Quadromania

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S3 (Quadromania)

Why is it that this is one of the lowest points of the season? I can't blame it on the main stars, who appear remarkably chipper for this stage of the season, but that might be because they're looking forward to their coming break, or it could be that some personal interest had been injected into the final two episodes (Paul Michael Glaser was about to direct the finale and David Soul had what I think may have been his then-wife, Lynne Marta, on this episode). It's a mixture of things, really, stemming from the cast, mostly: Huggy and Dobey only get cameos, S&H aren't together as much as they would be normally so there's less banter, and two of the main guest cast, Kingston and KC, are pointless, having no impact on the story at all. It's also a weak example of the series' horror sub-genre, and back to portraying the city at its depressing worst: grimy, rubbish-strewn back streets, closed-down theatres, prostitutes and pushers… Worst of all, nothing seems to affect anybody! S&H aren't there decrying the state of their beat and resolving to sort it out, the tone is fairly light and the setting is just a backdrop for the murders committed by an unhinged, failed actor. Despite having several descriptions, and despite taking people out for a spin with no real aim (as Starsky does to the 'old woman'), none of the cabbies, aside from those that had quit, not even Starsky masquerading as one, ever seem worried that one of the fares they pick up could be the murderer, instead a bored attitude is prevalent - you even get one doomed cabbie expressing surprise to his old passenger that he'd go for a walk in such an area. He has the same profile as one description of the murderer, yet the cabbie never twigs before he kills him!

Starsky's the biggest culprit, and even if you take into account that he's got distractions (you'd think he'd be used to staying out all night on operations, yet he becomes bored and tired, impairing his professional judgement and putting himself at risk through his ambivalence), such as KC McBride, another cabbie (female, obviously), who shows zero worries about the murders of cab drivers, despite being one, and only seems concerned with playing her guitar and singing country! Aside from the usual problem I have with S&H's lack of professionalism when dealing with the opposite sex, she could have been used in some way, but instead it feels like a guest spot purely to promote the actress' song! Was it some kind of backscratching deal? Something to sweeten Soul? Admittedly, I don't know the details, but it's so bizarre that she just shows up here and there to sing 'Nobody Loves You Quite Like You Do' (revealed in the end credits as written by Lynne Marta and Yancy Burns, and sung by Lynne Marta). Why would they go to the trouble of pointing this out so officially unless it was a song she'd written that she wanted to advertise and they had to credit it? It's not even part of the story, except to set up Huggy's brief cameo at the end, where he comes into the Metro Cab Company (one of five or six such companies in the city), under the alter ego of Buck 'The Panhandle' Bear, complete with dodgy Texan drawl (or something like it). About the only good thing to come out of the episode is that his scene in cowboy getup and shades would replace the murky opening credits clip of him walking into a dodgy film, which was from the pilot and had been used ever since!

I suppose we should be grateful that they didn't go the obvious route and have KC be the victim who Lionel Fitzgerald III attacks, though I can only assume we're supposed to be worried that she could be a potential victim, except for the fact we're not given any reason to care as she's a one-note character (except for vocally, of course). But while she doesn't live up to the usual stereotype (and actually helps Hutch rush to the rescue without his quite realising what was going on, so he leaves his battered car at the side of a road with the door open - mind you, no one would want to steal it!), her boss, Kingston, is the epitome of a crazy Jamaican stereotype, throwing bananas around, listening to reggae records, speaking in rhyme. It would have been far more interesting to match him up with Huggy and for them to have a rhyme-off rivalry, something to add a dash of humour and colour to a bleak and dreary episode. I think it was because of the episode's mood that Kingston didn't really fit, being too rambunctious and crazy, fitting the template of the series' wacky characters. At the same time, the mood was all over the place and was unsuccessful in crafting a brooding atmosphere of doom that had been accomplished to a slightly better degree in earlier stories like 'Murder Ward' or 'Satan's Witches.'

