The Committee

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S2 (The Committee)

One whose title sparked no memories whatsoever, so I was all geared up for an average episode that would disappoint. Maybe the low expectations did the trick, but this time I thought it was actually pretty good with some twists in the tale, moments that made me chuckle, and genuine surprises. In many ways it felt like a return to the style of Season 1, with a more serious approach, yet room for the niggling comments and irritated banter between the two leads; an impression of them against a big, bad city; dusty streets and the kind of places you wouldn't want to go, whether that be abandoned warehouses or dark tunnels strewn with rubbish; as well as a line in police corruption. I can't exactly explain it, but the feel was very much of the first season, but with the twist of lemon that gives Season 2 its distinctive upbeat nature. That's the thing about this season, it has a much more positive impression and generally veers off into trademark craziness, though this episode steers away from that, aside from the 'adopt a rock' scene, Huggy's only contribution this time, as a Cyrano Jones-like figure selling the equivalent of Tribbles (though I think it was as much to settle up with Hug for information provided)!

Even that rock Starsky buys becomes part of the story, you could even say an important part, as it helps save his life when he's put in an impossible situation at the end: having infiltrated the committee that's going around being vigilantes for justice, or justice as they see it, his initiation is to kill Garner, a lawyer who provides counsel for the criminals S&H bring in, this time a rapist, or potential rapist - irony is heavy that Garner had earlier accused Starsky of wanting to be judge, jury and executioner, and then here he is, being just that! Stood in that tunnel with a gun loaded with one bullet, and his cover blown, Starsky's solution to the Kobayashi Maru scenario (to bring in a little 'Star Trek' parallel), is to come up with another alternative, shouting for Garner to run, and charging headlong down the tunnel as his surprised captors give chase. It was fortunate for him that Hutch screeched in at just the right moment to knock Officers Knight and Williams out of the race, but still Starsky had only one bullet in his gun - he uses Ignatius (the name of his rock!), to cause a diversion and avert his pursuer's attention, then jumps out, single shot ready and willing to be loosed.

That shady pursuer was Lieutenant Fargo, one of the shocks of the episode, as the Internal Affairs man seemed such a genuine grizzled old cop, and the way he talks to S&H so informally and sends them back to work made him seem a good sort, although I did suspect him of being overly friendly so that he might later come down more heavily on Starsky. The main reason I'm always fooled by him is that I have the impression he's a main character from another series, maybe another old police series called 'Fargo'. I don't know where this impression comes from, there probably isn't one, but the way the character was acted it seemed like he was more than just a character of the week as if it was some kind of crossover episode. So when Dobey inadvertently drops Starsky in it by mentioning to him about there being a man on the job of this vigilante group (and who else would it be but Starsky when they've just got a new recruit?!), things look bad. I think it might be that Alex Rocco who played Fargo might have had another role on the series, so that might have been something else that affected my thinking.

Fargo's being the instigator of 'The Committee,' using guns taken from the confiscated weapons room so the members can kill without fear of a weapon being traced, wasn't the least of the turns the story played up. The biggest thing might be when Starsky storms out of Dobey's office after being suspended thanks to his buddy Hutch's report on the death of Willits, the rapist who was out on bail and they suspect of trying to run. Thing is, you can believe that Hutch saw the event slightly differently because of the way it's all set up with Starsky being impatient and coming up with the idea to stake out Willits' place, then getting irritated on this Sunday by Hutch's more careful approach of phoning Garner, following procedure. Then they find Willits driving away and tail him in the most obvious way, don't bother to put the flashing light on, Starsky practically rams him off the road, then shoots him when he pulls a gun. All this plays out in a way that you can believe S&H's reports might be different, so I was shocked when Starsky slams out, the truth only dawning when he goes to Nellie's restaurant where we see other police hanging out. Well before he whacks Hutch in the chops I was onto them, but it's a good sequence and clever use of the characters and their situation.

Ginger, the woman who brings Starsky in on The Committee, was a bit of an enigma. We discover that her real name is Alice K. Conrad, and she was under the thumb of Fargo, who got her off a felony charge, so her motivation isn't in question and the way she talks to Starsky about justice shows that she appears to care about the cause Fargo has taken up. But then she suddenly goes cold on Starsky as if she likes him enough that she doesn't want him getting mixed up with The Committee, so it's a strange mix. She even says to Knight and Williams that she doesn't want anyone getting hurt, but coldblooded murder is what the whole operation is about! She must have had her assistance to the police massively taken into account, as despite being a recruiter for this vigilante group, she doesn't appear to even have been charged, after helping the police and spilling all the beans. I suppose that was what her cry against people getting hurt was all about, so we can believe she'll turn on the others, as well as the fact that she might have been working a little under duress.

Something else that improves the episode is that the themes are strong. We've seen police do things their own way before, such as in 'Iron Mike' in which the Mike of the title bent the law, even broke it for the greater good. It's the kind of thing you might expect to get in the Nolan Batman films, so it raises the quality of the story when such things are brought into what could easily have been just an action adventure. The law versus justice, and the line between following the rules or resorting to vigilantism is explored, with Dobey having the last word on the subject in his little 'sermon' about right and wrong having nothing to do with the law and justice (not sure that's true as surely laws are created to enforce right, and breaking them is where the wrong comes in), but he insists this is a country of law, whether that's making sure even the guilty are given legal representation, or the way police officers are allowed to enforce it. He also pays S&H the highest compliment by not only recommending them for the Medal of Valour, but admitting that even they can come up with a good idea sometimes, not something the curmudgeonly Captain tends to do! Fargo may have lied about bad cops making him feel it, and good cops his only friends, but Dobey's the one you suspect lives that sentiment.

