Bloodbath

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S2 (Bloodbath)

There were a number of sub-genres episodes of this series could be divided into, some fitting into more than one. This is another in the horror variety, but also fits into the category of when one of the partnership must go it alone to save the other. I often feel that it's not the same with a lone man gunning for himself, it isn't the formula the series is based upon, missing the essential ingredients that we expect or that make up the style of this TV programme as opposed to another. On the other hand, it could be seen to be pushing the envelope of the style and what the series was capable of, something Season 2 was good at doing. It's also unfair to say that leaving one of the main two out (or to a lesser extent when they have to search for or protect Huggy, as in 'Kill Huggy Bear' or Dobey, as in 'Captain Dobey, You're Dead!'), makes for an unexciting story. It emphasises the duo's dependence on each other by the absence of one and makes them look a whole lot more vulnerable than they usually do, with no one to cover their backs. So the best way for a personal villain to unsettle them or get revenge is to separate them.

If we're talking unsettling villains, Simon Marcus (played by the perfectly named Aesop Aquarian, which could have been used just as well for the name of the character!), must rank high compared with those they've faced thus far. For one thing, he doesn't often talk straight, he mumbles out riddles, appears to be above Earthly concerns, but that's not true as we know, because it's a game for him to disrupt S&H, the ones that convicted him. Hutch even says he doesn't believe Marcus to be this 'mysterious superman of evil' that he appears to give the impression of being. The close, darkly shot scenes in the cell where Hutch visits his nemesis brought to mind the similar scene in 'The Dark Knight' where the Joker is kept incarcerated, in both mood and story. Marcus almost says the same thing the Joker says about making Batman break his one rule, although in this it's more that he knows Hutch won't harm him (even calls Hutch 'the white knight'!), and says nobody strikes Simon (or 'Simone' as they all pronounce his name) - in both cases the good guy is aggravated into physical action against the captive. I'm always pointing out the differences between police practices of the seventies and that of today, and when Hutch was allowed into the cell of the accused, alone, with no CCTV, and no one came in to see what the noise was about when he shoves Marcus against the wall, and he, whose partner had gone missing and has an obvious grudge against the prisoner, is allowed to do all this… well, it wouldn't be allowed nowadays!

As usual, Hutch, though riled, doesn't cross any lines beyond what he can get away with at that time, but he's shown to be in desperation and it's great to see him straining all his faculties, both physical and mental in order to secure the safety of Starsky. He's not alone, of course, as seen in the scene in Dobey's office where they try to puzzle out the riddles Marcus has gamely laid out - it shows how bad the situation has got that Huggy Bear is not only allowed into the station, not only into the Captain's office, but is even left alone there when the other two leave! Though you can see the old disapproval and disgust Dobey has for him clearly coming out in their conversation where he's either dismissed or insulted! It seems that even when one of his men is in trouble Dobey can find time to vent his anger at someone like Huggy! But the three brains together come up with the solution, cleverly arriving at synonyms as a kind of code thanks to something Huggy said sparking off Hutch's mind. You'd think Hutch would grab an extra body with a gun to go with him when he heads an hour out of town to this lonely ranch, knowing the deadly personal danger he could be going into, but I suppose anyone other than his dedicated partner was going to slow him down and prove a liability in his eyes - he's certainly singleminded and utterly focused, showing how much Starsky means to him.

The episode is set up as a horror early on, but not before they've had the chance to open with a comedic scene in which Merl The Earl, "the customising pearl" in his own words, returns (previously seen in Season 1's 'Jo-Jo'). Like 'Nightmare' before it, this episode apparently sees the need in getting the humour out of the way (unless you count Dobey insulting Huggy in the aforementioned office scene - my favourite line of the episode is the Captain's "that's where you live, isn't it?" in response to Hug chiming in about the old zoo!), to stop the deadly seriousness being softened - so we get a scene at Merl's that could have come from any episode's teaser, but does set up the story from the perspective of showing S&H together in their usual chaotic argumentativeness or difference in mood, as well as giving Hutch a reason to be driving around in the iconic third member of the partnership; the Torino. It's like he still has that on his side, and let's face it, it wouldn't have looked so dramatic for him to be screaming around the country roads in his clapped out banger, which tends to provoke feelings of mirth that would have been out of place with the tone.

