Plastique

DVD, Smallville S8 (Plastique)

Kids get away with murder these days! Okay, well Bette, the street kid Chloe takes in after a bus blows up, didn't actually get away with it as she was 'sentenced' to time at old faithful, Belle Reve, home of all the meteor-infected people that have been discovered over the years, but then little miss CEO of LuthorCorp, Tess Mercer, comes along at the end, in a very Lex Luthor way, and offers her the proposition of joining a super team. Could it be escalation, as 'The Dark Knight' theorised - in response to the Justice League (still can't remember if they've actually taken that name yet), she's forming her own team of people with 'unique' skills to combat them? Or could it all be about finding Lex, which continues to be her obsession. She's a tricky one, and no mistake, while having the look of evil and with so much power at her fingertips as head of LutherCorp, she's also done good things so far, such as releasing the inmates or captives of the Montana facility (I thought it was going to be a return of 33.1), and refuses to authorise Bette's hit when her lackey states that that's what Lex would do. All this, and taking over the running of the Daily Planet as well?

She certainly got her due in this episode, only her second, featuring in an iconic rescue diorama for Clark - not iconic as in amazing, because there really wasn't much action, the 'bomb' having gone off before Clark arrived, but it was a good piece of set design, and it's one of few big rescues he's done in Metropolis, carrying her to safety in an old-fashioned hero way, and as far as I can remember the only one in broad daylight right outside the Planet offices! He's certainly being selfless in risking his secret's exposure by ripping the roof off an overturned bus in order to save victims, but he tells Chloe that's why he made the move to Metropolis in the first place as he feels he can help more people, and being at the Planet he'll 'hear every crisis as it happens.' That's all very well, but he could do with a disguise, and since he's not wearing specs as Kent, it could be difficult to come up with something to hide his identity easily (not that the glasses ever worked as a rational means of disguising a dual identity, except in the world of Superman!). Some fun stuff in the episode was Clark experiencing his first day on the job, though I must say it all seems rather lax that he can wander in and out, maybe do nothing all day, with only Lois seemingly overseeing him. Whether she's even officially his mentor or not wasn't clear, but it was fun to have him change in a phone booth, and go from 'Flannel Man' as Lois called him, to blue shirt, obvious and enjoyable references to his past and potential future. Also fun was the chance meeting of Clark with new cast member Davis Bloom, who accidentally gives away Chloe's engagement.

Bloom was heavy-handedly introduced as a member of the city's emergency services, an ambulance man I would guess. He didn't make it into the first episode of the season, but takes the time from Oliver Queen this time, who doesn't appear. I like the days when all the cast members were in the episodes and had something worthwhile to do. Not that Davis is immediately unlikeable, they just lay it on with a trowel that he's instantly smitten with Chloe until he learns of her impending marriage. Jimmy (who also doesn't show up this time), would not approve, I'm sure. But you can see where the story's likely to go already as you can make a reasoned guess that Davis is someone with a meteor power by the way he speaks of them with such concern as needing help, prompting Chloe to reopen the Isis Foundation, (Lana's former base of operations), and giving Chloe pause, as of course she is, or was, a meteor infectee too, so they'll have something in common. The episode relies far too much on interpersonal soapy aspects, touchy-feely scenes of people goggle-eyed or mildly embarrassed, interspersed with Clark and Lois doing some 'serious' investigation (Clark going after the skater dude that Bette secretly executes with her zapping power; breaking into Metropolis General for a file on the guy to see if he was infected), but there's nothing to get the heart pounding, no excitement or action, it's a little bit dreary.

I wouldn't say it was boring, and it did feature just enough to keep me interested, but it was just a series of plot revelations instead of a real story, even halfheartedly trying to appeal to those of us that remember the old freak-of-the-week concept fondly. Also taking me back was when we first see Clark walk down the stairs at the Planet, looking slightly lost and out of place, because it reminded me of his High School days. The only thing is, I can't really see this version of Clark Kent as being a bustling reporter, hurrying around getting facts, then going to the office and typing at a keyboard - chucking bales of hay onto a truck, yes; bashing in fence posts, yes; but typing up a document? I know it's true to the character and even this version came from that background by being involved with the Torch, the school newspaper, but does this mean a complete end to Smallville as a location? I was never that keen on the comparatively cramped Daily Planet offices, or bare, austere modern buildings compared with the rustic charm of farm buildings and bright skies, so I can't see how the series is really going to work unless Smallville, Clark's home town, continues to play a part. But how is that possible now? To be fair the series had long ago become a global stage with various places part of the story, but that's another reason why Seasons 1 and 2 worked better.

On the DVD side of things I have appreciated the option to see a recap of previous story elements at the start of each episode, or turn it off if you want to - it could be a pointer to what's going to happen, thus losing the element of surprise, but it's also useful to keep track of so many bobbing plot details that abound.

**

Blood Fever

DVD, Voyager S3 (Blood Fever)

Klingon and Vulcan cultures are important subject matter, and continue to be integral in reminding us that this is a Trek series, not just any old lost in space sci-fi, but though these connections mean a lot and are great for linking back to the familiarity of the Alpha Quadrant, it is the simple ending that really makes this episode stick in the memory: the corpse of a Borg drone is found, and the possibilities of meeting this menace of menaces come rushing to the forefront. In a way it's surprising that the Borg weren't brought up before, at least as a warning to the crew by Captain or Security Chief, since they were trapped in a quadrant known to be from whence the Collective emanated. I believe it was due to the choice of the Borg as villains in the 'next' Trek film that was on the horizon, that such definite threats weren't pointed out earlier, but it wouldn't have hurt to discuss future threats they'd likely encounter. By now 'First Contact' had proved a smash hit and the Borg were back on the agenda, so they could tease us with this ominous sign. With hindsight you can see the clues, the indigenous population's talk of mysterious, destructive invaders that didn't colonise the place; their wish to mask all signs of life on their planet; the interest in and distrust of Tuvok's elbow implant (had we heard of that before - did we hear of it again?), the Away Team's weapons and ship's specifications.

I'd thought the episode ended with a 'Star Trek II' shot, descending into the jungles of the planet to rest on the Borg remains that only we, the viewer, know about, but it was much more definite than that with Chakotay doing a 'Captain, I think you should get down here' moment, and Janeway in no doubt about it being Borg. The Borg were one prospect that hung over the series from its beginning for those who remembered their lore, but so was the Pon Farr, the Vulcan blood fever of the title in which every member of that species had to take a mate or die as seen in 'TOS' episode 'Amok Time.' Another trope that had to be exploited to some people, but to others a logical continuation of the consequences of living in the Trek universe, with a Vulcan back in the main cast again it had to be dealt with in some way. And hardly a trope - 'TNG' had almost eschewed Vulcans from its stories in an effort to strike out on its own ground rather than relying on past glories, and 'DS9' had Cardassian, Bajoran and Klingon culture to investigate leaving little time for anything of the Vulcans. Which left Trek's most defining race to 'Voyager,' and if they didn't address the consequences of the Pon Farr to those of the race who are too far from the homeworld to reach it before death took them, who else would? A veil can be drawn over the weak entry into the canon from 'Enterprise,' but they were always in a difficult spot of not wanting to 'discover' something that was yet to be learned of in 'later' series'.

As we find out here, the privacy for the condition is so strong that even fellow Vulcans don't ordinarily discuss it as it is their only return to the barbaric origins of their race, and so anathema to their calm, logical minds. Tuvok has to be talked into even showing any interest in poor Vorik's situation, and the younger Vulcan is as embarrassed about Tuvok having to involve himself (if embarrassed is the right word), as Tuvok is uncomfortable in invading his privacy with intimate questions which shouldn't have to be asked. The various solutions that come up overlook one obvious one: we know there are female Vulcans aboard (I've seen at least one on the series, though not until the latter seasons), so why couldn't Vorik have chosen one of these? The clue is in Tuvok's predicament, though we wouldn't see the results of his wrestling with Pon Farr until much later: he's married, with children, and Vulcans mate for life. We have to assume that all the female Vulcans already had a mate back home, so it would be impossible for Vorik to establish a telepathic bond with them, even if the conventions of his people would allow it.

From some angles the choice of Vorik going through the Pon Farr rather than the expected choice of Tuvok, was a masterstroke, allowing us to see a Klingon (or half-Klingon), go through it instead. In other ways you might wish that Tuvok had been the one to experience the indignity, especially as Vorik's recent addition makes it appear he was only created for this purpose - I can't remember how much he appeared after this, but it wasn't as regularly as these last few episodes. Writers want to surprise an audience, not go through the predicted motions, and their choices here are more like those of 'DS9.' Perhaps the only difference if that series had done it is that Vorik would surely have died and Torres would have had more than uncomfortable silences with Tom Paris in a Turbolift to deal with. The fact the blood fever is purged without either combatant having to die waters the harsh ritual down somewhat, when on 'TOS' only Kirk's death could break Spock's fever. A 'third option' is also introduced, besides taking a mate, or ritual combat: extreme meditation. Incidentally, it doesn't work, as Vorik still doesn't go back to normal, maybe he was too young and inexperienced to be able to have enough control (Kolinahr training needed?), and his desire remained strong enough that he would fool the Doctor into thinking a holographic alternative had sufficed, deviously and resourcefully taking out communications, transporter, and even shuttles in his urge to ensure Torres be his mate! Scary dedication, and something it would have been good to see, like when Data takes over the Enterprise in 'Brothers.'

