Murder Ward

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S3 (Murder Ward)

Another in the horror sub-genre of the series, is how I think of this one, but while it does go to extreme lengths to put it into that category, it tends to be much lighter in general, with the real fears, in themes such as Starsky beginning to identify with patients trapped in a mental ward, poking through only momentarily. The big giveaway that this is going to be a creepy episode (or supposed to be one), is the shuddering violin music that opens the episode and other scenes, usually focusing on the hospital (Cabrillo Mental Institution). This works fine when we see the building shrouded in darkness, but during the day, the sunny, blue skies and green lawns tend to exorcise the attempted mood. There's a slight worry when dealing with subject matter of those less fortunate, those that are subject to disturbing mental problems, that they can either be portrayed in comical ways that might encourage laughter at their childishness, or else paint them as dangerous, twisted evil to be feared. It's never an easy line to walk, and back in the seventies I'm not sure it was even considered that such things might be in bad taste. Fortunately, the inmates aren't really made fun of, even though I don't know whether such behaviour is natural when it comes to such illness, or whether it's stereotype. Either way, you can't deny that Starsky's undercover performance was a little more successful than with Rosey Malone.

This time he didn't fall in love with someone which upset his cover, he was ratted out by one of the patients who was put away by S&H, Charlie Deek. It would seem bad form for them not to consider the possibility that one of the psychos they caught might be residing at Cabrillo, but then where would the drama be? And it's fair to say that Deek makes the only really creepy scene of the episode, and perhaps the best moment of the season so far: Hutch, undercover as an orderly, has his apple drugged by Dr. Matwick, and as it begins to take effect, is met by Deek sporting a knife and eager to use it. Only five episodes in and this is the second episode in which Hutch is being attacked by a mad person with a blade - in this case Deek relishes the moment, whereas Diana Harman was all seething rage. Deek's slow advance is what saves Hutch, giving him time to stumble away in a nightmarish scenario, desperately pulling over chairs and any object he can in his semi-conscious state. The directing is excellent, with a distorted image of Deek grinning into camera which is a lot scarier than Papa Theodore's chuckling closeups. Here, too, the music comes into its own, and we're left on the edge of our seats as Starsky's already been put out of action by Matwick, tied to an examination bed and unable to intervene.

Matwick must have been a malevolent customer. Not only is he introduced smiling smugly at a glass case of mice, which tells you everything you need to know about his character, one which delights in experimentation on living creatures and the control it affords him, but he's happy to give in to the whims of Deek, and set up the Hutch hunt, when he could easily have just poisoned him, or shot him and Starsky at any time. He's not above murder, as the very reason S&H are there at all is because they're investigating suspicious deaths, undercover as Rudy Skyler and Hansen (surprisingly, no one says their names the wrong way round, though that could be because there's not meant to be any connection between them). Hutch doesn't do a bad job, it's not until Deek points them out that Matwick is informed of their true identities and profession, although I got the impression the Doctor was slightly suspicious of Hutch anyway, but then he seemed the sort to suspect any and everyone of ulterior motives, probably because he had his own huge ones! Someone else who wasn't fooled was Miss Bycroft, the main operator of the institution. She seems to be convinced by Starsky's madcap antics, but later, when Matwick has sent her to inject Starsky, instead she lets him go, in a great moment, and a continuation of the best scene.

This then allows Starsky to enter the fray to save his partner's life, chasing down Matwick in another excellently shot sequence, the portly Doctor running under the corridor lights, taking potshots at the pursuing, but unstoppable Starsky, until Hutch intervenes, tripping him. The raw emotion of rage on Matwick's face, his teeth gawping at them like a pike, shows just what a nasty customer he was. Not only did he murder patients, which he considered part of his research, he was quite comfortable with coldblooded murder of a colleague, when Switek, blackmailing him, meets his comeuppance and is found by the cleaning lady in a bath. So there are really three separate villains, all with their own agenda, but what interests me is that Deek was played by Blackie Dammett, who'd previously plagued Huggy in Season 2's 'Huggy Bear and The Turkey.' It would have been great if they could have somehow made him be the same character, although I allow it would have been difficult, since it was Huggy's episode, so S&H really had nothing to do with him. This was the more memorable role, for sure, his long face perfect as a menacing mental patient. Dammett wasn't the only recognisable face from previous episodes as we have Miss Bycroft played by Fran Ryan, who was also in Season 1's 'Jo-Jo,' Ned York as Switek, who was in 'Bust Amboy' in Season 2, and most impressively, Suzanne Somers as 'crusading girl reporter,' Jane Hutton, her third role in as many seasons (she was also in Season 1's 'Savage Sunday,' and 2's 'Vampire'), so they obviously liked her.

