Bust Amboy

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S2 (Bust Amboy)

If there was one episode to encapsulate 'Starsky & Hutch,' then there can't be many more encapsulating than this one. It may not boast the usual cultural references or as many running gags as the average, but as an introduction to the style of the series, its characters and their role in the city, this very much presents a well-rounded example. If you were going to introduce someone to the series this would be one of the most appropriate to show them - it has a good dosage of action, some sadness without being depressing, and shows S&H at their bantering, caring and clever best (they even do some actual detective work, deducing Amboy's plans from his interest in The London Daily Dispatch newspaper, that Sherlock Holmes would be proud of), though they didn't really need to be that clever to defeat Amboy and his goons! I would say that he was a villain more suited to their attention than some smalltimers have been. He may not be a Stryker, but he's of that ilk, running a moderately large drugs and prostitution business, getting fat off the destructive habits and appetites of others.

And he is a despicable villain because of his motivation for power and riches, his catchphrase, the golden rule: the man with the gold makes the rules. But he found that to be not so because not everyone is motivated by greed, and with S&H he found his match in two good cops that just want to help people and do their job to keep the city safe. Amboy's a merciless businessman who likes to talk as if he's high class, yet you get the impression, from the accent and the way he likes to show off in front of his rich guests or is so easily embarrassed, that he comes from the gutter, even treating his own men poorly, the mark of a low person. He has no respect for anyone 'below' him, treading on them to fund his opulent lifestyle. He even has his own logic - S&H don't know the victims of his drugs personally, is his argument, and that's because they don't want to know them. He calls them 'nothings,' 'zeros,' 'nobodies' which makes them fair game. He practically claims he's doing them a favour, that their only kicks are what he sells them and they'd get them from someone else if not him. He's just a good businessman. And an evil man.

Whenever he's embarrassed as S&H carry out their illegal persecution of him, or humiliated as he is at the end, when, like the stereotypical wicked rich man, he grabs the money and runs for it (like the Master of Lake Town in 'The Hobbit'), grovelling on his belly, crying "I had it all… I had it all!" it's a pleasing result (possibly my favourite shot is the Panda pulling in behind him as he's on his knees looking forlorn). He's really like a spoilt child who can do what he wants thanks to his power, yet he doesn't feel very powerful, or that's how I thought of him. He's always trying to show himself as cultured and impress those around him, whether it's the corn on the cob facts, the caviar and champagne for S&H, or his attitude in the luxurious restaurant, he's always striving not to seem the rough, backward felon he is, made posh by his money, not his breeding. The city's apparently running dry at the moment and Amboy's cornered the market, but as in most of the decisions we see him take, rather than get more customers hooked or lower his prices, he raises the price. He treats his men badly, spitting corn over Denny, speaking harshly to him to impress S&H when they're brought before him, and slapping his henchman round the face. He takes it like a whipped cur, but his neutral expression doesn't give away whether he resents it or not, you almost feel sorry for him.

Amboy (first name, Bust?), is slow to understand people, maybe that's why he gives the impression of being on the back foot and needing to seem the big man to his men or those he wants to respect him, those he considers his peers. He obviously hasn't heard of S&H, foolishly kidnapping them to offer the proposal of a bribe. They pull their clever cop, dumb cop routine (instead of the good cop, bad cop, or the hard cop, hard cop of last season), with Hutch pointing out the finer things Amboy's taste provides to the 'lowbrow' Starsky (who wonders if peanut butter would go well with the caviar!), reeling Amboy in so that he thinks they're considering his offer. It's unfortunate that their range of gadgetry didn't extend to a tiny microphone so they could record his confession then and there, but it's fun to see the retro gadgets they use this time, from the massive radio receiver hidden in the bunch of flowers as part of their 'cover' for getting into the undertaker's, to the bulky, beeping tracker used to follow Goose when he tries to flee to Amboy.

Though nine-year old drug addicts and teenage prostitutes are discussed, eventually leading to Hutch's anger no longer being held back, the story stays mainly on the lighter side, laughing at the idiotic henchmen Amboy employs, or Amboy himself (such as when they show up to irritate him at the restaurant or the tailor's), rather than getting into the nitty gritty of the results of Amboy's 'business.' This pushes it firmly into the positive category - if they'd shown more of the hideous things they mention, or met someone less foolish and girly as Mickey it might have had more impact in that department, but this is Season 2 'Starsky & Hutch' which tended to be more upbeat, and it's not like they're brushing the issue under the carpet, it is the very thing that motivates S&H to hound Amboy so thoroughly. His pretensions to grandeur and taste are laughable, but the story is definitely coming from the top-down approach than the bottom-up, and Mickey provides a suitable example of the young lives drugs have ruined. She's fine until Amboy becomes bored with her. The way S&H react to her shows their caring nature for the washed up lost souls that frequent their city, as we've seen on numerous occasions before, when they've gone beyond their duty to help. You can see it in the way Hutch's outstretched arm follows her as she leaves Dobey's office early on, wanting to help, but with nothing he can do to get her to see where she's going.