Richard Lynch's Shakespeare-quoting, wronged actor, who's taking his vengeance on cabbies after one caused the injuries that lost him his arm and his assured mobility, and presumably ended a promising career, isn't quite hammy enough (think General Chang in 'Star Trek VI' as the perfect example of what he could have been), or on the other end of the scale, subtle enough. I did feel a slight sympathy for him, but that should have been played up so that if we could have seen a nasty cabbie, mistreating people and generally being uncaring and harsh, we might actually have started out thinking this partially disabled man who killed him, was almost a hero, a Dark Knight of the streets. But we never meet any memorable cabbies, they're plain and uninterested, and in spite of the premise of Fitzgerald dressing up as if to play Shakespearean roles before going out and committing murder, the roles were muted and, apart from the old woman, his final persona, weren't memorable or shocking. Somehow, with his metallic false arm prosthetic, Fitzgerald should have struck terror into his victims, but, since he could only limp along slowly, he wasn't much of a threat except to the unwary. Maybe that's the lesson of the story, to keep your wits about you and don't take everything at face value? He just came across as a sub-Bond henchman, less interesting even than that sounds. I'm not sure how they could have improved the character, except for my previous suggestion, and maybe making him more of 'sound and fury' rather than 'signifying nothing'…

The one good role in the episode is well played by the ubiquitous John McLiam as the original Lionel Fitzgerald, or Gramps to his grandson. McLiam can be seen in just about everything (he'd already appeared on this series in Season 1, getting 'Special Guest Star' billing in 'A Coffin For Starsky,' the episode I generally credit as being the first horror episode of the series), probably because he was such a good actor, and he continues that tradition here as the blind Grandfather whose career, and that of his son, were legendary, and who tragically believes his grandson is living up to the family name and continuing the tradition, until S&H pour cold water on his pride and tell him the Savoy Theatre that Fitzgerald III claims to be starring at, was closed a year ago. It's tragic because his joy at his grandson's success seems about the only thing left he has to enjoy, though he's sharp-witted and his hearing is almost superhuman, he has allowed his wishes and hopes to cloud his rationality. You have to wonder why he never asked to come along and sit in the theatre at one of Lionel's performances, or how he can aim a cushion at Hutch so accurately when he tries to snoop into another room, yet doesn't ask his grandson what he's done when he crushes a glass in his metal hand! It's all down to wish fulfilment, which Lionel Jr. plays to in the most callous way. The only time I felt sympathy for the villain was when he answers his Grandfather's questions about where he's been going if not to perform, and he says to see films that play until dawn, a refuge for the misfits, the deserted, the crippled.

If only this mood could have been wrapped across the whole episode and made it a deeper experience - though the Bard is quoted, nothing else of the inspiration or drama is used from the most famous playwright in history. Just imagine if the murders had been done in the manner of characters from the play, so that if we saw him dressed in a certain way we'd guess how the next cabbie would die. That at least would have been inventive, but instead it's all rather lacking in any atmosphere of suspense. Even when Starsky's unknowingly the next victim and could get a claw round the neck at any moment, because he's so tired and bored out of his mind there's very little tension - I think the music played a part in making it all seem uninspired, despite a promisingly ominous opening with harpsichord sounds and interesting direction, focusing on the killer's shuffling feet. The flipping between night and day was also jarring - I never liked night scenes on the series, right from the start, the pilot episode began in darkness, and the cameras of the time couldn't pick up enough light, so that, while the city lights or car lights looked good, the general feeling was of claustrophobia and vagueness, not crisp, sharp imagery, which added to a sense of slapdash in the production values. I've often felt the same way whenever they've done night shooting, though it can be used effectively sometimes. Here, Starsky takes the old lady out for a drive and it's pitch black, then when we return to them in another scene it's daylight and I didn't get the impression he'd been driving around for that long!