The seedy topic of holographic mating is fortunately not explored, and indeed, the episode's theme isn't portrayed gratuitously as I'm sure it would be today. But the mere suggestion of that as an alternative opens a whole Holodeck of worms. Such things weren't unheard of, Quark often trying to lure customers to his Holosuites with talk of lurid programs, but the Doc does take great pleasure in the whole situation. Pleasure isn't the right word, he's fascinated as someone with a new hobby, completely unthinking about his 'lab specimen's' feelings as he talks with relish about the situation as if it's a great experiment, a trait that he would display more and more on the series, often having to be reminded that his patients aren't just there for his interest! It's the opposite extreme of how his character began unfeeling, no bedside manner, just treat the illness. Now it's become too much interest, and again, not considering the patient's wellbeing except for the medical complaint (though he did show discretion by asking Torres to leave before his consultation with Vorik - did Kes also leave, I didn't see her go?). Something that didn't ring true were human values being ascribed to a nonhuman character - the Doc for one, when Tuvok claims his view on Vulcan privacy about the situation is a very human judgement, and when Vorik explains his wish to mate with B'Elanna as a wedding proposal in human terms, but she's only half-human! Tuvok had a point with the Doc, as he'd just called Vulcan attitudes to mating Victorian, something rather anachronistic (we don't tend to say something is Cromwellian, do we?!).

While pointing out inconsistencies, one of the biggest has to be the cave accident. Just before Paris, Torres and Neelix, smartly dressed in those exercise uniforms first seen in 'Learning Curve' when Tuvok was training the Maquis, start their descent into a deep chasm to find gallicite (I kept thinking of Captain Boday, the Gallamite with the transparent skull from 'DS9'!), they joke about how safe Starfleet technology has taken all the fun out of rock-climbing. Then Neelix' piton comes loose and he plummets to his… slight injury, taking Torres with him. And then Tom offhandedly says the piton must have malfunctioned. Oh, really! So if Starfleet tech is so safe why is it not working properly?! I think the direction of the scene could have done with a little more clarity in the course of events - the way it's shot the chasm they're rappelling into appears huge and dark, then the accident happens after a short while and Neelix falls about two or three metres and just has a broken leg. I also thought Torres was rushing to his rescue when she zips after him, but she was actually falling. I'm sure in reality they'd been climbing a little way before the fall. That's my only complaint with the direction, Andrew Robinson doing a great job in his second (and final?), Trek episode. It's fun to note that he dealt with the subject of Klingon mating from both a male and female point of view, since his Trek debut as a Director had been 'Looking For Par'Mach in All The Wrong Places' on 'DS9' only a few months previous, all about Worf and Grilka, and now it was B'Elanna. The only regret is that they didn't shoehorn in a Garak cameo as a holographic spy the EMH talks to in finding out about secret Vulcan practices!

The cave set, so much used, sometimes maligned, finds use again, and again they successfully transform it into a new style with moss and growths on the roof and walls, dripping water, and rocks that look as though they have a weight to them (when Chakotay was pushing through the rockfall to reach Paris and Torres I was thinking Tom should move away because if one of those fell on his foot he'd know it!), new angles and alien technology integrated into it - the only recognisable part was the small, circular cave mouth which we've seen a few times ('Tattoo,' 'Innocence,' etc), but a successful use of lighting (also seen in Vorik's darkened quarters), to create a real darkness lit only by the wrist beacons helped sell it, and sell it well. Robert Duncan McNeill must have kept a note of his experiences in filming the rock climbing because years later he'd be directing a similar scene (though more elaborate), for 'Enterprise.'

The aliens, too, were of a high quality, introduced like Rambo coming out of the mud wall in 'First Blood Part II,' they made an impact immediately. The tension of the moment was heightened by having more than one level, with the Away Team captured by suspicious aliens, but also the unpredictable Torres stalking up and down like a caged tiger. Tuvok really should have got a firm grip on her arm instead of allowing her to pace about! The aliens were called the Sakari, which sounded too close to the Sikarians (the first season friendlies with space-folding technology they weren't willing to share), but other than that they had a good look to them, a cross between a shapeshifter that's cracked and dried out, an animal-like face, and a mini Kazon hairdo. They also had the amazing ability to vanish into their surroundings as we see (or don't see!), when Torres fights one of them, knocking him to the ground, and by the time she and Paris have looked round they've all gone, with Tuvok and Chakotay, too! I had thought a rockfall had been the reason they got separated, so again, maybe more definite directing was required to make things clear, though it's only a minor issue.

The less said about the 'heated' discussions in the cave, the better, but once we get into the open air let no one ever call Tuvok a party pooper again, for he's the one that advocates the ritual combat between Torres and Vorik that saves both their lives, much to Chakotay's uncertainty - this was a perfect moment to revisit the distrust and animosity between him and Tuvok that had initially promised much but that we almost never saw, that deeper level of character conflict not reached, the surface, physical battle having to suffice in that scene. I like that even after a hundred years since Kirk's experiences, and with Vulcans as the most seemingly prevalent species besides humans in the Federation, so little is known about their rituals. In our society today in which privacy is becoming a thing of the past thanks to the splaying out of people's lives online, the ability so many have to record things around them, CCTV, satellites, even Google Maps, as useful as it is, and a generation growing up that don't expect anything to be kept secret or private, assuming everything is their right to know, Vulcan's ability to keep personal their ways is inspiring, and not Victorian at all. One of the things about the species I've always admired is that they seem to be so knowledgeable, always having the answer, they don't like loose chatter or the need to say things for the sake of it, and if they were completely open they would lose some of that impression of power. So here's to the Vulcans, they may not always be right, but they work through their problems in a calm and measured manner (excepting Pon Farr, of course!).

No wonder the race don't like to touch, with such heightened telepathic tendencies, often activated by the tips of their fingers (something else about the race 'Enterprise' tended to forget), a telepathic bond stronger than a physical or emotional one. The episode gives us something 'TOS' couldn't - two Vulcans dealing with the situation, which gave us so much insight into the culture. You would think that in all the centuries of Vulcan warp travel that Pon Farr would have come up as an important consideration, because there must have been others that were caught short in space, too far from home or their mate. Did they used to take a mate with them on long journeys, or keep track of how far they were from home in order to be back before the seven year cycle came around? It makes you wonder if Tuvok has his nightly rounds to do: visit Kes and give her advice on lighting a candle or boiling a teacup (maybe it should have been her Vorik attacked, then she and Neelix might have got back together - nothing good ever happens atop Engineering, that was where Neelix fought Jonas!); tuck Kim into bed with another delivery of candles (perhaps the reason Kim isn't seen - he's still recovering from his experience in 'Alter Ego'?); Mr. Suder for mental help - no, cross him off, he's dead; and now Vorik for Vulcan hearts to hearts, in a constrained, dispassionate way. I do love the shot of the two of them facing each other in profile, yet a distance between them and looking straight ahead, a great image of the closeness, yet distance between the pupil and mentor.

***

Coda

DVD, Voyager S3 (Coda)

Not even death can stop Janeway from sticking with her ship, proving her to be the most loyal Captain of all Trek. Even though she wasn't actually dead, it was all a ploy by an alien race to feed on her consciousness, to her mind she was dead, so it demonstrates her love of her ship and crew that even though there was nothing she could do to help them, she still wanted to be there to see their voyage to the end - the ultimate fan! It's no wonder she was so obdurate about it after seeing such a wonderful and heartfelt memorial service in which both 'Maquis' (Torres), and 'Starfleet' (Harry), remind their shipmates of what she meant to them. It's a stirring scene, and even though, like Janeway being dead, it was a fiction cooked up by her mind, it's true to what the characters would have said, I'm sure, and provides a moving tribute to their fallen leader. But that's the thing I found myself thinking with this episode: it's all meaningless. None of it happened, except for the initial shuttle dash to the planet (which I wasn't keen on - the visuals didn't look that great with a chunky shuttle moving cumbersomely through space, though the planet set was great with an expertly created stormy mood). Often this doesn't matter in the many variations of this theme found throughout Trek, from 'The Tholian Web' of 'TOS to 'Vanishing Point' on 'Enterprise,' but I'd always felt this to be a strong episode before.

I remember the first time I saw it, on its original UK terrestrial transmission, alone in the house on a dark Sunday evening, so creep factor nine! I think because I haven't seen the 'Voyager' episodes so much, they haven't become as ingrained in recent years so I have less connection to some of them. Not to say this wasn't a good episode, it really was with such brilliant scenes as the memorial or Janeway's defiance as she realises this alien posing as her dead Father is a fake (I liked the actor's name, Len Cariou - it made me wish they'd given the species a name and called it after him: beware the 'Lencariou,' lest they carry you away!), but though there was a bit of tension in the early part of the episode with a 'Cause and Effect' type time loop, it was all a blind, just as the return of the Vidiians was - it never happened, it's all there to confuse Janeway I suppose, though I don't know why she needed to be killed off multiple times (crashing, exploding, euthanised by the EMH!), except to pad out the episode a bit before we got to the more meaningful moment of dealing with death (in quite a different way to how they did it with Geordi and Ro in 'The Next Phase').

I wondered if they were using this evil entity who takes people to his matrix to devour just before death as a jab at the afterlife and making a point against Christianity with such language as everlasting joy and eternity (made me wish Janeway had at least poked her head into the matrix just to see what it looked like! Actually that would have been more compelling -  if she had at first been taken in or lured in by a trick, and found herself in a Hell-like place that she had to escape from before the 'spider' reached her in its 'web'), but I came to the conclusion that the episode wasn't deep enough to actually be trying to make a point besides Janeway's deep loyalty to her crew and desire to see them get home, because it's suggested that this is a race unique to the Delta Quadrant, and that it attacked just before death rather than being the destination after death. They also bring up ghosts and such experiences and try to explain it, where usually they keep away from such unscientific phenomena, but again, it's not 'real' because it all happens inside Janeway's head, so they could have their cake and eat it.

