The Pier 56 Merchant's Association and countless other major clients drop the Riptide Detective Agency in favor of the Simpson (A tongue in cheek version of Simon & Simon) brothers - a bigger, better financed outfit with questionable (though less questionable than Riptide's) credentials.
Panicked Riptide Agency partners Cody Allen (Perry King), Murray 'Boz' Bozinski (Thom Bray) and Nick Ryder (Joe Penny) brood over their misfortune but also use their new found free time to investigate an unsolved case of a mysterious death from 1964 having been sent a small retainer from an anonymous client. Better a cold case than no case.
It brings back very fond memories for Cody which become more vivid as he crosses paths with his teen idol - surf sound rock legend Billy Hagan (Richard Hatch) who led the house band in residence at Cody's favorite hang out. Hagan relays information he remembers from having given a report to police at the time about a suspicious incident he witnessed concerning the victim which may mean nothing or everything.
As the mystery unfolds Cody comes to question the way in which he himself remembers that time and how new information from the case alters his wistful nostalgic perspective. The incurable romantic in him will find his way back to how he looks at things which will be crucial for him to have as he returns to hustling for a two-bit private investigation business and living like a college student in middle age. The subtext relating Cody's arc in the series was the most complicated.
For Richard Hatch this episode marked another in a long line of TV guest appearances portraying a character intended to contrast with the roles for which is best known to broaden his range as a screen presence. He had played surf sound rock legend Jan Berry in 1978 biopic Deadman's Curve - a considerably different character than Billy Hagan, though with superficial similarities.
Panicked Riptide Agency partners Cody Allen (Perry King), Murray 'Boz' Bozinski (Thom Bray) and Nick Ryder (Joe Penny) brood over their misfortune but also use their new found free time to investigate an unsolved case of a mysterious death from 1964 having been sent a small retainer from an anonymous client. Better a cold case than no case.
It brings back very fond memories for Cody which become more vivid as he crosses paths with his teen idol - surf sound rock legend Billy Hagan (Richard Hatch) who led the house band in residence at Cody's favorite hang out. Hagan relays information he remembers from having given a report to police at the time about a suspicious incident he witnessed concerning the victim which may mean nothing or everything.
As the mystery unfolds Cody comes to question the way in which he himself remembers that time and how new information from the case alters his wistful nostalgic perspective. The incurable romantic in him will find his way back to how he looks at things which will be crucial for him to have as he returns to hustling for a two-bit private investigation business and living like a college student in middle age. The subtext relating Cody's arc in the series was the most complicated.
For Richard Hatch this episode marked another in a long line of TV guest appearances portraying a character intended to contrast with the roles for which is best known to broaden his range as a screen presence. He had played surf sound rock legend Jan Berry in 1978 biopic Deadman's Curve - a considerably different character than Billy Hagan, though with superficial similarities.