Reviews

In this one, Joe investigates why a woman is being blackmailed.

The producers certainly saved the best for last as this is a terrific episode with an intriguing plot, some nice twists and strong performances from the entire cast.

Joe gets clobbered in the head again and is once again used as a bird dog.

The total body count is three.

This is an excellent episode with a lot of tension and suspense, a compelling story, some great action scenes and stunts and great performances from the entire cast.

This is the best episode of the season.

In this one, Joe tries to find out who took a shot at a bum.

The parts of the episode that focus on the mystery element are really good but the parts that focus on Boston, the bum (who is overacted by David Wayne), are dreadful as he's extremely annoying as he never stops talking and is constantly talking nonsense and all of it is just a distraction from the mystery part of the story and was obviously added as filler since the writers didn't have enough of a script for a whole episode. The idea that Joe would work for him when he's not getting paid anything is ludicrous and even more ludicrous is when he turns down an offer from a potential paying client later on to continue working for Boston.

There are lots of plot holes and loose ends. How did the thugs know Joe and Boston were at the outdoor theater and how did they know Boston hired Joe? How did the bum know Sands' phone number or even who he was? It was also never explained who killed West or why and what Ellen West's involvement was.

Then there are the clichés. Joe gets shot at but not hit and his client leaves the hideout after Joe told him not to.

Barbara Babcock's performance as Ellen West is strong. This is her third appearance.

Lloyd Bochner is really good in his final appearance and of course plays the villain as he always does.

There isn't much action except at the end. There are no fight scenes.

This is not one of the better episodes from this season and there's nothing particularly memorable about it.

This is obviously just a scene by scene and line by line remake of the terrible Skid Marks on a Dry Run episode from season one. The plot doesn't make any sense and I didn't like the original episode and certainly don't like this one.

This is just a throwaway episode and it can be skipped.

This is yet another example of a show that collapses at the end when the plot is revealed and it doesn't add up. How did anyone know Ryan had ordered pills from the pharmacy or which pharmacy he ordered them from?

There are other plot holes too. Ryan is a government witness who is being protected but yet all of the doors where he's staying are unlocked so anyone can walk in. Then Faber conveniently showed Joe his security setup right before Joe broke in to steal the file. It's unrealistic that he would even show Joe his security setup at all. And why did Christina go to a private detective to confess to a murder? Why didn't she go to the police?

On top of all of the plot problems, there's very little action except at the end.

This is a dud.

This one is about Joe being targeted by a sniper and Peggy being taken hostage by him.

The first third of the episode is pretty good but then quickly goes downhill after that when the focus shifts to the actual sniper, whose constant cackling isn't interesting or scary at all but is actually really annoying and dumb.

Of course, you KNOW nothing's going to happen to either Joe or Peggy because without them there wouldn't be a show, so there's absolutely no suspense, but just a lot of silly cackling and taunting, all of which is very tedious and unimpressive.

The one bright spot is the brawl in the bar which happens early on, but everything after that is a dumpster fire.

This is quite an embarrassing spectacle.

In this one, a guy is accused of killing another guy at a quarry but his girlfriend believes he's innocent and hires Joe to look into it. It takes place somewhere in northern California, so it continues the obvious trend this season of episodes taking place outside of Los Angeles.

There are all kinds of problems in this one, with the first being why doesn't the family put this nut in a mental hospital? Why do they allow him to go out every week and start shooting? Then there's the obvious contradiction where the family says the guy doesn't like guns but yet he's going out every week and shooting them. This exact same contradiction was seen in the season three episode A Chance at the Roses and was a major problem then and is again here.

Then in the fight scene in the quarry, when Joe falls down the stairs, it's inexplicably shown in slow motion, which not only ruins the excitement of the scene but also means you can clearly tell it's a stuntman going down the stairs, so just a bad decision all around by the producers.

This one has almost all of the clichés in the book. Joe gets clobbered in the head and shot at but not hit, the small-town police department is corrupt and hiding a secret and throws Joe in jail on phony charges and the big honcho in town buys off the county officials to keep quiet about his son. It's all recycled material that has been seen an endless number of times before.