If there was one episode it reminded me of, it would be 'Distant Voices,' the 'DS9' episode where Bashir finds himself on the abandoned station discovering it's all in his head - he hears distant voices talking about his condition from the real world, and in this Janeway has flashes of reality, lying on the planet's surface as the Doctor, Tuvok and Chakotay fight to save her. Maybe they should have entitled this one 'Close Voices'… This didn't have the same attraction as the 'DS9' story, perhaps if they'd gone down the weirder route it would have remained a classic in my eyes, but sadly it now appears more messy than distressing. Any 'mistakes' with the episode can be explained away as being in Janeway's brain (an interesting side note could be that all the characters are acting from her subconscious so are they as she'd like them to be, or how she sees them?) - I think of the fact that she can touch the biobed in sickbay as a spirit, yet walk right through the door which closes in front of her (a common problem in such stories, like in 'The Next Phase' where they don't fall through the deck, but can be pushed out of the bulkhead into space! You just have to go with it, and in this case it can be explained away by the unreality). Also, I'm sure there's an episode somewhere in which it's stated that as soon as a combadge casing is damaged a homing beacon activates, but in this, Janeway has to activate it herself, or deactivate it to avoid the Vidiians finding them (though great to see what the inside of a combadge looks like!).

There are character moments that stand out, and not just the memorial service. It's Janeway's story through and through, and a chance for Mulgrew to display her acting prowess through a multitude of emotions, perhaps best as her 'Father' is convincing her there's nothing to be done and she's stood turned away from him, so many thoughts and reactions running across her face. But it's a good one for Chakotay as well, devastated at Janeway's death (even dribbling over her in his desperate attempts to keep her alive!), with some nice moments reminding us of their friendship, especially in the final scene. Tuvok too, is allowed to remind us how highly he regards her - in just the previous episode he stated that Harry Kim wasn't a friend, though a valued colleague, so if he's so careful about whom he considers a friend, it elevates Janeway when he notes in his log that he's lost a friend. But it must have all been a dream because we see Neelix and Kes sitting together at the memorial!

***

Alter Ego

DVD, Voyager S3 (Alter Ego)

When Holodecks Attack! Seriously though, someone should really sort it out so that the Holodeck cannot possibly lose its safeties, especially when a person is in danger, such as when B'Elanna is being strangled by a Polynesian girl via a garland (garlanded!), and Tuvok has to resort to physical violence to beat off burly mask-wearing Polynesian holo-men. But it's always a good moment when a situation becomes drastic enough for a Vulcan to use that under-control super-strength they so rarely display. I would suggest that if Marayna had had as much control of the ship's systems as to be in absolute control (she wasn't, as displayed by her inability to completely halt Voyager), she would have been able to program the characters to be stronger, so it's fortunate for Tuvok (and Torres), that they must have remained within their programmed levels. Tuvok was the best depiction of a Vulcan on Trek, and here we get to see more than just his 'heroic' side, but the way the character was originally meant to be, as both great friend to Janeway (obeying even an oblique suggestion that 'everyone' should go to the party), and an older mentor to the crew. He'd already shown his mentoring skills with Kes, helping her adjust to her latent telepathic abilities, and this time it was Kim's turn.

I like how this episode dips into many pots and takes a twist and turn to keep us off balance. It begins as a Harry Kim episode, a sort of remake of 'Hollow Pursuits.' In this variation Kim isn't addicted to the Holodeck and the fantasy life therein as Barclay was, quite expertly delineated by the fact that Kim's obsession is with a particular character who is part of a social program that evidently can be walked into by any member of the crew at any time, though it isn't left on at all times as they sometimes have to activate it. It's an embarrassment for Kim because it's such an open, group program, so it's not like he can keep it to himself (even if he hadn't been flagged up for not concentrating on his duties). Kim has been struck by Marayna as not your everyday holo-character, something that would later be studied in greater detail by Janeway when she falls for Michael in the Fair Haven episodes, or explored in terms of a character who's more than the usual, in Vic Fontaine. The story then becomes a mixture of 'The Perfect Mate' since Marayna is all things to all people (well, a beauty to Kim and a brain to Tuvok), and the Moriarty episodes in which the fictional character gained sentience and demanded to be 'let out.' Chakotay even references this event on the Enterprise-D, basically saying 'we've done this one before' to fool you, because we eventually learn that she's no computer creation, but a real, living and lonely person.

This is where the episode becomes a prescient prediction of our times today. No doubt in 1997 when this episode was released people were living something akin to the life Marayna lives, of hiding out in their own, lonely fortresses, not venturing out among their own people, living through the internet and computer games, but now that is truly possible. People really do live out their social lives via social media, online gaming and taking part in discussions on internet sites. We haven't yet been able to beam into someone else's world, but people do have 'avatars' that they make to look as they see fit. All this is seen in the episode when Tuvok eventually tracks down the real Marayna after she becomes emotionally attached to him, and is able to provide an answer for her behaviour, and the suggestion that she give up what has been her job to go back and live with her people. I always wondered if the actress that played the holo-character and the alien at the end were two different people, but there's no reason for that, it's just that the makeup does such a good job with its full face prosthetic, black contacts and raspier, breathing voice, that it was hard to see the same actress in both roles. But it would be strange for her not to have done it which is why it must have been simply good acting. Sandra Nelson would also appear in prosthetics on 'DS9' (in 'Soldiers of The Empire' which would have been made very close to this episode, though I think after it). She should have been used in more roles!

Though the seeds of this episode are in those other 'TNG' stories I mentioned, this one plays with our expectations, giving us a real person behind the creepiness, rather than the usual answer of something affecting the Holodeck, which gives it a fresh spin, while also allowing us to have the chilling moment when a holo-character appears outside of their environment. It's not quite so strange this time as we see Marayna using the Doctor's holo-emitter, but it continues the deception that she's a fictional entity which makes her obsession with Tuvok all the more extreme. The Doctor only makes a cameo (Robert Picardo was making his directorial debut and doing a very good job, only the second actor on the series to do it), but more seeds are sown by his comments, musing on the life of a recreational hologram as opposed to that of an occupational one. Such things as different types of hologram and their rights, as well as sentience and the possibilities of this relatively new intelligence would be explored in greater depth both on this series and 'DS9.' These were all newish concepts that had been built on 'TNG' ideas and were now being furthered, something that couldn't have been done if there hadn't been continuous Trek for years with many of the same writers growing ideas from those established previously.

Though Tuvok is a wise man, and someone to be depended upon, he isn't perfect and so when he has a chance to learn something it enriches a story. In this case, through his interactions with the insightful and intriguing Marayna he reflects on his own behaviour and takes his own advice on remembering that he's part of a community in which he values his colleagues. He even goes so far as to be polite to a holo-girl that asks to join him and Kim! And it takes a lot for a Vulcan to apologise, but he does so to Kim, so we get to see both the wise and sure Vulcan, and the one who recognises that living in a predominantly human community means he should sometimes fit in, and not just when his Captain suggests it! The best example showing he and Kim have resolved their differences is in the way they both agree in not wanting the holo-girl to join them, when earlier they both spoke at the same time to say opposites in conversation with Marayna. And the episode features something of a haunting end when Marayna's last words to him are asking if he will always be alone, a reference to the ship's eternal journey home, subtle, without going into detail, but reminding us that this is a ship lost out on the frontier and gives Tuvok food for thought. I like that he proves loyal to his wife and that she's spoken of, though also not banged over the head of Marayna.

It's a shame there's still no addressing of the Neelix/Kes situation after 'Warlord,' with the pair not appearing together in this episode, though it's good that everyone gets something to do or say. Vorik's attraction to Torres is more of a comical thing at this stage though it would resolve into something quite different in a short time. I guess Vorik isn't much of a Vulcan since Tuvok claims Vulcans don't wear garlands or mingle, but he can be looked on as a lot younger, and also trying to impress Torres, and so perhaps his own intentions aren't the same as Tuvok's. They had B'Elanna in a dress, and seeing her our of uniform (a rarity), it made me wonder why she doesn't have exoskeletal ridges on her front, as Kurn did in 'DS9.' It's never been definitively addressed whether female Klingons have the same exoskeletal structure in the same areas as males of the species, but even if they do, it can be pointed out that Torres is half human, and even her forehead ridges are far less defined than those of full Klingons.

I like to remember the Vulcan background we get, specifically the term for someone who, by their own lack of interest or understanding trivialises your own, as I know people that this can be applied to (the term is soo-lak, for your information!). The access panel in the Holodeck was something of a mystery to me: when Torres uses it, it's inside a pillar that appears to be possible to walk all around, yet we usually see such panels embedded in the walls of Holodecks, so either we were at the 'edge' of the program, though it looked like the room continued, or it was a holographic access panel so that when a button was pressed, it would activate that button on the real access panel. My preferences in terms of lighting in the program would have been to make the it less harsh and to rely more on the burning torches for illumination, specifically in the scene where Tuvok and Marayna look out to sea, a full moon overhead. The sea and sky are so dark as to be barely visible which doesn't quite sell the mood, but it's just one of those minor things that could have been improved (just like when Chakotay hands Janeway a padd and she almost fumbles it!). And Tuvok's Kal-toh board is a more sophisticated example of a miniature holographic projector - we'd seen such things before when Riker had such a device to play music to him, and Kira was given a recording of Varani (also playing music), but this is fully interactive with a pleasingly solid clink to the pieces. I do wonder how far the field extends though, as Tuvok picks up pieces to move around.

As a study of Vulcans, or this Vulcan in particular, the story succeeds, giving us different aspects of Tuvok to explore through his interactions with Kim and Marayna, both of which teach him things, and while we don't really learn much about Harry, and the character could have been seen as being shortchanged by the shift away from him, Tuvok was always the more compelling of the two, and to put him in an uncomfortable romantic situation provides more drama. This can't be placed in the category of Holodeck malfunctions because anything that went wrong with Neelix' resort program was programmed by Marayna, so it's a fresh mix of some old ideas, told with that 'Voyager' edge to the story. I don't think it's a truly 'great' episode as I used to, probably because I've been so spoiled by such stories, but it remains a solidly entertaining and thought-provoking outing, a good one to dive back into the series when you've left it hanging for over a year, because of the ship-bound nature and character study it offers.