Fittingly, for an episode that returns to the negative side of looking at the city; unkempt; down and outs; driving around in Hutch's battered old car (when they're not in yellow taxi cabs); backward rather than bustling; dull, washed out; this is just another mystery in which the audience has the answers long before S&H do, waiting for them to catch up, and one of them is in trouble, will the other get there in time? In other words, the ending makes no sense: the attack happens, with little suspense, except a tiny moment when Hutch drives off after convincing his partner to take a last fare. But the attack comes, and somehow Fitzgerald's able to strike Starsky so hard he bleeds down one side (even though he was struck on the other side of the face!), and staggers around drunk for five minutes as his inevitable doom approaches in a grotesque, makeup-peeling frenzy (did he throw his cane around a corner? He chucks it in rage and I thought Starsky had gone round the side, but we see it land near him!). How could Starsky have been hit so hard with one blow that he wasn't knocked out, but can stagger around for so long - they were clearly trying to emulate the scene in 'Murder Ward' where Hutch was drugged and struggles to escape in a nightmarish sequence with real danger. In that case it made sense, in this, it didn't. The lens seemed to be covered in vaseline or something to blur it out, adding even more to the impression of dirt and grime that permeates the episode, making it unpleasant to watch.

Fitzgerald, despite his oddness, never really seemed mad, just angry and taking it out, so bearing down on his prey wasn't that of the terrifyingly insane, even though he wasn't of fully sound mind. For an example of such a scene done to perfection, see 'The Avenger' in Season 4! I half thought KC was going to run down Fitzgerald, the way the scene was directed, with a slow-motion view of the cab ramming towards us with the horn blaring. So it was a bit of an anti-climax when they just stop and get out. I'm not saying I wanted the bad guy to be run over, but it was an interesting choice. The direction had several shots like that that made me take notice, but it couldn't save the story or lack of drive (ironic in an episode based around taxis!). It's not even that it was badly written in the dialogue department (my favourite being when Starsky's brought in a drug dealer who was his fare and says they can't hold him for wearing a medallion, so he replies "How about impersonating a medicine cabinet with intent to sell?"), it's just that an intriguing premise, a disturbed mind who is also a master of disguise, was dropped like a dud and meanders around with irrelevant nonsense such as Kingston and KC, and as far as I can work out, the title isn't even a word. It's not scary, just plain disturbing, and even the makeup looks like it was applied by a blind artist. Which it was, supposedly.

At least there are plenty of references: aside from the Shakespeare quotes, Gramps says Lionel is "Playing King Lear, not Auntie Mame" (a character which inspired the 'TNG' character, Lwaxana Troi - that's not the only 'Star Trek' connection, though, as both Richard Lynch and John McLiam had been in 'TNG,' the 'Gambit' two-parter and 'Who Watches The Watchers,' respectively). The film, 'The Toulouse-Lautrec Story' is mentioned when Starsky's trying to get a description of a cabbie's last fare before his murder, Dobey mentions it being on 'The Late Show,' and Fitzgerald says he could have been 'an Olivier, a Barrymore, a Keane,' as well as making up a review of 'Macbeth' for Gramps. Kingston's singing 'Papa's Got a Brand New Bag' when Hutch visits, and I recognised the corridor outside Gramps' place as the same layout (though much dirtied up), as the hotel seen in 'Foxy Lady.' There are certainly some odd characters, too, with Baker, the overenthusiastic young cop, Kingston the rhyming cab company owner, and country-singing KC McBride all falling into that category to various degrees. This was Lynne Marta's third (and, I think, final), appearance on the series, having been in both previous seasons, though this time she's awarded 'Special Guest Star' status where John McLiam's was revoked for this second role. The only other familiar face was Carboni, played by Jerome Guardino whom I recognised as the bus driver from Season 2's 'Nightmare.'

**

Space Station Silicon Valley

N64, Space Station Silicon Valley (1998) game

Never having played this back in the day I didn't have any nostalgia to help me through this game's flaws, and consequently, playing it now, my overriding experience was one of frustration, to say the least! I didn't have a problem with the simple graphics, and even though the tunes were repetitive and borderline annoying, they were also merry - I liked the ideas behind some of the uniquer aspects, such as the music rising and falling in volume as you moved around the in-game speakers, or the option to destroy said speakers and have no music if you wanted to go to all that trouble. The puzzles could even be satisfying to solve, especially as they were sometimes hard to fathom. The implementation was what caused my irritation - it wasn't a forgiving control method or environment: the camera hideously designed so you weren't be in complete control of your vision, and if you were close to walls or objects you'd be restricted in where the camera could be positioned, and the biggest crime of all, there was no function to look around from your character's perspective, so you were stymied if you wanted to examine the environment from ground level, and in a three-dimensional game which uses height and space, it was one more thing that told you this game doesn't like you. I can't even describe it as cruel, it simply didn't care about the player! When you add to this the incredibly slow speed of movement that so many of your vessels (used to convey your microchip around), were restricted to, it required great stores of patience to keep going.