It's also obvious who the killers are since they're revealed in the opening scene, so there's no mystery or suspense here.

The action consists of a fight scene in the jail and a brief fight scene at the end.

There's nothing original here. It's all just rehashed plot elements and clichés. This is a major flop.

In this one, Joe is hired by a crop duster to investigate the disappearance of two other crop dusters.

This is yet another episode set in a small town and it has all of the worn out and aggravating clichés that go along with it and have been seen many times before - the town is hiding some kind of secret and the sheriff is nasty and corrupt and arrests Joe on phony charges and then tries to run him out of town. If that wasn't bad enough, Joe gets clobbered over the head again and shot at but not hit, so two additional clichés for good measure. All of it is very tedious and unimpressive.

The Clint Carpenter character (played by Sean Garrison) has a bad attitude throughout and the idea that Joe would continue working for him with his attitude is not credible. Also not credible is the motive provided at the end for the disappearance of the two crop dusters.

The Sheriff Simkins character (played by Henry Beckman) is way over-the-top and is absolutely revolting.

This is a very depressing episode with very little action and clichés everywhere. It's easily the worst episode of the season so far.

In this one, Joe is hired by a couple who believe someone is watching them.

This is a great episode with an intriguing story, lots of action and a good twist at the end.

It's great to see Alan Caillou return as Derek. He was excellent in his first appearance in Dark So Early, Dark So Long from last season and is just as good here, even though once again he only appears in one scene. This is his final appearance and he'll be missed. He's a really interesting character and should have been used more often. Belinda Montgomery makes her one and only appearance and really shines as Susan Graham and Paul Lambert is terrific as Nick Horton. He looks, acts and talks like a mob guy and is perfect for this role. He really knocks it out of the ballpark.

Harold Gould's fake accent is really awful and irritating. His performance would have been more effective if he had played it straight without the dumb accent.

The total body count is four.

There are some great fight scenes and stunts. Joe gets clobbered in the head again and knocked out, but that's the only cliché.

This is a very entertaining and enjoyable episode.

In this one, Joe agrees to help a kid find a stamp album he lost and it turns out the album may be very valuable.

This is a good episode with a well-written and interesting story and fine performances from the entire cast.

Frank Marth is always a dependable villain and he comes through swimmingly in his final appearance. Patricia McEnany, Stanley Kamel and Richard Bakalyan are also making their final appearances and all are great.

One problem I had is in the warehouse scene at the end, why did Joe reveal his location to the goons? Why didn't he run out the back with Gemini? Doesn't make any sense.

Joe gets shot at, clobbered over the head and knocked out, run off the road and crashes through a window. That's a hellish amount of trouble to go through for a kid that isn't paying you anything.

For the first time in a long time, there's a car chase and it's a good one too and includes a couple of great spinouts. There are some good fight scenes too.

As mentioned, there's plenty of action, and when you add that to the intriguing story and good performances, this is a solid episode.

In this one, Joe goes undercover in the syndicate to try to extract an informer.

This is a great episode with an engaging plot that has several nice twists. It takes place in New Orleans and is the second straight one that takes place outside of Los Angeles.

The performances from the entire cast are superb. Nancy Kovack, John Colicos, Robert Mandan and Lloyd Battista all make return appearances. This is the first appearance for Barry Russo, who is no stranger to crime dramas as he appeared on many of them throughout the '70s.

Robert Reed has a substantial role and comes through with one of his best performances. His clandestine scenes with Joe are well-done.

It's interesting that at the beginning Hayes was identified by Lytell as one of the three men who could be the informer but was never seen again as the entire focus was only on Coden and Page, the other two Lytell identified.

Joe doesn't get slugged in the head but does get shot at but not hit, which is the only cliché.

This is a very entertaining episode and is the best one of the season so far.

This one is about a former soldier who is killed in an elevator by a grenade and the elevator operator who was in the elevator with the soldier when the grenade exploded and was injured in the blast is a friend of Peggy's so Joe agrees to investigate what happened.

This is a nice change of scenery as much of the episode takes place in San Diego and is the first episode in a long time where the identity of the killer isn't revealed early on or obvious, so there's an actual mystery with lots of possible suspects introduced. There are also some nice twists concerning the identities of a couple of the characters. The story is well-written, intriguing and engaging.

