"The Company" is, technically, just another mobster's infiltration of another mobster's territory type of plot. Yet it contains all the elements which made Season 1 of POLICE WOMAN so distinctive: shot in shimmery, sun-drenched style, the Los Angeles scene is made to feel glittery and glamorous, if not entirely safe.
And all set to an effective score tracked mostly from Richard Shores.
Following the gangland killing of a mafia thug during which an imprisoned don's name is uttered, Pepper (along with informant, Linda Summers AKA "The Black Widow") makes an undercover trip to a clandestine, high-class gambling casino and witnesses first-hand the game "taken" by the henchman from this new circle of crooks.
After the man who ran the illegal casino (comic Shelley Berman!) is blown up in his car in front of Pepper and Crowley, the unit tries to flush out the gang responsible by setting themselves up for "protectionism".
(Regrettably, the S1 DVD print of "The Company" has deleted a wordless long-shot of Pepper and Crowley's car, a panoramic view of the L.A. skyline at sunset in the background, as they're driving to meet their snitch, Linda, on a parking deck, the camera then passing over her as Pep & Bill drive up the ramp... The moment was removed in syndication for purposes time, and as a scene with no dialogue and lasted maybe 15 or 20 seconds, it was a logical choice for cutting... Yet this is such a cinematic perspective shot, it's a disappointment when the scene fails to be reinstated on the DVD -- although all the other previously-cut moments are intact.) After an intriguingly understated jailhouse conversation with Pepper and Bill, the imprisoned kingpin, Vito Angelo, who's been falsely blamed for this series of gangland takeovers, sends his assistant out on the streets to learn for the cops that a local, corrupt mafia lawyer has brainstormed the scam, using the kingpin's name for purposes of leverage.
Given the era's true life Church (and other) Committees' public investigations into CIA/mafia conspiracies and assassination schemes, one wonders (given the title) was this script originally meatier than what we wound up with, just a "safe" local mob plot?? Who knows... But it certainly feels bigger than that somehow.
In any event, warned that the police were about to bust him, the crooked lawyer moves to dispose of his incriminating records--- but not before the CCU can stop him. Tossing his box of important paperwork into the wind, the gusts from the nearby docks scatter the records in a thousand different directions, leaving Pepper and Bill to scramble to recover them, resulting in one of the best episode-ending freeze-frames for a TV series.... ever!
And all set to an effective score tracked mostly from Richard Shores.
Following the gangland killing of a mafia thug during which an imprisoned don's name is uttered, Pepper (along with informant, Linda Summers AKA "The Black Widow") makes an undercover trip to a clandestine, high-class gambling casino and witnesses first-hand the game "taken" by the henchman from this new circle of crooks.
After the man who ran the illegal casino (comic Shelley Berman!) is blown up in his car in front of Pepper and Crowley, the unit tries to flush out the gang responsible by setting themselves up for "protectionism".
(Regrettably, the S1 DVD print of "The Company" has deleted a wordless long-shot of Pepper and Crowley's car, a panoramic view of the L.A. skyline at sunset in the background, as they're driving to meet their snitch, Linda, on a parking deck, the camera then passing over her as Pep & Bill drive up the ramp... The moment was removed in syndication for purposes time, and as a scene with no dialogue and lasted maybe 15 or 20 seconds, it was a logical choice for cutting... Yet this is such a cinematic perspective shot, it's a disappointment when the scene fails to be reinstated on the DVD -- although all the other previously-cut moments are intact.) After an intriguingly understated jailhouse conversation with Pepper and Bill, the imprisoned kingpin, Vito Angelo, who's been falsely blamed for this series of gangland takeovers, sends his assistant out on the streets to learn for the cops that a local, corrupt mafia lawyer has brainstormed the scam, using the kingpin's name for purposes of leverage.
Given the era's true life Church (and other) Committees' public investigations into CIA/mafia conspiracies and assassination schemes, one wonders (given the title) was this script originally meatier than what we wound up with, just a "safe" local mob plot?? Who knows... But it certainly feels bigger than that somehow.
In any event, warned that the police were about to bust him, the crooked lawyer moves to dispose of his incriminating records--- but not before the CCU can stop him. Tossing his box of important paperwork into the wind, the gusts from the nearby docks scatter the records in a thousand different directions, leaving Pepper and Bill to scramble to recover them, resulting in one of the best episode-ending freeze-frames for a TV series.... ever!