***

Starsky & Hutch Are Guilty

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S2 (Starsky & Hutch Are Guilty)

I didn't used to like this episode, but this time I was able to appreciate it on its own terms. Before, I think I came to it with expectations that weren't met and so it never worked for me, the placing of it as the final episode of the season not helping its case. Back in the seventies this sort of TV show didn't have much understanding of continuity (as I've mentioned before), or the placement of episodes for the most impact, or the concept of concluding with a cliffhanger, or the type of story that would feel like a conclusion for the characters. It was simply the episode of the week, and then there were no more. Partly it may have been not knowing the status of the series and whether it would be coming back for another run, and partly people didn't watch with the idea that this was all part of a world or a story of these characters' lives, they may have dipped in and they didn't need to have running story threads, recurring characters or anything beyond the event of the week. So I always wished this episode could have more finality to it as the end of a season, or, as they did with the last ever episode of the series, at least have the four main characters together for a final scene (Huggy doesn't appear at all), instead of a joke which is more a study of personality than it is funny (Starsky's horrified to find his apartment's been robbed, Hutch tries to calm him down until his partner points out that the tennis racket he lent him is also missing).

I was disappointed that such a great, high-concept idea (Starsky and Hutch are being framed by doubles of themselves), did not fulfil its potential. These criticisms still stand, but when you're not worried about the potential (and perhaps I had low expectations this time, which always helps), and you're feeling kind of sad that this will be the last you'll see of the series for a while, and you pay attention, the episode does improve. What works is that we get a few more slivers of information about our characters: Hutch doesn't have a brother (he claims at the end when the evil doubles have been caught and a police officer comments that he could be his brother), as opposed to Starsky whose brother we meet in Season 4; Dobey's been on the force for twenty-seven years (and he's seen this kind of thing before which has a way of working its way out - what, doubles for his men who go around causing chaos?); and we meet the Captain's boss, Chief of Detectives Ryan, who doesn't turn out to be the one behind the framing (unlike so many other bent police we've seen on the series, most recently Lieutenant Fargo).

I never for a moment thought that Ryan was the big bad guy behind it all, partly because it was grasping at straws by S&H (mainly Starsky), hitting out at him because he wasn't exactly supportive, but it would be ridiculous for such an important figure in the department to be trying to do his men an injury, and because of the way the actor played him as a by the book type who, though coming down heavily on his men, also sticks up for them as we later find out in the bungled operation to find evidence of the his involvement by infiltrating his office (would he really keep incriminating evidence in unlocked office drawers?). I really liked his portrayal, exuding anger and frustration at his men's alleged actions and having to take a stance, but at the same time, though S&H feel themselves to be modern cops of the time (as when Starsky defends them having snitches whom they allow some degree of free rein outside the law in exchange for information, such as Oscar Newton who was beaten up by their doubles, saying that that's the modern way of policing, as if Ryan is someone out of the past, and he in his turn doesn't like the way they dress and act, etc), it's Ryan's 'old fashioned' intelligence that works out the case since it's he that gets the confession from Eric Ronstan and realises what's going on.

In some ways Ryan is a bit of a dinosaur in the way that he hold some contrasting, even hypocritical beliefs about rights: when he thinks S&H are guilty of 'working over' a junkie he almost gives his blessing to it, or at the very least professes to understand that course of action, but when it comes to women that's a whole other thing, because even hookers have rights. Yes, but what about junkies, don't they also have rights not to be beaten up by the police? It could be that it was all part of his dressing down that he was emphasising how bad it was for them to have apparently thumped Nikki, the owner of the house of ill repute, but it did come across as if some police brutality was okay, depending on who you did it to (the real bad guy of the episode, bad girl Sharon Freemont says something about being tired of waiting for the equal rights amendment, which is her excuse for her actions, though again, it was said flippantly). But I liked Ryan, and I liked that he got one over on S&H who were the young guns thinking they knew it all, and any time a story can give you respect for a character opposed to S&H must be well written - respect is the word that sums up the man, as even Dobey is the underling to him, even allowing him to sit in the Captain's chair without a hint of ire!

And so to the real baddie: Freemont. I thought 'oh no, another girlfriend of the week for Starsky,' when I first saw her, but the elfin features of the Assistant District Attorney disguised a crooked mind so it made for a good surprise that she's the one behind the doubles (though I should have guessed as soon as seeing her office with its red carpet, as blatant a marker for villainy as a scar across the face on this series!). Her motivation is desire to move up the corporate ladder and out of the city's Justice Department (well rid of her, I say!), in super quick time by using the case she's defending, (Eric Ronstan's son, who's a bit of a flasher), as blackmail for Ronstan to make her a junior partner in his law firm, the largest on the West Coast. Ronstan evidently saw sense by confessing to Ryan, but even without that it was a pretty slender plan. For one thing Sharon's using a no-good loser as she describes him, who was going to be sent up for a third time, I think, and she was able to get him off in exchange for him impersonating Starsky. Oh, and he just happened to know someone that looked a bit like Hutch. This guy must have been a bit of an idiot to agree to be controlled by this woman - his crime couldn't have been that great if she'd been able to get him off, yet great enough that it would be worth his while to live this double life for a bit, do what she said and escape the ramifications of his crime. These things are a bit blurry and only mentioned in passing in the episode, because when you start to think about it, it doesn't make much sense.

How did she find this guy in so short a time, as presumably the sequence of events isn't that long, yet she has this plan up and ready to go? So she was obviously a dangerous person, and I think she was the type to be storing away information on everyone she met so as to have her options open: devious is the word I'm looking for; untrustworthy, ambitious and devious - she could be a Cardassian with those credentials! The main flaw with the plan is a pretty big one and to find the answer to how it worked (besides blind chance), you have to look at the conventions of the series: not everyone in the city knows S&H and their distinctive red, white-striped car. If you don't take that as read then these two imposters visiting places and people S&H have just gone to, and causing damage to people and property, would stick out like a… big red car with a white stripe. Was there not an APB out on this other Torino (the ramifications to S&H's investigations I'll mention again), did the witnesses who claimed to see S&H arrive and leave not also notice they arrived at one time, then left, then came back and left again? For that matter could there not have been just as many witnesses to see the real S&H when they were in another part of the area at the same time as they were accused of harassment? The central conceit of the story breaks down under scrutiny quite quickly.

A flaw is one thing, but a problem is another. The flaw was that so much was risked by people that had little reason to risk it and the chances of the plan coming off were so slim, but the problem with the episode, and one of the reasons it didn't reach its full potential was that false Starsky & Hutch (they weren't even given names!), were cardboard cutouts of the real ones, goons that sit around in a Motel room, baddies in need of development, so much so that I've often wondered if they were the stunt doubles we see so often rather than 'proper' actors. Actually it's easy to see that fake Starsky isn't stunt Starsky because this one looks a lot more like Paul Michael Glaser than Charles Picerni did! I'm still unsure if fake Hutch was stunt Hutch, but probably not as these guys don't get to do any stunts - almost all the violence happens off screen, except for when real S&H catch up with them. But these fakers are no match for the real deal, easily collared and adding the first anticlimax (before the second of the tag scene), to the episode - they just weren't strong enough opponents to make good villains. Look at something like 'Survival' where Starsky chases the monkey-faced villain on top of a roof for how to do a good action finale (it wasn't the finale, but anyway…).

The sight of Starsky's Torino chasing the fakes' Torino is a novelty and not a bad sequence (especially as it marks probably the only time we have three S&H's in a scene - the real ones, the fakes and stunt doubles doing the driving!), with the banter between him and Hutch about informing their colleagues they're chasing an identical car and S&H are in the second one, really good, especially when the dispatcher (I can't remember her name, if she had one), is surprised when they give their own description as the car they were chasing, the only time they could have done that - this was another moment that could have been improved by S&H being mistaken for the baddies and the black and white cop cars adding an extra dimension to the chase by getting in their way and causing confusion in a big blowout ending to the episode and season. I think this may have been the first time we'd seen more than one Torino on screen in an episode since the pilot.

The episode is intriguing until you actually meet S&H's doubles and we know what's going on, we just don't know why - funny that in long shots of the fakes jumping in or out of their car we should be forgiven for thinking they don't look quite right as often we see the stunt doubles filling in for the main actors, only this time it's part of the story! First intriguing, then still interesting (though there're plenty of mistakes such as fake Starsky having orders to wait by the phone, which is why they can't go out, but then as soon as S&H's location details come on over the police frequency they've tuned into, they leave!), the episode passes over into farce when S&H go undercover as 'janitors' to break into Ryan's office in their own HQ! Just prior they'd introduced some comedy into the mix by going undercover at County General (the hospital where comatose first victim Oscar Newton's a patient), in some kind of American accent (Texan? I don't know), acting like his pals since they've been suspended from the force by Ryan. But it's taken to a new level of ridiculousness as cleaners, Starsky in a head scarf and Hutch in a hat - I know it's supposed to be 7am on a Sunday morning, so there could be different staff than the rest of the week, but would no one recognise them at all? That's when the episode gets knocked to one side, but it's still funny, fitting the slapstick that had become more common this season, but villains with more motive and a plan with a chance of success, or even just a more sinister angle to doubling S&H, was needed to improve the experience.