There are a couple of plot holes. How did Joe know someone was hiding behind the door in Stoner's office and how did he know where the colonel was when he dropped in on him at the restaurant?

The clichés include Joe getting clobbered over the head again and getting shot at but not hit.

Melendy Britt makes her third and final appearance and is solid once again, as is Eugene Peterson, who is very convincing as Lou Morgan, a syndicate hood. He mentions the Godfather at one point, which would have been in theaters around the time this episode was filmed. This is his second and final appearance. Dabney Coleman makes his first of two appearances. John Milford is really good as Col. Ewing.

Charlie Picerni makes another appearance, this time as both a regular character (a mechanic) and a stuntman.

The same staircase that was seen in the very first episode of the series (The Name is Mannix, 1967) and in the opening credits for a couple of seasons is seen again here.

This is an enjoyable episode and is certainly better than the trash that was seen in the first four episodes of the season. It's the best episode of the season so far, which of course wasn't a difficult achievement considering how horrific the first four episodes were. The show is back on track at least for now.

This one is about a doctor who hires Joe to find out who's trying to kill him.

Joe's first inclination was correct when he started to walk out on Otway and he should have kept going and should have stayed miles away from this morass and the idea that he would continue to work for Otway when both Otway and Aspinall are arrogant jerks who are constantly trashing him and refuse to help him at all is implausible and unrealistic. He was even fired at one point but yet continued on with the case, which is absolutely ludicrous.

Another problem is why did Otway hire Joe to begin with when he already knew who was trying to kill Aspinall? Why didn't he just call the police? This is yet another example of Joe getting involved in a case where he isn't needed, so this episode is a complete waste of time. It's also no mystery who the sniper is since he's revealed early on and is seen several times throughout the episode.

Joe doesn't get slugged in the head but does get shot at but not hit. There's a good fight scene towards the end but beyond that there's nothing else to recommend in this flop.

This is a lackluster and dreary episode without much action or excitement but just a lot of talking and speculating and putdowns of Joe and thoroughly despisable characters. There isn't even a murder, which is rare, and as mentioned, Joe isn't even needed since Otway knew all along who was trying to kill Aspinall, so this episode should have never been made. This is the worst episode of the season so far and that now makes three horrendous shows in a row to start the season. Yikes.

This one is about a priest who hires Joe to find out who's trying to kill him. Then when Joe gets involved, he becomes a target too.

The story elements about the priest, the confession and the murder are interesting and engaging but the problem is the story also features someone coming up with an elaborate scheme to kill somebody when it could have been done much easier, which is a plot element that has been used many times before and seems to be increasing in frequency lately. Peggy even questions the silliness of the scheme at one point when she asks Joe why the killer didn't just kill Joe and the priest at Joe's office, and she's right! Why go through this whole elaborate charade when you could accomplish your goals much easier? Unfortunately, the episode DOES go through the charade and the last third of it is pure insanity as the killer lures Joe and the priest to a radar range so he can kill them there when he could have easily done it at any time before then. Of course, you know nothing's going to happen to Joe because without him there wouldn't be a show, so there's no suspense there.

Casting Anthony Zerbe as a priest is quite a laugh since he made a career out of playing sleazeballs, criminals, killers, etc. He seems to find it pretty funny too since he looked like he was about to break out laughing a couple of times. He's obviously miscast here.

Geoffrey Lewis is extremely annoying with his fake southern accent and stupidity. He always seems to play dumb characters and just isn't a very good actor. I've never liked him.

There are a couple of terrible mistakes, like the closeup of the stuntman as he climbs up the ladder on the side of the building. Then later on you can clearly see the cameraman and the camera reflected in the passenger side doors of the white car Joe is driving as he's about to enter the radar range.

Then there are the clichés - Joe gets shot at but never hit and diffuses a bomb by cutting the colored wires, the killer takes Joe from place to place and provides him with instructions on where to go next as he gets to each place, and Joe's client leaves the hideout after Joe told him not to. That last cliché has been showing up a lot lately and is really getting exhausting.