I'm not an impatient person, and I was raised on tougher games than this (most of the games I played on Commodore 64 and Amiga remained uncompleted), but the pace of play, the lack of control to see where you were going, and some tough, you might even say unfair, puzzles, all came together to make this an annoying, sometimes infuriating gameplay experience. It was also very old-fashioned (even for its day), in that you had to achieve everything on your checklist in one sitting, and you could easily spend half an hour or more wandering the landscape, working out where all the Power Cells in a zone were, trying to find even a hint of how to track down the unattainable Souvenirs, only to die and have to start right back at the beginning of the level! When you think of 'Super Mario 64,' which came out before this, but had a similar format of specific levels where you would have a series of tasks to accomplish to get all the Stars, it made you feel empowered, it was a joy to explore, and most importantly you only had to succeed at one task each time. It may be harsh to compare any 3D platform game to the Daddy of them all, but they were contemporaries, and while this was more puzzle-oriented than action-based, it's all about constraint, blocking the player's freedom.

I didn't feel that way to begin with. Not really knowing anything about the game in terms of how it played or the story, it was fun to start a jolly old romp as it seemed, one of the few N64 games I had an interest in that I'd never played at all. The opening levels, while not a total breeze, introduce the mechanics quite well: you play a microchip that, in order to progress through the zones, must inhabit robotic animals and use their individual skills to switch switches, reach the hard to reach places, and generally fulfil the criteria that your lazy human master sets you from the comfort of his spaceship's cockpit. And it is fun to be able to attack these various creatures until they're powered down, then using them to explore further. There are quite a number of animals to use across the four themed sections of the space station, and I tended to prefer the visual style of Euro Eden, the grassy greenlands, to the ice, swamps and sand of Arctic Kingdom, Jungle Safari and Desert Adventure. There was also a sense of anticipation as you wondered what this new zone would look like and what creatures you would be able to take over. But, although some characters had a pleasing turn of speed, too many were bogged down in that regard and when you had to repeatedly perform the same tasks over and over again, it became tiresome and definitely not fun. The joy of exploration was hampered, you were constantly punished for trying things (for example, some animals didn't like water, so if you jumped in a river they'd start to lose energy), and instant death was scattered all around like an ancient 2D platformer.

Crawling around a level at snail's pace, dying and restarting, weren't the only challenges to patience, as the game itself was against you: it was pretty buggy, almost unforgivably so, with crashes, or the game not recognising something you'd done. For example, in one of the desert levels you had to get a kangaroo, but if you didn't do it exactly right for whatever reason, the game was easily confused, wouldn't tick off the mission brief, and you'd have to start again and do everything up to that point repeatedly until the game was able to cope and it recognised you'd fulfilled the objective. So not only was the game difficult, it was downright unfriendly, as if they'd hurried the release. This lack of care was most evident in something unforgivable: due to a fault in the programming you couldn't complete the game one hundred percent by finding all the Souvenirs! Originally, I planned not to go back and replay levels to root out any of the trophies I hadn't found, simply because I'd become tired with the game and it didn't inspire me to persevere, so although I was determined to get to the end, I could live without the satisfaction a true completist has - too many games to play and not enough time to waste on the unforgiving.