There are some good performances, notably from minor characters: Mrs. Marlowe, the lady at the Cozy Corner cafe comes out from behind the counter to meet S&H with a large knife when they go to interview her as a witness (another example of conflict of interests -  allowed to go round talking to witnesses who claim to have seen or heard them committing a crime, but that's the time for you!). I really thought she might have been one of the Oracles in 'The Matrix' film series, but checking the actress names, she wasn't, sadly. Best performance has to go to one of the few crazy characters, Lennie Atkins (played by Sy Kramer who had previously been Goring in 'The Bait'), who thinks S&H are there to dish out summary justice for grassing them up, practically sucking himself into the wall in terror, almost crying with awe and fear. It really is a great performance! Nikki (who wonders if they're on the  take), might have been classed as a wacky character, but she's pretty normal compared to her employee, Kate, the bimbo who lets S&H in, and Fifi, Hutch's cleaner whom he finds doing his washing and handling his 'shorts' (which I assume is what Americans call underwear, as that would explain Hutch's discomfort with it). I thought the character had been in it before, but actually Mary Jo Catlett (this time getting a 'With the Special Guest Appearance of' credit), had played Tessie in 'The Omaha Tiger,' a similar character, but not the same. I also thought for sure she'd be in the tag scene, but no, it was just S&H in a darkened, messy, robbed apartment, not the best visuals to go out with.

We do see both Starsky's apartment and Hutch's Venice Place - he still keeps the key above the door lintel, which is not security conscious at all! Fifi (with her brilliant Charlie Brown jogging top featuring the words 'I need all the friends I can get!' on the back), maybe wouldn't have got in so easily if not for that - her story about going jogging is suspect, though, as she carries a massive 'purse' (handbag), the size of a small dog! The actions people take aren't always that rational, as shown by Nikki when fake S&H arrive - she's stood by the lamp having just switched it off when they kick the door in, but instead of turning it back on she backs away! Owner of the massage parlour, Judy Coppet, cops it from the fakes, claiming she was hit in a place it doesn't show, but couldn't she have shown a female officer? Starsky is inappropriate to a female member of staff again when in their office a policewoman's looking through a filing cabinet and he leans over her - this is a mistake on more than one level as the shot after cuts to him with his back to it, leaning on the cabinet as he and Hutch talk to Dobey! One of those filing cabinets contains a surprise: the little Mickey Mouse plush which has been sighted before, only this time Hutch takes it out of the drawer and puts it in its rightful place on top, maybe the only shot of the series where you can see both Mickey and (in the foreground), Pinky or Perky (the one with the red beret). Also, the scene where fake S&H terrorise the massage parlour seems instantaneous from when the real ones show up, but witness Mr. Klemp (who doesn't have an eye for faces!), says it was a few hours ago.

Mind you, the fakes certainly were suited up in S&H clothes (Freemont hit every thrift shop in the city, another comment on their dress sense, just as we had from Laura Stevens in 'The Velvet Jungle' - no wonder Ryan doesn't like their attire: nobody does!), and I wonder if they were duplicates or the actual costumes as I can't remember if they were wearing identical outfits when they catch up with the fakes. One aspect fake Hutch got right was rolling over his buddy's car in an effort to escape - a shame fake Starsky didn't berate him for it… 7am on a Sunday morning seems a little early for Dobey to be taking Ryan golfing, but his girth is referenced again when Hutch suggests if they get caught breaking into his office they'll all be walking a beat and Starsky replies that the exercise will probably do Dobey good! They should be singing his praises because the good Captain does his thing of turning a blind eye, or not following the letter of the law when he doesn't pass on the illicit envelope of money (part of $300k stolen from Mandalay Heights Bank eighteen months before), fake Starsky had left at his apartment, giving his men thirty-six hours to clear themselves. Also referenced: Nixon (Hutch likens Dobey's comment about things having a way of working themselves out to something Nixon would have said); Mrs. Marlowe listened to 'The Edge of Night' on TV (a film?); Starsky mentions his Cub Scout knife (which would be found in the back of a theoretical dead body in his closet); and he sings 'Blueberry Hill' in anticipation of his new Fats Domino record!

Seeing character names in the title was nothing new, but there's only one other episode that features both: 'Starsky Vs. Hutch' in Season 4. For the record, Huggy had his name in three titles, Dobey only got one, Hutch had three, but Starsky had a massive five! Nothing makes up for the lack of the Bear, though. We hadn't seen Huggy since 'Long Walk Down A Short Dirt Road,' and for him not to make it into the last episode of the season is scandalous (perhaps another reason why I didn't used to be keen on this one). It's difficult to say whether Huggy and Dobey were better or worse served than Season 1, but it's probably safe to say that they never got as much to do in general in the last couple of seasons. I still look on Season 2 as the best of the four (the order for me is 2, 1, 4 and 3), and this run through has made me reevaluate a few episodes in a better light, whether that's because of watching them consistently and really paying attention in order to write reviews, or whether my views have subtly altered since I last watched the episodes a few years ago. The best episodes of the series are in this one, but there's a general level of gelling in the action, acting, banter, comedy and music that wasn't always reached so well or so often in other seasons.

***

Odyssey

DVD, Smallville S8 (Odyssey)

It's been a while since I watched the end of Season 7, and it's telling that the only thing that stuck in my head was the Fortress of Solitude collapsing on Clark and Lex. Telling, because you'd think an exciting season ender would be full of the kind of moments I wouldn't forget. But just as that wasn't that great or memorable, so this season opener follows the same lines: it's a jumble of things happening, people running around, the occasional fight, and developments (or undevelopments), aplenty. If they wanted to make the series feel more like a comic book, then they succeeded, but since I don't much like comics in general, and aren't impressed by things just happening for the sake of spectacle or surprise, this wasn't a good development. It's not like the series hadn't long ago eaten itself and become a live-action cartoon, and as Clark himself says when standing in his loft with Phil Morris' character (I can never remember his name - did he have a name?), about seeing his parents and Lana as he was dying made him realise things aren't like they used to be (dying? He lost his abilities at the Fortress, somehow survived tonnes of ice crashing down on him, ended up in some Russian labour camp of some kind, and then gets shot by Green Arrow under the influence of Kryptonite juice which only lasts a couple of minutes, long enough to track him down, interrogate him, and take him out - see what I mean about a jumble?).

Seeing his parents and Lana made him realise the life he has on the farm hasn't really existed for a long time (does that mean he shirked his chores and wasn't making a go of it, or were corn prices at a new low and he just had to get out of the market…?), so he's decided to give it up. While we're still at the farm with Phil Morris, who shows up in the nick of time to save Kal-El again, (only this time it's for the 'last time' because… just because. Sounds more dramatic, okay?), we find out that all you have to do is fly Clark near the sun and that makes him all better and restores the powers that were taken away for no real reason except to make Clark weak in this episode so we could be 'wowed' by having the Justice League show up (are they even called that yet, I can't remember?), or three members of them at least, although it's down to the normal, human Lois Lane, and abnormal, humanised Clark to actually save Chloe (who, lest we forget, was arrested by the Department of Domestic Security last we saw her, only it wasn't the government, it was Lex Luthor's own subordinates who look to be fighting over his estate. Well, two of them, and the man goes missing by the end…).

So what was the point of the heroes? They didn't even have all the members in the episode, with Aquaman, Canary Cuckoo Girl (or whatever she's called), and Olly Queen. Because Cyborg and Flash are off looking for… erm, was it Clark, or Lex…? It certainly wasn't Chloe 'cos the rest of them were looking for her, but everyone was looking for someone, and they obviously couldn't afford to pay all the actors to come back, especially as Justin Hartley's Queen (that sounds odd), is the only one to have actually joined the cast. Which is why they all agree to lay low and go their separate ways, not to save on budget at all, but in case they're tracked down, because Chloe (with her new super-intelligence power, keep up!), was tricked (not that super-intelligent, then), into working out what each of… their phone… numbers were? I think? And from that they could track them and these superheroes had no defence against being knocked out and captured (be so much easier to have killed them - save on budget; baddies have less to fight; everyone's a winner!).

And they did go their separate ways, quite literally each walking off from the city street the three of them and Clark had met at to exchange a few last, choice words (like suggesting Clark should wear a costume, you know, essential superhero banter like that)! That's how intelligent the writing was, but if they had to save all the money on the Justice League it must have been because they had so many set-pieces, like Clark driving a lorry into… a pile… of drums (of the oil variety, he was working at a Russian caviar facility, not auditioning for a boy band). Maybe I'm being a little unkind, but this is the first season I come to without any knowledge. I knew Hartley joined the cast at some point and I was glad to hear it because he was so good in Season 6 (and his brief moments in 7), that it could only be a good thing, but rather than build the character he gets nothing of value to say or do, except provide a threat which lasts no time at all, just so Clark's powers can be restored (and how did Phil Morris get him back to Earth if the sun drains away his powers while strengthening Clark's?).

The only moment that had a glimmer of potential was when Chloe rushes to the bleeding-to-death-because-my-mate-shot-an-arrow-through-my-heart Clark, willing to try and heal him though we know that if she does try to do that she could very likely die herself. But somehow her new super-intelligence power has meant that she's inexplicably lost her healing power (the one she couldn't use because it might kill her, but was always there hovering around waiting to be turned into a tragedy of self-sacrifice), in exchange for being able to read really fast and do maths homework in seconds. As if the writers thought it was pointless her having an ability that couldn't be used and had to give her something new for no reason in the story's logic. Never mind, her cousin wasn't treated with much better respect, shamelessly dressed in a French maid's outfit to infiltrate Lex' old castle home. At least we're heading for the 'Superman' mythology now that Clark's joining journalism, right?