I didn't really believe in her character being able to get around the institution at will, never being questioned or noticed, even if she was used to it, and she never seemed the slightest like a mental patient, so it makes me wonder how she got inside. I suspect she bribed one of the orderlies to get her in and arrange some false papers, but if anyone had been paying attention they would have seen S&H and her making contact, but I suppose the staff had their hands full most of the time. If we're talking wacky characters you don't get much more than the group we have here: Weeze (played by Vincent Schiavelli who's face is in many a film and TV show), Howard, Bo and Freddie Lyle all fit that description. I suppose Weeze isn't that crazy a character, even if he did cheat at cards, but he was overly sad at the death of 'The Cabrillo Kid,' heartlessly squashed by Miss Bycroft after almost winning the First Annual Cabrillo Cockroach Derby, organised by Starsky to give Jane a diversion. You could never say the episode was boring! At the same time it doesn't really gel fully - if only the tone had been as strong as the attack at the end, it would have been a classic. It also returns to the usual ending that treats everything lightly and reminds us that the series is 'fun,' not serious, when S&H accompany Jane on a return visit to the institution to throw a party for the inmates. It is heartwarming, and is definitely one of those scenes that recalls the self-sacrificing aspect of their natures that we've seen many times before, but there's no thought to what drove a Doctor to perform illegal and aberrant experiments on innocent patients, or any further exploration of Starsky's feelings of isolation.

He never really has to experience true and total cutoff from the outside world - although neither Dobey nor Huggy are in the episode, since it takes place entirely within the institution, Hutch is never far away, as is another ally in Jane. Even so, he admits to feeling like a patient, a moment that was one of the more interesting, for me, as usually S&H aren't really that affected by their environment. Yes, they've railed against dirty streets and the bad people that pollute them, but this was something different. From the environment aspect I would say this was in the positive category, as despite clinical corridors and neat, clipped lawns not being exactly comforting, they're far from the miasma that sometimes is expressed on the street. And the party atmosphere ending the episode progresses it along that path, too. I would have liked more on the psycho-chemical experimentation that Matwick is said to be playing with, and whether any of his research might indeed have positive potential, but this isn't 'Star Trek' or even remotely a science-based series, inevitable that such things would fall into the background, hidden under the veil of the methods of Matwick's madness. In his own way he was as much a mental patient as those he operated on, having lost, or not possessing natural emotions of compassion and empathy, and I would have liked to have known his fate. Perhaps a shot of him sitting alone in a cell in the same outfit as his patients had worn would have been a more artistic, poetic conclusion!

Not that the episode doesn't have any artistic qualities. While the attack scene is well directed, as I mentioned, there was another scene, a conversation between S&H, that made good use of light: the lights get turned off automatically at eleven, so S&H stand in Starsky's room talking in silhouette from the illumination of the corridor outside. There's also a bit of experimentation in the music - as well as the violins some electronic sounds are mixed in here and there to unbalance viewers who wouldn't have been used to such a style in the series. I prefer the violins, but I appreciated the intent and attention to detail. Talking of which, there are a lot of pop culture references in this one, with Freddie imitating the famous gumshoe, Sam Spade; Hutch giving Starsky a couple of detective novels to read ('The Big Sleep' and 'The Long Goodbye'); Starsky claiming, at Matwick's question, that he entered his office by flying in like Peter Pan; Jackson, one of the staff, seen reading a 'Tom & Jerry' comic, and mention of Babe Ruth at the end (whose birthday they decide to celebrate - I used to think it was Bo's they were really talking about as he reacts, but now I'm not so sure…). You might even include Howard's tick about being late as a reference to the White Rabbit of 'Alice in Wonderland.' There aren't many stunts, but I definitely Hutch's double when Starsky collides with him running amok down the corridor. Also, those wide lawns looked very much like the location used in last season's 'Vendetta.'

Starsky's messy hair came in for some use for once, as it helps him act the part of a fool, only this time it's matted and messier. He claims he's been put away for being a sex maniac, but he may have been joking to Jane, as I can't imagine he'd have been allowed to freely mix with the women. Another thing was Hutch not seen taking the drugged apple - you see him pick up the sandwich in its tray, but not the fruit, then in the next shot he's walking down the corridor eating it. And I wondered if Leon Charles as Dr. Matwick, meant to push the handset off his office phone as he walks slowly round his desk, having heard Starsky in the next room? It looked quite natural, and may have been a choice, or a mistake. As I started this review, so I'll finish: the attitudes to mental health. If it feels strange to be watching such a setting for an entertainment show, or using it to sell creepiness, I would say that the episode doesn't really make fun of the patients or go over the top with them, and the horror is shown to be from the evil inmate and an apparently perfectly sane Doctor in a position of authority. At the same time you get an idea of the attitudes of the time when the ambulance driver transporting Starsky to the institution calls him a loony, and Jackson speaks of one of the patients as 'nuttier than a pecan pie,' which I don't think people would get away with nowadays. The place seemed remarkably open and unrestrained, and while Starsky had to be put in restraints, the inmates seemed able to roam at will throughout the building. This doesn't increase the attempts to make a sinister atmosphere which is undeniably undermined by humour, though is neither funny enough or exciting. It might be edging it as the best episode of the season so far, but if so, only slightly. Fun, not serious.

**