The real bright spot is Fay Spain's performance as Mrs. Welch, but her part is fairly small. Joe Maross is solid as Ira Welch.

Season six has been very disappointing so far as it consists of two episodes filled with clichés, reused plots, stupidity and sloppiness. It doesn't get much worse than this.

In this one, Joe and Malcolm are taken hostage by a criminal who killed a young cop in Joe's office.

This hostage crisis is just like all of the other ones that have been seen on countless other TV shows and has all of the same clichés - the ransom demand, the demand for a fueled up jet on the runway, the ultimatum that all of the demands must be met within an hour or a hostage will be killed every twenty minutes, the police chief saying he doesn't have enough time to get the money, and on and on and on. It's all out of the same playbook and it's all been seen an endless number of times before on other TV shows. We also have the usual cliché where one of the kidnapper's accomplices has a change of heart, as if we haven't seen that before.

Of course, you know neither Joe or Malcolm are going to be killed because without them there wouldn't be a show, so there's no suspense whatsoever.

The kidnapper (played by Rip Torn) isn't very interesting and in fact is really annoying, with his yelling and loud outbursts. He's also really dumb too and makes an inexplicable number of mistakes, like not checking the dish cloth, not taking the gun away from the kid, falling for the "I have to go to the bathroom" trick, and not keeping a close eye on his hostages. This has to be the dumbest kidnapper I've ever seen. He obviously didn't comb his hair either. That mop on his head is atrocious.

Ward Wood looks bored throughout. He can see what a bomb this is.

This is just another dull hostage crisis with all of the usual clichés, right down to the details of the kidnapper's demands. There's nothing new or interesting here, except for the ending, where we see the fate of Roarke, the kidnapper. What happens to him is certainly unique, but nothing else is.

Season six is off to a horrible start.

This one is about an imposter of Joe being created so the imposter can steal some jewels from Joe's client in London.

This is the second appearance for the always reliable John Vernon and he's excellent as usual as Dexter, the villain, which of course is nothing new for him since he ALWAYS plays villains. He previously appeared in the horrendous Shadow Play episode from last season but he's in a far better episode this time. I loved how he was able to quickly adjust when the prospectors first showed up and was totally nonchalant and smiled at them and engaged them in conversation and acted as if nothing was going on. He's a great actor. The performances from the rest of the cast are solid too.

This is a rare episode that shows a police captain. Hardly ever is anyone with a rank higher than lieutenant shown and the various lieutenants that appear on the show are hardly ever seen consulting with their superiors as Malcolm does here.

The real voice of Joe's double is really funny and it turns out it's the voice of Dick Ziker, the stunt coordinator. I love his voice.

There's some great action, including fights and shootouts. Dexter and his goons put up a good fight but it all came crashing down on them in the end.

Joe gets clobbered over the head and knocked out and also gets shot at. He also comes up with a unique way to take out his double at the end. It's pretty awesome.

This is an enjoyable, exciting and entertaining episode if you choose to suspend disbelief about the creation of Joe's double, which I did. There's lots of action, great performances from the cast and a terrific ending. This is one of the best episodes of the season.

This one is about a singer (played by Lou Rawls) who is on the run from the law because they suspect him of killing a drug dealer.

This episode is strikingly similar to the horrible Time Out of Mind episode from last season as it has many of the same plot elements - a black guy goes into hiding because the police suspect him of a murder but he maintains his innocence, he hides out in a dump but Joe is able to find him because his family tells him where he is, and the guy tells Joe he doesn't want his help and tells him to get lost or he'll kill him. So not only is this a reused plot but it's a reused plot from a bad episode, so it's a double whammy.

This is essentially a repeat of the previous episode but with different guest stars. There's really nothing new or interesting here or anything different from Time Out of Mind except for the Bolo character, who is well-played by William Marshall and is the best part of the show, but unfortunately he only has a small part at the very end.

Once again we have the maddening cliché where Joe tells his client to stay put at the hideout but of course he leaves. I am really, really tired of this cliché.

This one really drags because there isn't much action except at the end.

The episode would have been better if it had focused more on the Bolo character, but as it stands it's a terrible episode that is essentially a rehash of the equally terrible Time Out of Mind and with very little action or excitement.