Merl is fantastic (even if his sign says 'Merle' and the subtitles and credits say 'Merl'), and should have been a recurring character like Huggy, but it's the bizarre nature of the interplay between Hutch and Merl, one not really wanting the other to mess with his motor, the other saying it's not worth his time, all the while Starsky manoeuvring them around and acting as if things couldn't be better, just as in other episodes when he's persuading someone about a 'great' restaurant to eat at. It's one of those golden scenes in the series whose level of quality writing and successful style you wish could have been applied everywhere in episodes, not just in comedy moments. The other reason to have Merl The Earl and that opening scene which has nothing to do with the real story, is so that they have a light way to close out the episode; Hutch returning to find his car, which he just wanted tuned up, now with fur-lined interior, leading him to cold anger, chasing Starsky and Merl round his car, and literally ending the episode on a high when they're all on top of his car roof! As usual, a more beneficial ending of coda or explanation was required for satisfaction, spelling out what happened to Simon and his followers, but that's just not the way this series worked.

If anyone knew how the series worked it was one of its stars, Paul Michael Glaser. For the first time (and of many), he directed an episode, and contrary to the usual practice in episodes where an actor directs, Starsky was still a big part. He was in it less than normal, but he still had his own storyline with Gail, the young, confused woman assigned to clean him up for ritual sacrifice, so it wasn't like he had a free ride on the acting side. It must have been strange for the other cast members to take direction from Glaser, but he did a good job. In later episodes he tended to indulge his creative side a little too much, and I generally think of David Soul as the more suitable Director over the course of the series, but at this early stage PMG wasn't over-directing as much, and his creativity fitted the story. For example, the black-robed cult members circling Starsky in procession, providing a glimpse of him in gaps between them as their blackness wipes the screen over and over, chanting endlessly. It's like a flick book or early film when it had to be spun in a circular device and watched through a hole.

Actually we see Glaser's distinctive handprint from the first shot, the faces of S&H distorted in Hutch's fender at Merl's. Then we get more radical shots for the series such as the TV reporter talking directly to camera as if we're seeing the actual report, filmed in a very naturalistic way with people in and out of frame, plenty of camera shake, and you can tell he's enjoying the creative freedom to explore. In other episodes that could be to the detriment (I always think of the long shots in 'Deckwatch' which slow the pace riiiiiiiiight doooooown), but he's still either being reined in or reining himself in, or still thinking in the S&H style. There are hints of his later style with shots that are more ponderous than they need to be such as when Hutch is on the hillside and the camera arcs slowly behind him. But there's also good use of light, such as the dark prison cell, or lens flaring on the side of the picture when Hutch is driving along the dusty roads, or the beautiful shot of the rising sun behind branches at Starsky's execution, something that the ordinary directors might not have bothered with. And the way the barbershop quartet (if you include Gail), chant around him as the camera picks out the menacing weapon each holds (chain, baseball bat and cleaver), as they chant Simon's name enhances the impression of impending violence.

While the ending wasn't bad, the fight was over too quickly after such a long buildup, and it was clear that physically, even with weapons, the cult members were no match for S&H, even a Starsky that was probably weak from lack of food or sleep, but no doubt the adrenaline kicked in. The episode really isn't about action, it's a distressing mood of heavy threat and powerlessness. The horror impression comes early when we see the cult members chanting and behaving oddly outside the courthouse, or when Hutch leaves after a chilling note asking where Starsky is, and wonders why the officers in the corridor aren't there, then finds his partner's name scrawled in blood on the mirror of the restroom. Soul does a good job of showing the steadfast, but desperate actions of a man losing his grip on what's happening. It's not to the extreme of when he was drugged up in 'The Fix' or 'Murder Ward,' but his grim expression and fast actions, almost losing it with Marcus or his followers (shouting, reasoning or pleading), show he can't be as simply professional when it comes to his partner, not that he was ever that dispassionate, though he's usually the more sensible and levelheaded of the pair.

The atmosphere is heightened with some different horror music compared with the usual percussion style they went for - this time it has more of a musical sound, but is in the form of wind blowing, better than the more abstract accompaniment of previous horror scenes. Technically this is only the second episode in the sub-genre, following on from 'Vampire' earlier in the season, though as discussed in the review for that episode, there had been other episodes with scenes to qualify. They did seem to like their otherworldly stories, though, with first a mythical creature (if shown to be false), in 'Vampire,' and now a cult with a disturbing leader (in the stereotypical cult leader image - more worrying would be someone that looks normal). Though Marcus seemed weak compared to Hutch's angry assault, Judge Arlen B. Yager says that he has nine counts of first degree murder against him and goes so far as to say that if the court had the power he'd basically be sent to Hell, so we know this is one bad dude. And if there was any question of sympathy with the villain, we get Hutch asking him to remember back to a time when he wasn't this way and he replies that as a boy even the bullies were afraid of him, so in answer, there never was a time when he was an 'innocent,' it seems.

