Kill Huggy Bear

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S1 (Kill Huggy Bear)

It's taken almost half the season, but we get to a Huggy-centric episode at last, and with his name in the title it's as close to being his own series as can be. That's what you'd think, but although he features a lot more than in any previous story, it's still mostly about S&H. After the success of the last story, 'Pariah', it's a bit of a comedown to find this returns to some of the mistakes of the weaker episodes, although they do seem to have learned to keep the pace a bit steadier. So if pace can't be blamed for bringing the story down, it must be that it's quite a simplistic and generally uninteresting story. One that has some good stunts, but fails to excite much in the execution. For instance, we have S&H chased by a car and ending up in a fight against two bodybuilders, a scene in which their car drives downhill and the brakes won't work, and a last-ditch rooftop shootout, and only one out of these three works particularly well.

The shootout works and I think it's because in the other two cases humour is pushed over tension. It's funny to have Starsky watching Hutch have trouble with his fighting partner after he'd given so much advice about how to beat a muscle man in a fight, but it doesn't make us fear for his safety. Similarly, when they're shouting at each other on the unstoppable downward journey thanks to the brakes being cut, it's fun to see them arguing over who should bail out, but the situation is resolved fairly simply by driving around a corner and skidding to a halt. How much better would it have been for them to smash through a window into a house or trash some law-abiding citizen's front garden in their effort to stop, let alone both having to leap out of the doors. The shootout, on the other hand, is a battle to the death with a dangerous criminal. Harry's not in the Prudholm league, but he is a cold-blooded killer and a bit of a psychopath.

As soon as you first see him you know he's bad thanks to the black goatee he sports and the way he menaces hapless crook Dewey. It becomes clear he only cares about what he can get, enjoying Sarah's company until it comes to taking the money, happily finishing off Dewey with Sarah's consent, and gambling that he won't be seen as he cuts Starsky's brake cable. He seems like the sort that will do anything if he feels he can get away with it, with no empathy for others. It was a nice touch for the villain to use his own skills against S&H - he was a mechanic so he does what a mechanic can do. Sarah was weak-minded, easily led by a more powerful mind, but also quite evil in her ability not to care about Dewey: greed was her motive, betrayal her reward. All the same, despite the pair's nastiness, they didn't make for a strong challenge and if it hadn't been for Lou Malinda's health club mob boss S&H would probably have solved the mystery much quicker. Instead they get bogged down with the muscle men and muscling their way into Malinda's establishment.

I've said very little about Huggy Bear and there's a reason for that. Although the story ostensibly revolves around him, he doesn't do much to move the story along, instead relying on S&H to make the moves. We do get to see how he handles a tight spot when two of the muscle-bound meatheads arrive to rough up his place. He seems to have some kind of getaway plan primed in the eventuality some unwanted guests visit as he soon shoots behind a curtain into a small storeroom in the back and launches himself like a springing snake through the narrow window - two episodes in a row where people make a quick getaway by leaping through a window. Nice!

He ends up hiding in a storm drain, one of the few times in the episode where we visit a rundown area of town, and is assisted by S&H at last. An interesting aspect of his role in this is that he finds himself compromised by Dewey, unable to be honest with his friends, and they sense it. For the first time he's caught between the law and his shady street life. This was far better addressed in Season 4's 'Huggy Can't Go Home', and I suppose it's asking too much for them to have seen the opportunity this early for a more dramatic situation, but the thread isn't pulled and Huggy never faces the consequences, aside from his friend Dewey being killed. Maybe he should have displayed some guilt over that, but on the positive side (if you like black humour), at least he won't have to cover for him any more.

Another interesting side-plot that never went anywhere was Dobey's interest in the case from a perspective of rivalry within the force - he wanted S&H to solve the case of the store that had the mob drop because the gambling squad had been watching it and he wanted to get one over on them. If there had been an actual rival for Dobey to talk to he would have had some kind of presence in the story, but as it was he was reduced to a couple of conversations by radio and that was it. So too much potential was never reached and I think that hurt the episode. It was better paced than some, but not very exciting in general, apart from the gunfight on the rooftop, and with such an exciting title it was set up to be so much better, so the lowering of expectations is noticeable. The car chase did at least make me pause for thought and wonder how many people we see in the background are extras and how much do they did by filming through the streets. They could have got away with it this season because no one would have known who they were or what was going on. I think it came about because there were a couple of people in the distance, behind the chain-link fence that seemed to be watching and I wondered if they were spectators or extras.

There were few of the usual jokes and gags, but Starsky is once again trying to bring Hutch round to his love of the Gran Torino. This time his partner cuts him down with the simple statement that it's red. "Candy-apple-red" he responds, hurt. I thought it was funny that whenever we see the room full of muscle men, Malinda's protection, they were always sitting around as if waiting for something, rather than actually doing any exercise! It was another case of simplicity that Malinda was so easily cowed into taking his operation away from the city, and another reason the episode feels too easily and quickly resolved. I know Hamilton Camp better for his role as the psycho Ferengi Leck in 'DS9' so it was fun to see him out of makeup. The only pop culture reference I picked up was Mohammed Ali's 'float like a butterfly sting like a bee,' but I did notice the stunt guy was driving the Torino when it's tailing the muscle men's vehicle and when it's out of control.

I wondered if the drug store was the same one used in 'Savage Sunday' for the holdup as its orientation of a counter on the left was the same. There's also the wacky person who provides the police with information outside - last time it was the man with excellent memory, this time it's a lady who wants her pay phone dime back! We also see the back exit of Huggy's for what I think is the first time, though it looks like a reuse of a back alley seen in 'The Fix'. The attack on Huggy didn't look very convincing as it appeared he was hit on the back or shoulders rather than his head. Like the early episodes the dull green car makes a reappearance, or does it? It's the same colour, but in those episodes the car was a Chevrolet, and in this it's a Ford, so probably not the same vehicle after all. I couldn't tell if it was Diane in the background at Huggy's this time or not, but we hear him say the name of someone else that works for him: Angie.

I felt the blood work in the episode didn't look at all real. When the store owner gets shot and or when Harry's wounded in the leg, both times it looks like red paint! Nice to see Hutch's place again, they're really getting their money's worth out of it, even when there's no real reason to go there. For a moment I thought we were going to see Starsky's apartment, but it turned out to be the villain's place. This is another episode that features more of the better part of the city than the slums. The health club is an obvious example, as is the villain's well-furnished apartment (I hope she wasn't too attached to that glass vase!), and the only time we see more rundown areas is in Huggy's storm drain hideout and the fenced off area where S&H have their unconvincing fight with the muscles. Even the rooftop is all bright white so, although there isn't much goodness in the story, neither is it a depressing one and must go in the 'positive city' category.

**