Does Clark's new position at the Daily Planet (and I'd love to know on what basis he was hired, because I doubt it was for all those old Torch articles from High School!), mean the end for all those familiar Smallville sets? Let's face it, the series should have stopped being called that and changed to 'Metropolis' - they could even have saved money by getting new contracts for the main players and ditching all the old sets. Ah, but we may not be done with Smallville completely because new femme fatale, Miss Tess Mercer, a lowly member of Lex' organisation we've never heard of, seen or smelt the slightest inkling of before was apparently granted control of his empire as acting CEO of LutherCorp. Maybe because she's utterly devoted to finding him and clearly still thinks he's there in spirit, not even wanting to sit in his chair in front of her lackeys! Well, she (played by Cassidy Freeman, and another guy, Sam Witwer whom we didn't meet yet), along with Hartley are the new additions to the cast (cousin Kara's off the bill, though I can't actually remember exactly how she got written out last season or if she even did!), with Lionel having died (murdered by Lex, I think), there was a spot open. So far I wasn't impressed, but then we don't really know much about her or learn anything to make us care, but she's clearly set to be the new villain to replace Rosenbaum.

So where does all this farcical, cartoonish drama where everyone bounces around like rubber balls in a rubber ball factory, leave us? I dunno, but I agree with Clark, it's been a long time since his life on the farm meant anything, and it's a toss up whether his new life on the roster of the Daily Planet will be worth it. I suppose if you've stuck with a series into its eighth season you're not going to care about the quality of the writing, the stories, or whether anything makes sense, you just want to have MORE! My own motivation for continuing to watch something I don't rate very highly is partly because I enjoy pointing out the flaws, I want to see it through to the end, and I know it can sometimes be good, occasionally even great. Whether this season will have enough to make me want to keep the DVD or sell it as soon as I've finished, I don't know, only time will tell. On the basis of the first episode it's going to be more of the same; they apparently run with the misconception, 'if it's broke and people like it anyway, don't fix it'! Oh, and I almost forgot: Chloe said 'yes' to Jimmy Olsen's marriage proposal (good in a way as I thought they were going to become the new cyclical romance/gone bad that always was Clark and Lana, though there's still time), so super-soap lovers will have been overjoyed, I'm sure. Still, nice to dive back into the ridiculous world of Clark and chums' colourful claptrap.

**

Murder On Stage 17

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S2 (Murder On Stage 17)

For an actor that was the Special Guest Star for the episode, and the lead actor in the western being filmed within it, the guy playing Steve Hanson was a bit wooden. He had the greyed, grizzled look of an old film star, but the way he spoke his lines, especially compared with the much more natural S&H, came out as if he was almost reading from a script. I'm not saying I didn't like the guy, and he has some good moments (it looked like the actor when he had to run through the flaming doorway of the trailer), but he did stick out to me, especially when you look at Chuck McCann who played the villain of the piece, Wally Stone. McCann had previously appeared in Season 1's 'Silence' as Larry. I'd never made the connection before, but he was superb in both episodes, and even though I only saw it again last year, I didn't realise this actor was the same one to play both standout characters! He was just as accomplished at being different characters in reality as Wally was. But that's the thing, there's a bit of a theme within a theme going on, with actors on a TV show acting being actors, so we get plenty of in-jokes about such things when S&H show great pleasure at the prospect of acting, or in Hutch's stage fright and terror at having a line ("Here comes McCoy now").

Wally Stone fitted into this brilliantly, an actor on the series portraying a failed actor (and funny man), who takes on several roles in his plan to kill off the members of a club called the Wolf Pack. McCann shows his range as a rough Sierra Springs water man bringing a bottle to the soundstage, a delivery guy on a bicycle, the jolly studio guard, and a nun, but his best performance is as Wally, a man that is half-crazy with revenge and bitterness over a career that ended in disgrace (though it sounds like it was his own fault - at a Wolf Pack party he took Jane Alexey, wife of one of the members, into the bedroom and she ended up falling out of a ten-storey window - it's said that they could never prove that Stone pushed her, but he put himself in that situation!), when the public could never forgive him. He's totally believable as this manic killer with a naturally huge sense of humour who is full of surprises, not just in the varied roles he plays under the nose of someone that knew him (admittedly thinking he was dead), but in being agile as a mountain goat in the final attack on Steve in which he uses a rifle to shoot him, climbs down scaffolding or rigging (just like in the finale to 'The Las Vegas Strangler'), and dashes away with S&H in pursuit. He was certainly one of the best villains of the season, perhaps even the best (I usually award Prudholm that accolade, but he wasn't in his episode as much), and culminates in a scene where he breaks down at the happy memories of his old life when Starsky talks about his films.

This time you don't get the idea Starsky's talking down to a madman as he did to the mentally ill Lantz in 'The Las Vegas Strangler, Part II,' but genuinely feels sorry for Wally, as if someone he appreciated has let him down - the pitiful way he looks at Hutch when Stone bursts into tears and puts down the rifle after eagerly talking about the old days is surprisingly affecting, ticking off that other box that completes the set of variables that make for a good episode of the series, on top of the action, humour and characterisations. If I was to pick ten episodes to show someone as good examples of what the series was about, this would very probably be one of them. In spite of serious issues such as murder and the possibility of the man S&H are there to protect being killed, the episode is very funny, mainly thanks to the slapstick film star larks that abound when S&H go undercover as stuntmen on the film (which we never hear the title of). As ever, Hutch is the cultured one trying to school his friend, while Starsky has stars in his eyes and is like a kid in a candy store, though only seeming to be enthralled by the surface glamour as Hutch tries to remind him of symbolism and the meaning of Director Harry Markham's work (wonderfully underplayed without sarcasm, but with an encouraging allowance for amateurs a young Jeff Goldblum displays, despite the reality that a Director wouldn't be happy to have police officers undercover while he's trying to make a film!), though he, too, is soon sucked into the day to day slog of it all.

It's funny when Starsky shows surprise at how late actors work (another in-joke, I suspect), when they as detectives can be working all hours themselves. It could be said that this is another episode that paves the way for cartoonish episodes such as 'Dandruff' later on, because the characters are shown to be out of their depth, acting out extreme versions of themselves, and generally having a good time rather than being the hard-nosed cops we also see them be. I would argue this stays on the right side of parody because they are in a situation which any normal person would be starstruck by, so their behaviour of being caught in headlights, or over the top enthusiasm suited the position they were placed in: the entertainment and filmmaking industry, as far from dirty streets or organised crime as they would usually get, but no less deadly (as proved for poor Phil Lubeck who dies in an explosion during the stagecoach scene). The slapstick isn't the only amusement to be had (though I do love it when Starsky walks into a post while saying goodbye to Julie!), as we also see S&H show their mettle, such as when the stuntmen they're supposed to be fighting decide to play it for real and get more of a fight than they expected, much to the appreciation of the filmmakers! I wonder if that success at selling the action in their first scene was what helped bring the Director on board, leading him to give Hutch a line.

The bar scene in which Hutch has that line is the funniest sequence - you can see him rigidly brace himself against the bar and peel himself away to walk falteringly across to the window in his extreme fear (just like in 'Long Walk Down A Short Dirt Road' where Soul was acting out being a nervous performer as a singer and musician, now he acts as an amateurish screen actor, and does so brilliantly). He first forgets his line, just grinning inanely at the camera, then says it too fast as one word, and finally speaks in a slow, robotic voice, until the Director wraps for the day. And of course Starsky's there to give loud encouragement and make him even more nervous - the banter is another box to tick because it shows them wonderfully bouncing off each other as they discuss things throughout, both inexperienced, but full of enthusiasm. The action side of things isn't catered for as much, with the screen fight, the chase at the end, and the escape from the exploding trailer (the only time I noticed S&H's doubles, and then it was well disguised thanks to the extreme contrast between the explosion in the dark, and being in a long shot). In some ways the episode feels almost claustrophobic in comparison to the usual kind of episodes where they're at large in the city - they do go back to Police HQ to see Dobey, but apart from that it all takes place at and around the film set.

Dobey doesn't feature much (and Huggy not at all), there to give them the background checks on suspects, since Steve passes on a grudge list of those that may have had a problem with the Wolf Pack after all four other members had died in apparent accidents at Monarch Studios. S&H also visit Wally's sister, Ruth Willoughby, who doesn't know he's alive, but feels as if he still is because he can be seen on TV - "old comedians never die." They had someone who bore a family resemblance to McCann, just one of many details this episode got right, another being that they didn't focus on S&H becoming infatuated with Julie West, the young Script Supervisor (and daughter of one of the Wolf Pack members), who gets kidnapped by Wally as a nun. I suppose she was there was to give S&H more reason to chase down Wally and for him to have a bargaining tool for when he inevitably got tracked to his underground hiding place which was actually on the lot. Otherwise it would have been difficult to have an ending to build to without having them shoot Wally, which would have made it like any other chase from Season 1. This season definitely tried other things and improved on what had gone before, and this episode is a great demonstration of that.

Another improvement this season has been the music, with several of the best themes being reused in this episode: the lazy, clanging horror music which I think originated in 'Vendetta'; the most memorable piece of the season (der derrr der, diddle de dum - that's the extent of my musical vocabulary!); and the twanging, twiddly excitement music, both from the opening two-parter. It would have been nice to have had some original music as they did in some recent episodes (the cool cat opening to 'Survival' sounded like it was about to make an appearance, then was cut off), but at least they used the best pieces. As for references, take your pick: Hutch refers to Ingmar Bergman (while Starsky assumes he's talking about Ingrid Bergman!); Wally talks about being compared to Chaplin; 'High Noon' is mentioned by Starsky as Steve makes his walk down the deserted western street; I wasn't sure if Kate Jackson, whom Starsky mentions, was a real actress, or 'The Late, Late, Late, Late Show' as spoken of by Wally's sister, was a real TV show. Hutch almost falling through the breakaway railing (in his ridiculous feathered hat!), would be used in later credits montages; S&H fight to be the first to shake Julie's hand; Patrolman O'Brian, knocked out by Wally, may have been the regular 'gawping man' extra, as I call him; and the food thing comes up again when S&H eat at Dobey's desk, he complains about mustard and they're not eating anything with it in - it must have been something he ate earlier! And he helps himself to his men's food.