The cult members are shown to be quite mindless, as is usually the case, but also ruthlessly carry out their leader's 'dreams' as they call his orders. If Simon didn't 'dream' it, it doesn't happen. Hutch even tries to appeal to them, that he can help them escape from Simon, but they're all too far gone, or evil in the case of Marcus' main men. The impression is given that they're not beyond a little child abduction too, as the main cult member tells Gail to dream the way it was when they first took her, so presumably she was kidnapped, which would explain her inability to fight back, though she ultimately makes the right choice, cutting Starsky's bonds rather than him! I'm not sure how he was able to get through to her, but she was portrayed as a childlike person - when we first see her from Starsky's point of view, we only see her head and shoulders, and the way she's shot she looks naked (like Trinity's first appearance to Neo in 'The Matrix'), which might have been to emphasise her lack of personality and understanding, but also makes her obedience to the preparation for violence more chilling.

Other things keep the audience feeling slightly on edge: the shock explosion at the ranch which kills R. J. Crow, which I'd forgotten; the fact that there's a twenty-four hour countdown before the judge has to charge Marcus maybe doesn't affect us as much as Hutch, but it makes him dash around like a whirlwind - he creates one at the ranch, speeding around in a circle, kicking up the dust, and going around again, for what reason I couldn't decide! Did they plan to cut somewhere and just liked it all so they left it in or was he still suffering from being blown off his feet and this was a result of his disorientation? There were other points that didn't entirely make sense, too: in the van when Starsky's first kidnapped (we never did find out how he'd been overpowered), one of the cult members refers to 'Simone' as Simon, whereas every other time in the episode his name is spoken the first way. And when Hutch is on the hill after tracking down that van, you can faintly hear on the soundtrack someone say "Jack?" except there's no one else around and no radio that I could discern, so was that a bit of background noise of the crew they forgot to remove from the soundtrack (or couldn't)?

'Nightmare' would have been a better title for this one, as there really isn't a bloodbath (though they weren't going to show much more than they did in that regard, which was for the best), but there are a couple of connections to that previous episode: for one, Dobey doesn't fly off the handle and keeps a cool head, even when Hutch gets angry at him, knowing the urgency of the situation (no, he takes it all out on Hug or other officers!). They used the courtroom again which they didn't often, so did they specially have use of that set or was it newly built, or what? We also have Starsky in a towel again, though this time it was not a humorous situation at all, with Starsky trapped in the ruins of the old zoo, facing a live bear, a man with a fiery brand, and his hope of escape cruelly cut short. I didn't understand the point of this section, except to give Starsky some action (or to demonstrate the nastiness of Marcus' cult), but it was surprising to see a real bear there (one of 'The Incredible Hulk' pilots was also shot in the late seventies and featured a bear - I wonder if it was the same one?), the fight in the cave being the best part. I suppose it was all part of the manipulation of Marcus, knowing that Starsky was being treated in this appalling way probably gave him satisfaction - presumably he planned for Hutch to work out his riddles in time to find his partner's body.

If you've got a personal enemy out to do you or your partner harm, you really ought to visit the old zoo first. I assume this is the same place that George Prudholm waited for them in 'Pariah,' though I knew it only as the 'old zoo' and this time Huggy calls it the 'old civic zoo,' but it looks to be the same architecture. The same could be said for the ranch which may have been used again whenever they needed a desolate country location to film at. Looking to the future we can see links: the shot of the red police light the camera pulls out from to reveal Dobey on the radio was later used in the credits montage, and the jack-in-the-box in the Torino brought to mind the "Die Saturday night!" scary skull one in 'The Golden Angel' from Season 4. Back to this season, focusing on the naked lightbulb at the cult meeting house immediately made me think of Tommy from 'Vendetta,' and though this episode has no connection with the previous horror entry, 'Vampire,' Dobey equates the cult with vampires when we learn cattle were mutilated by them at Pinyon Pine Ranch. It was light on references (Noah's Ark, 'Simon Says' and a Mickey Mouse doll on a cabinet at police HQ), but Starsky's superstitions are referred to again - he goes to the 'john' just before sentencing as that seems to work, only this time it rather backfired, proving once again that superstition causes more harm than good!

**