With all the coffins in this one you'd think it was a sign of things to come, but nobody dies (though one goon at least is shot by Starsky, not something we see often - usually the drawn weapon or warning shots are enough), S&H able to save Mickey in time. It gets us to the necessary happy ending that was the series' trademark - if it had been too late for her it might have made the story deeper, but we don't watch the series for deep meanings or rough realism, it's a pleasure to see a couple of heroes do their job well and win out over the rules and regulations that tie their hands. The strange abiding by or disregarding of law is a funny one, and very 70s - we have Amboy saved on a technicality because S&H chased Goose over the county line, invalidating their warrant, yet later they almost persecute Amboy so much so, that you can imagine the lawyers making sure they never worked as policemen again, in today's world. Dobey gets in on the act as well, giving them false sick leave for 'pig flu' and telling them to do what they will with their own time! It's good to see him backing up his men, especially after he's had to come down hard because of the jurisdiction issue, but even so, it looks strange from today's strict viewpoint.

Right from the first bust you can see the tone of the episode is not a serious one as they have some fun with the flowers or in duping Goose into taking them to one of Amboy's drops, resulting in a fight where fruit and veg are used to take out the baddies. And there's plenty of fighting, both gun and fist varieties, though the actors look to be doing most of the work this time (except I noticed Hutch's double who rushes in with the real Starsky for the fight with Itchy). There's also time for unrelated plot asides such as the reoccurring theme of Starsky's strange food loves when he takes Hutch to a downmarket outside cafe with strips of flypaper hanging down ('it's okay, they're flying, not landing,' Starsky reassures!), and there are golden moments throughout. I thought this was the one where their brakes are cut as they go downhill, but maybe it was the same hill - there were plenty of other moments I remembered that tied to this one: the soup in the face of the big Asian chef, Itchy, was one, and the priceless swapping of seats in the middle of the night in the Torino, another!

Hutch takes over driving duties of the Torino for a change in the early wild Goose chase (because Starsky's busy setting Goose up), but it's not him at the wheel when the red and white-striped tomato lurches round corners bouncing around or screeching to a halt the rest of the time. It's certainly more lively than last episode, though the front numberplate flies off when the car leaps round into Amboy's drive and this low part hits the incline, which is quite funny. Another tiny mistake to look for is Hutch managing to spill Amboy's champagne as he pulls it across the table, but it spills into his glass! Even Amboy's doors are more lavish than usual, with the white one into his main room featuring a wavy top that fits flush with a wavy lintel above it: nice! It doesn't look so good with soup splashed over it, though. Maybe the soup was what made Hutch have to get a better grip on the handle when he's trying to yank it open after the fight, as it takes a couple of tries? There's the usual question as to how S&H can get away with staking a place out in the highly visible red Torino, both through the night and in broad daylight outside Amboy's (especially after they've been given a court order to keep away!), but it's one of those things you accept.

There aren't many of the usual points of interest to list, but aside from Starsky's odd food tastes contrasting with Hutch's more 'advanced' palate, and there being something wrong with Starsky's car (the horn's blaring, though this time it's a trap), we also have the names mix-up again with Amboy gesturing to the wrong ones as he calls them Starsky and Hutchinson, and they each say the other's name when correcting! There's also a throwback to the pilot when the pair are hiding in the bushes spying on the villain's place, talking on radios (Hutch should have got some anti-bee aftershave from Mickey…), and a couple of actors were playing the same roles as they'd played before (though different characters), Goose actor (Charles Bergansky) doing a similar dopey guy to Arnold in 'Death Notice,' and Denny actor (Nicholas Worth) a similar henchman in 'The Omaha Tiger,' so they must have realised it was good casting for those types and hired them again, as occasionally happened on the series. There were plenty of wacky characters, Goose being the wackiest, though Mickey could fall into that category, as could Amboy and Itchy (though he didn't speak, his huge Oddjob-style Bond villain was out of the ordinary).

English connection, Squire Fox, didn't make it into any category as he's not really a character and doesn't have anything to say (the guy who played him looked like a regular face, so he may have been a stunt guy which would explain why Fox isn't credited to anyone) - he must have been English because of the tweed hat and pipe, right? Probably the only time there was a reference to Southampton in the series, and a rare one for London, too. The moral of the story was strong: it's hard work that gives real success, not standing on other people: Amboy 'had it all,' but in the end he leaves with nothing, whereas even the small job of sales rep for a men's cosmetic company was a big step-up for Mickey. I only wonder why Dobey didn't make it into the tag scene at the end, Hutch weirdly talking to him on the phone, even though he's supposedly just next door in the office. Starsky claims 'protocol' (are they supposed to be still 'ill' and he can't see them, is that it?), but I have to assume they either chose not to have Bernie Hamilton for the scene or he was unavailable through illness or other work - Dobey would be shouting at them if he was within a few metres! I'd love to know whether he was paid per episode or per scene and if they were trying to save money, because it's an odd way to leave it. At least Huggy gets to be in this episode and we can even pretend he owns the bar in which the darts trick takes place. The episode is a continuation of the good work this season in all respects.

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