Pariah

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S1 (Pariah)

Prudholm. George Prudholm. It's a name that any aficionado of 'Starsky & Hutch' will instantly recognise, because, for a series made up of individual, mostly unconnected episodes, this villain proved to be almost too much for our favourite coppers to handle, and provided a uniquely personal enemy, particularly for Starsky, on two occasions. He appears here in this episode where everything comes together to create the best of the season so far, and indeed, the best of Season 1 in total. He returned in an even better episode in Season 2 where once again everyone was at the top of their game. I don't know why this episode should be so well-paced compared to the previous few episodes, or why the moments of heart and courage and the noble emotions should be released here in such abundance. I don't know why it was better written, better directed, better cast and perhaps even better acted than previous stories, but for whatever reason all the creative members of production came together to make a strong episode without any misfiring.

Credit must go to the creation of a villain that not only has a real, believable, personal motive of vindictiveness, at odds with so many of the two-dimensional or unformed villains that had been slapped in for some of Season 1's stories. What helps him work so well is that he's kept in the background for much of the time, seen only by us, the viewers, until gradually he's revealed and an incident from S&H's past draws them onto his trail. Admittedly, once the man is unmasked and his character opened up, the mystery is lessened, but it then shifts gears to become a wild west showdown in a deserted graveyard zoo, abandoned and empty, full of dark holes and twisting branches. This could be considered the first episode that brought in the horror elements that would later be used more fully and become a sub-genre within the series, identified here in the first use of the discordant clinking, clanking bell noises to throw us off balance as we watch Starsky stalk through the Old Zoo, all his senses alert.

Looking back at many of the early episodes, especially the three that precede this one, there's an uneven pace, as if they were sometimes just filling time. The villains were obvious most of the time and either had little motivation beyond money, or didn't act in the way their motivation might have suggested, such as Lou in 'Death Notice' who works for Delano, happily going about killing girls and shooting at cops, apparently assuming he's bulletproof, both literally and legally. Dobey and Huggy, who, though appearing in the opening credits, sometimes didn't have much to do, even being shoehorned in for the sake of it. All these problems are overcome in this episode: the villain provides a level of tension that we haven't felt very much by this point. The pacing is just right, with scenes that mean something constantly played out - there's even a different style to some of the directing, such as the handheld nature of the holdup. Huggy's there to help in a couple of scenes and Dobey provides strong moral support for his man, throwing out that he knows how he'd feel in Starsky's position, but "ya gotta hold on!" Though we see the weight on his shoulders when he's alone, becoming more fed up as the story progresses.

It helps that it's set firmly in the positive side of the S&H world. It deals with negative things, such as racial tension, the young misled, and the consequences of a split second decision, but it also shows more compassion, more truth and more justice than we generally get in any single episode, as well as dealing with respectable folks, and showing a better side to the city, with a courtroom, a supermarket, neat houses in a suburban area. The issue of black against white doesn't become the issue it at first seems, taking the story off in a different direction entirely. The most important pointer to this being an upbeat story is that Starsky is tested and not found wanting - his actions "proved commendable" in the eyes of authority and that's comforting to see in a TV series when so often truth is twisted in real life. You can't get more positive than right winning out.

Paul Michael Glaser's performance is powerful as he goes from regret at having to pull the trigger on an armed felon that turns out to be a sixteen year-old boy whose Mother weeps over the body, to holding his chin up with good-natured bravado in the face of opposition when it seems he may be found guilty of making the wrong move thanks to false testimony, to being justified in front of everyone, to sensitively approaching the boy's Mother, not for forgiveness, but to get every lead he can and catch the man that led Lonnie down the criminal path. He then has to deal with enmity from his fellow officers when Prudholm starts killing them at random, Dobey's refusal to allow him to hand in his badge, and frustration that he can't get his hands on the man that has chosen to destroy his life. He even shows professional restraint and the ability to refuse revenge, even when his enemy is there before him, continuing to taunt and goad him. We haven't seen Starsky put through so much in one episode before!

Even though he has his friends Hutch and Huggy keeping him sane, and Dobey's loyalty and belief, he's still more alone than ever before because he knows he did the right thing, yet the outcome of a teenager dying was wrong. When he's up against a twisted man he becomes even more alone. You'd think the police would show solidarity, but the fear gets to some and they take it out on Starsky. It's not until later in the episode that a kind fellow cop informs him that most of the boys are behind him. He still must wrestle with issues and feelings both personal and professional, and he's more than happy to accept Prudholm's challenge to meet him one on one, but he should have realised that he was never alone: Hutch would always be watching his back. At first he physically bars his way to prevent the dangerous showdown, but quickly realises his friend is going to do it and the only way to help is to let him think he's going to allow him to take Prudholm on alone. His intervention saves Starsky's life. Subtle moments are as important as big scenes, and they're very well handled, Hutch following his partner out to the car, but not getting in, though he wants to. Starsky gives him a nod that says it all, thanking him for not stopping him and for understanding that he needs to do it.