You notice that Wally didn't kill anyone he didn't feel he had to, to complete his objectives - O'Brian is merely knocked out, he shows sadness at having to kill Steve's dog, Friendly, because it followed its namesake behaviour and recognised him. His motive is purely revenge, which is why he let Julie go at the end after melting at the thought of times past. At the same time he showed no remorse for those he'd already killed, admitting matter-of-factly that he'd murdered her Father as she stands caged nearby. There's also something scary about someone thickset who can move quickly, and the way he pulled the nun's habit off over his head to reveal a wild and crazy demeanour was very creepy. Apart from him there weren't any wacky characters (I'm not even sure he qualifies because a lot of it was acting), and that was because S&H were being wacky enough for a full cast of characters! I'm surprised that McCann didn't get a 'Special Guest Star' credit as he did in 'Silence' - I can't remember if we've had more than one of those credits in a single episode, but I don't see why there can't be two 'Special Guest Stars'. One guest star who must have had connections on the inside: Layne Britton, probably related to Shotgun Britton who's always credited for Makeup, not the least as he played someone called 'Shotgun,' though I didn't catch if he was the stunt coordinator on the film, or what.

Like last episode it was remarkably solid as a story with very few things to nitpick, but when Steve gives S&H the grudge list he includes people that are dead! I know they needed to do that so Wally Stone could be spoken of, but it's not natural to write a list of people that might be responsible for killing off the other four members of a group, making sure to have those that had died on there as well! Also, how did Steve survive the rifle bullet that seemed to hit him from Wally's gun? Did he have a bulletproof jacket on or was he not hit? The biggest mistake is when Starsky doubles Steve so he can have a stool smashed over him, and then later, when Starsky offers to double him for the walk down the street Steve protests that he looks nothing like him! I suppose the camera was filming from behind and with the hat Starsky's distinctive hair wouldn't necessarily be seen in the stunt scene, but even so… I sort of wish this had been the last episode of the season because it's undoubtedly one of the high points, and I don't remember the final episode well, whereas this one sticks in my head. The season had already surpassed its quota compared with Season 1's twenty-two, so it wasn't like we needed twenty-five.

***

Full Circle

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S6 (Full Circle)

For a moment you might think you've accidentally put a Season 2 DVD in, the way it starts with a return to Abydos, Skaara, mentions of Kasuf and Catherine, and, best of all, Daniel Jackson, but it becomes a greatest hits package, wrapping up, continuing, reminding, playing up the story lines that have been part of the series since day one. I was surprised that Jonas was still with the team by the end of the episode as the previous story looked to be setting him up for a convenient exit. Likewise that Daniel wasn't back to his normal, human self by the end. I was going to say this was a rare example of a season ending with no cliffhanger, but I suppose the questions about Daniel are something, if not hanging threads, and we guess Anubis has his super weapon, not to mention the lost city to find. But for once none of the main characters are threatened, no one is trapped somewhere, there's no need for the Asgard or Thor to come swooping in to save the day, or an approaching threat left to make us wonder what happened next. I wish I knew the behind-the-scenes history of the series as I do for the various Trek series', as it leaves me wondering if they knew for sure they'd be coming back. In some ways it's the closest the series might have come to a finale (it's even called 'Full Circle' and has us returning to the scene of the original film and pilot episode), leaving us with questions, but also the SG-1 team intact, together, and heading off into the sunset (well, the Stargate, anyway), their minds (mostly), at rest.

First things first - I couldn't remember what had happened to Skaara. The most I could recall was that he went bad for a bit, after being taken over by a Goa'uld, and got beamed up to some ship. I thought he was long out of it, possibly even dead, so it was good to go back to his character. This season hasn't been too bad for digging back into the mythos without reminding you what the last development was, so it was a bit of a plunge to find we're in the midst of all that Goa'uld backstory without a helping hand. Daniel does explain a lot, but he does it very quickly and very softly so if you miss it, it's gone (yes, I do know about the rewind button, but I don't want to be zipping back and forth when I'm trying to concentrate on the story). Ah, Daniel. It's so good to have him back in it again, even though I knew he'd be returning to the fold in Season 7, having watched at least as far as that on original transmission. It was noticeable how they managed to straddle his all-powerful nature (not so all-powerful after all, but we already knew that), while making him more accessible. Clearly if they were planning to return him to the team they needed to stop him from being such a mythical, mysterious being as he'd become.

Those moments this season, where he appeared in that way to advise and encourage his teammates, were among the highlights, but this time they manage to have some of that awe and magic while also making him more real and grounded. So he can disappear and pop up on Anubis' ship to challenge him (and we were so close to seeing what he was capable of), but he also speaks more clearly about things and is much more in the moment compared with his earlier appearances (such as being mildly offended to find Jonas using his stuff!). It's a subtle shift away from the ascended apparition - now even Carter can see him! The first half was just full of great moments, from Jackson and O'Neill's conversation in the lift, to the way Hammond and the others don't seem surprised about Jack having seen Daniel (I kind of hoped that each of them would sheepishly admit that Daniel had appeared to them in their greatest need!), to the mission to Abydos and the search for the Eye of Ra. I was less enamoured with the traditional Goa'uld baddie, Her'ak, the spokesman for Anubis, so boring and predictable with his English accent and bad guy persona, though the siege wasn't bad.

The battle scenes where a small group of Abydonians and Teal'c hold position as a squadron of Death Gliders scream over head, and ground troops pour into the area, was another high point early in the episode, with the spectacular crash of a Glider not far behind the fleeing defenders, Teal'c the only one to survive the massive explosion. One thing that looked ludicrous, however, was that Teal'c and his followers were hiding out behind small, broken walls with canvas roofs which weren't going to do anything to prevent the attacking blasts! I suppose the emphasis was supposed to be that the Abydonians were weak and powerless, but wanted to fight anyway. While I'm noticing flaws, I'd also point to the burning braziers Skaara lights throughout the catacombs' entrance (I'll bet he was wary of that massive brand, wearing such a large and flammable wig!), when there are all these valuable papyrus' about that would surely burst into flame at the slightest proximity of heat! And Major Carter could have been a bit more careful when she and Jonas discover the hidden compartment in the secret room - she proceeds to send a salvo of bullets against it when she knows the important Eye of Ra is going to be behind! Just imagine if she'd shattered it!

These are small complaints in such a good episode which is full of fascinating revelations such as Daniel and the other ascended ones (ascendees?), are Ancients, the race that originally built the Stargates! Major fact ahoy, but that's not all we learn: they were originally human who ascended to escape a plague, and Anubis is actually a Goa'uld that partially ascended (who knows how?), and is sort of stuck somewhere between the two planes of existence, which somehow makes him more powerful. We also get Yu The Great (as he's credited at the end of the episode!), in what really must be his last appearance since his combined System Lord fleet is annihilated by the Death Star… sorry, no, Anubis' mighty warship. Because now he has the Eye of Ra! Okay, there didn't seem to be much explanation for the Eye, or for the fact that Anubis has become something of a collector of these antiques (he completed the set of all six, including Apophis', Osiris' and the rare Ra edition - worth a fortune on eBay, as long as it's in its original packaging!). They are some powerful blah blah blah, that's all that matters (if you want to rationalise it you could suggest they're a more high-tech and superior form of crystal technology than the Goa'uld already use). What it boils down to is that Daniel comes to realise he must cross the line of the rules that have kept him from making such interferences before, which is a brilliant and logical way for what I assume will be his return: being made a normal human again because of his disobedience, or that's what I hope happens.

All this and a reference to the Carter/O'Neill thing (when Skaara invites O'Neill and Carter to his wedding and asks if they'll come together)? It certainly packs in a lot, even if things scale back to a slower pace in the second half. I could criticise it for Jonas having less to do (and that you'd think he might have guessed the Eye of Ra might be behind the door with the… eye on the front), or Carter not being given time to assimilate the fact that Daniel isn't dead after all - she gets a backhanded greeting tossed over his shoulder. I appreciate they didn't necessarily have time to show wondrous reunions between each team member as they greet Daniel, but they could have given Sam better payoff than that after she was so distraught at Daniel's passing. And the big battle between Yu's fleet and Anubis' powered-up ship was more talked about than seen, a big mistake (look at 'DS9' for how to do space battles on TV). Even Skaara's demise was rather meaningless and cold, though it was made up for by the beautiful ending. It's certainly one of the better episodes in what has been a solid and enjoyable season, mainly thanks to Jonas turning out to be an ideal replacement for Jackson. If I had to choose it would be Daniel, but I'd have been very happy if Jonas had been allowed to stay, too. I wondered if the stone tablet and talk of a lost city of the Ancients that contains all kinds of new technology to help Earth against the Anubis threat might be early setup for the sequel series, 'Stargate Atlantis'? I look forward to experiencing the continuance of the story, wherever it goes.

***

Long Walk Down A Short Dirt Road

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S2 (Long Walk Down A Short Dirt Road)

I got the impression, perhaps from a small guest cast, that they'd spent all their money on the two main guest stars, country singer Lynn Anderson and actor Scatman Crothers, though they did get a large number of extras together (including the Buddha-like old man that played the 'derelict' as Hutch described him, who gets shot by Jerry in an alley - I'm sure he was the guy sitting on the steps near Lady Bessie's in 'Huggy Bear and The Turkey'), especially in the Saddle-Bar scenes where there appears to be a full house (though you could still tell they'd duplicated the cheering to sound like more!). Whether this was the case or they only needed a few characters, I don't know, just as I don't know how famous Anderson (or Crothers, for that matter), were at the time. It says something about Anderson's ability to act that I'm never sure whether she's a real country singer or an actor playing a role until I get to the end credits and see her credited not only for playing Sue Ann Grainger, but also getting a 'songs by' credit, (plus in the DVD insert it mentions she was a country singer), that I'm sure she really was. Not to say her singing didn't seem professional, rather she convinced in the role as well.

