Starsky's Brother

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S4 (Starsky's Brother)

The actor that played Stryker may have been in it before, but this episode couldn't be more different than last week's. It's fast, it's funny and is a good story, helped immeasurably by the family connection and some much-needed backstory for Starsky. It fills out a bit of family life and provides us with a chance to see him interact with his little brother, as well as giving us a great new character.

Maybe the ending didn't live up to the rest of the episode, but mostly it was a chuckle here, a sad moment there, and a feeling in the pit of your stomach as things go bad. You care what happens, and while the resolution for Nick to be a law-abiding citizen isn't quite reached, you feel he'll have learned something if only for the little bit at the end when Starsky lays out the facts - he's not the one who's ended up tied to a chair. The character really should have come back, and maybe if the episode had been made in an earlier season, he would have.

***