I got the impression Prudholm was ex-military as well as an ex-con, from the way he handled his rifle, his expertise with explosives and his tactics of taking the high ground at the Old Zoo. He's quite effective in putting Starsky in hot water by remaining anonymous and killing off innocent cops, it's only when his personal rage takes over and he can't quell the desire for revenge on Starsky's person that he loses his cool. Even then he thought he couldn't lose, and it was only due to Hutch's unexpected assistance that he did. It was a coup for them to bring him in alive, but I did feel that the ending was the only weakness of the episode, being unspectacular and anticlimactic: Starsky shoots Prudholm and knocks him down, and after all the build up it would have been better if there had been a more action-packed ending - perhaps booby traps to avoid. If it had been a physical fight Prudholm would have lost, being an older man, but the psychological battle of wits suits him just fine and gets Starsky's goat, giving us a much more compelling enmity than we usually see.

It could be said that Starsky turning up at the wake, (which I always thought was at a church, but was clearly the family home), was insensitive, but it was a very brave thing for him to do, as far from thumbing his nose at the afflicted people as can be - time was of the essence and he only did it to get any little lead he could to find the man that had led Lonnie on his path to destruction. It's a very rewarding scene and shows Starsky in a very good light with the tact and sensitivity in his approach. You just don't know how they're going to react, and then they do so in such a sensible, calm way and it's a relief. Maybe it was too easy, maybe they were more likely to hate him, but it's very satisfying to see and shows their nobler side. Tidings is the mouthpiece of hate early on when in the heat of the moment he shouts that Lonnie had put his hands up. The way he comes to his senses and tells it the way it really happened, pleading the case for the truth to Eunice Craig, Lonnie's Mother as he sits in the dock, even though it's not what she wants to hear, is a very touching moment. So when they both shake hands with Starsky it means so much.

There is the issue of propriety again, because although this time there is at least an investigation of the incident, Starsky isn't suspended and is allowed to carry on about his business. Equally, S&H are allowed, even encouraged to track Tramaine and we're shown how much Starsky has invested in it by the way he loses his temper, and not in the hard cop/hard cop game they sometimes play on a criminal. He shoves the man up against the wall which sets up how he reacts to Prudholm when he eventually captures him, and the restraint he shows there. It also seemed as though they had no warrant to search Prudholm's home and Starsky loses his cool and ends up kicking the place up - he'd surely be in trouble for that nowadays! Prudholm isn't above making mistakes, however. He could have been all wrong about Starsky's resignation because he doesn't check pages two and three of the newspaper, flipping straight on in his eagerness!

The episode is much more serious than some, so there's less time for the jokey nature of the series to come through, but it begins with one of the best intro's when Starsky is tricked into drinking some of Hutch's health drink. It works on multiple levels because it mixes in the running gags of S&H's names being confused, as well as Starsky eating bad food and Hutch eating healthy fare, while integrating them into an elaborate joke. They're certainly getting mileage out of Hutch's place. They make it clear this isn't a 'regular' girlfriend in the way that she's going to show up every episode, since she's dashing off when we meet her and she mentions coming round 'next trip'. They didn't like to tie too much down on the series by adding extra recurring characters and keeping S&H available, a common tactic in TV, although I wondered if Huggy's barmaid Diane was in the background at his place. One actor that was used again was Graham Jarvis who played Collins, the bald guy with glasses who takes Dobey to talk to the press. He appeared at least once more as a villain, Basil Monk, in Season 4's 'Photo Finish'. One of the cops who sat and took calls at reception looked like the same extra that had stared like a goldfish at S&H when they went to the blood donor in 'Texas Longhorn' - it was the eyes that did it.

It's odd that in the episode from which the clip of Starsky running with a gun is taken, it's not used in the credits, replaced again by the 'ape' running from 'Savage Sunday'. It makes sense if they didn't want to give anything away, but they'd shown it several times before. The Old Zoo was one set definitely used again, and several times, I think, and the reception desk at police HQ appeared to be a reuse of the hospital set from 'Death Ride'. There's another layer of interest to be had when we're told about S&H's history in connection with Prudholm, and how it ties into their first case out of uniform, two years before the episode. It's tantalising to hear such details, even though we know they're unlikely to be expanded upon, just as it was when we heard about Dobey's partner previously. The series was always going to be a fascinating record of 70s America, and that continues when they use locations such as the supermarket, showing us what they looked like back then - the episode has a lot more interest than the main story alone.

To recap, Dobey's used well, if sparingly, the casting is perfect, the action is great - Tramaine leaping through a glass window to escape (Starsky having the same trouble as in 'The Fix' where he's stuck in front of an oncoming vehicle at the most inopportune moment - I love the way both S&H just walk over car bonnets at every opportunity, even when it would take about the same time to walk round the car, as in Hutch's case when he borrows the Panda!). Everything came neatly together to show just what the series was and could be capable of. They rarely reached this level of sophistication and maturity. Perhaps the killing of the cops now seems a little neat and tidy, but it still has some degree of shock value. I was half expecting the restroom to blow up in the same shot as the cop going inside, but they did cut away to the mechanic's reaction. I think it could certainly be suggested that George Prudholm was the best villain the series ever had, and though this isn't the best episode of the series, it's an early example of what it looked like when things went right.

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