I didn't guess the run in with Knight at Nellie's was a set up for what was coming later, I assumed he'd just had a bad day and was letting off steam at S&H who were fooling around while the world burned, the injustice of it all getting to him, and the theme coming through of the horrors of police work and what they've all had to face over the years, another reference that puts it into a Season 1 mindset, specifically the pilot's negativity towards the city. But S&H have learned to be able to enjoy life and do their job, they're not brought down by the decay around them, even though once in a while they're personally affected they bounce back, their eternal optimism as young men with a good life and a job they excel at keeping them sane, not allowing depression to take over as it had the offending officers who would take power into their own hands just because they feel entitled. The truth is that everyone is equally unworthy of leadership (though some are better than others), and to be in control, but there has to be someone directing at the top, which is where democracy comes in.

I agreed with S&H that it would have been nice if Garner had thanked them for saving his life, but Dobey's words are true: they're just doing their job and they don't have the right to expect thanks, the lot of someone in their position, perhaps the pride of the service (and he made up for it with the Medal of Valour recommendation anyway - just because they can't expect thanks from the public, doesn't mean they won't be rewarded for good service by their own). Dobey had some good words to say (not least in the semi-running joke of Starsky throwing his paper cup around in the Captain's office, this time Dobey responding to his wish for a wastepaper basket by telling him to throw it on the floor - in Starsky's office!), but he was also out and about, backing up his men at the end and sitting in Starsky's Indian fan-type chair munching on a bowl of apples (another recurring gag - the food theme also comes up when Hutch buys himself a Hamburger with all the trimmings, but for Starsky gets a tuna burger in line with someone that adopts a rock!). That scene where Starsky pops into his place for some wine while Ginger waits in the car was great fun because Hutch and Dobey were in on Starsky's violent mood swing, yet we haven't seen them together since he slammed out, so it's fun to see them just behaving normally.

When we first see Ginger's place I thought the police officers were at Starsky's because of the distinctive Indian bamboo chair, but when we actually visit his place we see that one is brown while Ginger's was white. I also feel like this might be the first, or one of the first times we see this version of Starsky's apartment that would be in it to the end (I remember his brother being there in the fourth season), although here it's possible to look out of a little window in the door and see down to the road, since Hutch photographs Ginger from there. Similarly, when we first zoom in on Nellie's restaurant (the episode starts very oddly with a freeze frame that is obvious because a car is slightly blurred), and find Huggy in there, I thought this might be Huggy's place (though police wouldn't be hanging out there if it was, I'm sure!). I'm sure the actress that played Nellie had been in it before, but it could have been uncredited, or it may be she was used later. Two actresses that definitely had been in it before were the girl S&H save from Willits and Billings, Millie (not to be confused with Nellie!), played by Muffi Durham who'd been Nancy in 'The Bounty Hunter' of Season 1; and Shannon Wilcox as policewoman Maxine who helps Hutch identify Ginger (in the days when memory and paper records had to be relied upon rather than computers!), previously Laura Lonigan in 'Iron Mike.'

Two more regulars appear again, Mickey Mouse, seen on another filing cabinet at police HQ, and either Pinky or Perky Pig on S&H's desk in its right and proper place. I also had a flashback to 'Murder At Sea' when Ginger asks Starsky if his name is Polish (and he replies 'something like that'), a reminder of Bertha and Edna Zelinka ("I'm never wrong about these things!"). The best line has to be when Nellie brings S&H their milkshakes and Starsky switches them around, saying "He's chocolate, I'm strawberry." The stuntman fighting Willits as Hutch, who normally blends into the background so well, could easily be seen this time, perhaps because we're closer in on the camera view than usual. When Dobey came on the radio to report a woman's screams from a warehouse it didn't make sense that he'd be playing dispatcher until you realise that it's linked to an ongoing investigation - we're realistically starting in the middle of police business rather than the very start. You'd think if someone had gone to the trouble of reporting the screams, as ever, that they might have done more, but in a place where there are guns maybe you have to leave it to the cops to sort out. She must have been screaming for a while, though, as it takes them time to arrive (as usual they have to squeal round and head in the opposite direction!). There's also the usual trope of them going around in the red Torino and expecting to be able to stakeout or tail their quarry without being noticed, a convention of the series.

The other thing is the issue of secrecy, with only Dobey and Hutch in on Starsky's undercover mission, but then we see that Willits is in fact not dead at all, but hanging out on Starsky's own bed under guard from another officer, so he at least must have known his colleague was involved in something! On the whole it's the story and characters that make this a good one rather than the action-packed nature of it, though the car chase after Willits wasn't a bad little sequence and there are some good in-car camera views through the episode that make you feel like you're actually there, cruising an American city in the late seventies. A good decision not to show the murder by Knight and Williams of Ward Billings in his hotel room and keeping the baddies hidden a bit longer, seeming more powerful when we don't see above chest height. I do feel the music let the side down a bit as it sounded like all stock rather than anything original, something that improved some recent episodes like 'Bloodbath' or 'Survival.' Not that it was enough to push those episodes clearly over the line of mediocrity, or bring down this one, but music does make a difference and it would have been easier to rate it a good episode if the music had been stronger in theme or hadn't danced through the back catalogue. Not to say some of the themes aren't good, but they could have stuck with less of them.

***