The signs are there, mainly because the series didn't generally give over so much of its time to playing full songs, and while I was quite happy for them to do that, especially as it wasn't like a concert, you had S&H arguing or playing against each other, you know they wouldn't allow for such things unless it was part of a deal with the guest actor to show off her music. It's strange then that they didn't credit her as a 'Special Guest Star,' with Scatman Crothers getting that accolade even though he only has one little scene as 'Fireball,' a friend of Huggy's who 'sees things like nobody else does'! It was such a small, inconsequential part in the episode that it could only have been to squeeze in a cameo - perhaps the actor asked to be on the series, who knows? I wish there was this kind of detailed behind the scenes information out there and accessible, as I'd love to read a book about the series.

The story is really all about Sue Ann, a friendly, innocent young lady that loves what she does so much, yet because of that (as Hutch notes), feels guilty at her happiness and good fortune in a world where others suffer. She's not a bad character, but she does seem naive (thinking her mystery blackmailer will let her off the hook if she gives him $10,000), weak (the way she melts down when Jerry appears at the recording studio and threatens her in person), and foolhardy (obeying his instructions to meet at an abandoned building without the police). But we also see her good qualities too, being a compassionate person that cares about others, shocked when two people have been killed because the police were involved against the blackmailer's explicit instructions, leading her to her best moment - the courage to face Jerry alone, even after being put in such fear of him before. Her desire that no one else will get hurt, including him, means she puts herself in danger. I'm not sure how S&H were able to track her down to that building since she left no clue as to where she was supposed to meet Jerry, but Cal, her manager, would no doubt have immediately informed Dobey and they would have known what car she was driving, so maybe they had sightings of her to trace?

Jerry Tabor is in stark contrast to Sue Ann, both in professional life and personal qualities - he's bold, dangerous, and feeding off the fixation in which he believes all his problems stem from her. He's deluded and bitter, but you don't get the sense that he was ever particularly well-adjusted. He got the notion into his head when back home with the only radio station in town that if he helped Sue Ann by playing her records all the time she would somehow help him in his career! Then he blames her for the scar in his throat from where he was knifed by a man that took against his continual playing of Sue Ann's music on the local bar's jukebox (everyone's a music critic, right?), enough to stab him and damage his voice, losing him his job on the station. I'll admit it's a little extreme for someone to take that much offence at some music, but Jerry's such an unpleasant fellow he was probably looking for trouble and quick to anger people. It was his own stupidity that got him the scar (a magical scar, changing from straight in normal shot, to 'S'-shaped in closeup), and irritating people in the bar by playing the same tunes over and over to improve Sue Ann's reputation there, shows just how deluded he was!

That's about it as the story goes. Interspersed between musical numbers Jerry kills first one, then another person, continually threatening Sue Ann on the phone, turning up at the recording studio, then an exciting, if short, chase, S&H decked out in stylish seventies sportswear to play tennis in the park where Jerry's to pick up the money (a yellow, sorry, gold, and dark blue tracksuit for Hutch, not as garish as his yellow and green one from 'Starsky's Lady,' but close, and small white shorts and a red and dark blue tracksuit top for Starsky!). As the series has gone on it's gotten easier to recognise David Soul's double, and it was so this time - you can tell it's him by the way he runs after the truck Jerry's escaping in, and the hair is longer or straighter than Soul's. Picerni's also clear as the one to leap onto the back of it, as well as doing two trademark leaps in the episode: one in the bar fight (the quiet one of the three thugs there was another stuntman that has multiple roles on the series, such as the husband in 'The Las Vegas Strangler' who gets pushed into the pool), leaping over a table, and then, more traditionally, using the Torino as springboard to take down Jerry. It may be the only episode where both Starsky and Hutch are seen on top of the Torino, as Hutch leaps onto the roof when Jerry tries to make his getaway in Starsky's prized motor (again, you can tell it was the double, though Sue Ann's presumed double looked so much like her it could almost have been her when she gets pulled out of the moving vehicle!).

It was all up for Jerry once he tried to nick off with Starsky's pride and joy - murder is one thing, but nobody takes the Torino! Jerry was a good villain, though, his life a mirror of Sue Ann's, even down to the hotels they frequent: he stays at the sparse, cheap Hotel Adams (though I must give credit to the Hotel Clerk who's far more helpful than most of them usually are - assisting the police, if slightly reluctantly, rather than contacting the bad guy and filling him in on what the police are doing, as so often happens - maybe Adams was a middle of the road hotel, not as rundown as most we've seen?), while Sue Ann's surroundings are far more opulent (it may have been called the Quincy, as that's the name Jerry gives to make phone contact). He was clearly not mentally stable, having allowed his fixation on Sue Ann as the only answer to his problems, and the cause in his own mind, as well as bitterness at the way his life had turned out, to completely take over. Hutch assures Sue Ann that they don't want to hurt him, and they do their professional best, but it was unfortunate the six men Dobey could spare weren't around when the tennis court fiasco happened. If they'd had men stationed around the park Jerry might not have escaped! Good job S&H were police as it would have been embarrassing for Jerry to be spooked by an ordinary tennis player running towards him if he was just after the tennis ball!

Huggy's role is severely curtailed, only appearing in the invisible baseball match with Fireball, who qualifies as the single odd character of the episode, there being no other real contenders. We get to see the cuddly side of Dobey again, the one he usually reserves for ladies, where his face bunches up in bashful smiles, but even more so this time as he's obviously a big fan of Sue Ann - he asks for her autograph 'for his son,' but then proceeds to have it made out to 'Harold C.' Starsky's about to say his son's real name, but Dobey cuts him off, and it's all a nice moment between the characters, although it would also have been nice to remind us of Dobey's son, who appeared in 'Captain Dobey, You're Dead!' As usual continuity is eschewed, but at least he got a mention at all. Early in the episode Sue Ann says that "chivalry is not dead" when Starsky helps her put her coat on, but Dobey doesn't seem to share that sentiment as he grabs the first doughnut as it enters the room (carried by Starsky, it didn't walk in of its own accord), and proceeds to munch away before Sue Ann's even been offered one!

Though there's not a lot of story to this one, or much action, it's kind of nice to watch, perhaps because Sue Ann is good and kind, as well as conflicted, and S&H work well together. We get a bit of contemporary high-tech equipment more suited to 'Mission: Impossible' when Jerry's phone call is monitored in order to trace him, though he doesn't stay on long enough, plus they use the radios again, though only in that scene. There aren't any running jokes or themes in this one, the closest being Starsky's lack of interest in 'hillbilly' (as he calls country music), changes so that he's all dressed up in the country clothes by the end (the shots of him getting in the spirit of Sue Ann's song, and Hutch's eye-rolling disgust would later be used in the credits), though he goes from being against it to getting into the mood in the first few minutes of watching Sue Ann perform, so there was no gradual shift, though he 'understands' it through the lens of 'Americana' as he calls it, something he professed to love when he was being a trucker in 'The Set-Up.'

Dobey must have been pretty starstruck when Sue Ann paid a visit to his office because when she suggests they're putting on preferential treatment for her, Dobey replies that they treat all their suspects the same in this community - she wasn't a suspect, she was putting in a complaint about the blackmailer (I can just imagine Jerry being sent coffee and doughnuts with a special invitation to visit Dobey's office, not)! I wonder if Jerry's 'ugly' raspy voice was put on by the actor? It seems likely as at least a couple of times he appeared to be concentrating so hard on the voice that he almost forgot his next word (e.g.: '…put it in the trash…[gap] receptacle'). Not so much a mistake as an observation: watch the window S&H park in front of at the Hotel Adams and you'll see a little girl looking out who jumps down, then when they come out you can see a feather or a dog's tail waving about in that same window, which leads me to suspect they were filming at a real hotel or occupied building and hadn't bothered to ask people not to look out as it has nothing to do with the episode at all!

At least the ending is better than many (right down to the freeze frame of Starsky dashing out of his chair and Hutch about to jump down from the stage!), though in keeping with the rest of the episode it does go on a little bit thanks to two songs being played, one by Sue Ann, and the other by Hutch, aka The Singing Policeman, aka The Blond Blintz (that nickname seems to have taken off in the last few episodes!), another tie in to Soul's musical ability that he occasionally demonstrated on the series, this time singing 'Lovin' Arms' and having to act as a nervous and hesitant performer. Good acting! Other references were to Dirty Harry (the character played by Clint Eastwood in the seventies film series), though it's turned into an in-joke as after Starsky says Hutch sounded like him, and he doesn't know who that is, he adds it's a cop he knows in San Francisco. I don't know the films so it could be a double joke as if Starsky knows that actual character, or it could be a joke as if we're expecting him to be talking about the character and he really does know someone called that! I certainly didn't know Charlie Pride, Dobey's reference to someone he assumed Sue Ann would be impressed by. Maybe an older generation singer or musician? Not knowing much about baseball, either, I'd heard of Mickey Mantle, but not (Roger) Maris, whom Fireball 'sees' as part of his game.

A good, though not great episode, with a change of pace thanks to the musical interludes, and a believable country star for S&H to protect, even if they did bungle it in their gung-ho way. Fortunately for them, Cal had great faith in the police so they kept coming back into it, even when Sue Ann didn't show great willing. A good villain, a tighter cast of characters without lots of extraneous ones, and good character moments for all but Huggy, means this, while not a favourite, is a pleasurable watch.

***