, but I've probably overrated it with my 5/10. My problem with this one - it's boring. I didn't find Honey's case very exciting. And it doesn't help matters that the real criminal is way too easy to spot. Very poor writing. Finally, I thought the crowds' reaction to bombs exploding was unrealistic and hysterical. Why in God's name would you run toward an explosion instead of away from it?

For the episode's Name That Character Actor, I'm going with Leonard Bremen and his 150 acting credits.

No one does Damon Runyon characters quite as well as Damon Runyon, and the "Honey West" team should not have attempted it, but here they do. A Runyonesque retired robber once was known for diverting attention from his robberies by setting off a bomb down the street from his target. Somebody is reprising his act and the police suspect him of coming out of retirement. While Honey and Sam try to figure out who the copycat is, they walk through a rather literal minefield of clues. The budget for explosions must have been used up in this second-to-last episode of the series. Not sure whether it is well spent, although if you like explosions, there is nothing to regret, except that they could have been used in the service of a more memorable story.

Once again, attempts at humor on "Honey West" were generally not that funny. As an unsupported gag, the retired criminals' lair (the Bastille Club, naturally) is only mildly amusing and soon wears thin. The final scene, in which Honey dances with each of the retired gang members, might have been fun to shoot. That is all that can be said for it.

It might be worth noting that what I am pleased to call "Fowler's Rule" (not to be confused with that of my namesake, Henry) applies here. Simply stated, my rule says that the best-known actor in the guest cast (or, in this case, the best-known TV personality) is likely to turn out to be the villain or murderer.