Somewhere along the way, something clicked and I began to see the patterns or the style of puzzles that were in the game, and in the desert zones I actually rather enjoyed it, as I had at the beginning! The best animals were in this area, the kangaroo being my favourite as you actually had weight, strength and, for once, an impression of power and control. Having become attuned to the game, finally on its wavelength, and partly because the desert zones seemed slightly easier and I had no trouble locating each and every Souvenir first time round, I decided to go back and get the others. Bad idea. It was very satisfying and rewarding to conquer such a tough game, but each and every Souvenir puzzle was eventually beaten, with the swamp level in which you had to get a hyena, then a bear, proving to be the last elusive victory I needed. Unfortunately, the one in an earlier level, Fat Bear Mountain, proved impossible to pick up, literally, the collision detection absent! I'd remembered something about a problem from reading old issues of N64 Magazine back in the day (this may have been one reason why I never bought it back then, as I do like to be able to complete a game absolutely), but it was still a great disappointment, even though it was possible to input a cheat that would unlock the bonus level. Somehow, that didn't make it up to me, so the feeling I was left with was a game that promised a lot, was ingenious and unique, but also greatly flawed in execution.

It wasn't even all that logical: in Hoppa Choppa you're supposed to kill the huskies and take out guns to save the cute bunnies, yet to retrieve the Souvenir from that zone you have to kill the bunnies! On the other hand, there was a nice sense of humour to proceedings (such as Walrace 64, a nod to 'Wave Race 64'), and you could see the heritage of creators, DMA Design, their 'Lemmings' a clear inspiration, with the same cunning design and huge irritation as that classic 2D puzzler. The idea of transferring between different characters via a microchip was quite original (although Amiga game 'Beneath A Steel Sky' featured that idea, too), and may have been an influence on later games, such as 'Geist.' DMA's other original game of the period, 'Body Harvest,' shares a lot with this: basic visuals, jumping between various vehicles, only that was much more absorbing and fun, unlike 'Silicon Valley' you had a vast canvas to explore and experiment in, an early version of a sandbox game with freedom to take and use any vehicle (something they explored further in 'Grand Theft Auto').

The game took a turn for the predictable, opting for a boss fight to end it all (kangaroo boxing, preceding the final battle of 'Donkey Kong 64' by a year or so), flying and battling sections like 'Diddy Kong Racing' (though again, you have to fly through all the hoops every time you die, before the battle begins!), and a final final showdown in a cityscape that must have been quite impressive for its time, calling to mind 'Blast Corps' where you're called to defend against the marauding animals of the station. Even the corridor sections of certain levels recalled the annoying maze-like arenas of 'Banjo-Tooie.' So it had influences and may have been an influence, and it was certainly a game worth learning about first hand, if only for historical perspective. It was so close to turning around and becoming a solid, good game in the last zone theme, for me, but I had to take it on aggregate and rate it accordingly. I can't imagine ever wanting to revisit it, no matter how rewarding completion of such a difficult game was. I might have a go at the bonus game at some point, but overall it wasn't a positive enough experience, and though it does seem harsh to give it only two stars, it's not the time it was made that was the problem, but the lack of polishing and bug-testing. I applaud the approach of originality, but gameplay is just as important, and in this case, lets the side down in its realisation.

**

Warrior

DVD, Smallville S9 (Warrior)

Fantasy versus reality is the theme of the week. But it has an excruciating start and an uncomfortable end, so on balance it has to be one of the worst of the season. That's no slight on Allison Mack's direction (though it wasn't really any better than her turn last season thanks to the bad stories she gets), she must have had a tough job since she's in it a lot, has to romance a ten-year-old in a man's body, and play XBox Kinect while saying lines! How much can one person do? Right from the opening shot, though, my hopes dropped: going to a comics and fantasy convention was just too much like the series eating itself - do we really need to see Clark wandering around people dressed as comics characters just because these are the target audience? I'm sure there were a ton of in-jokes in those convention scenes, and it was fun to see 'Star Wars' references, Lois even dresses as a Stormtrooper ("No love for 'Star Trek'?" I wondered, until she said "Stop gawking and prosper," once in the Amazon suit - Wonder Woman, I suppose), and was the guy in Clark's red jacket his stuntman or just an extra? It was way too far into fans and fan life for me, and then we have to endure a kid being into Warrior Angel, the hero that Lex Luthor was always so fond of, and stealing issue 1. I'm pretty sure the character was created for the series, not an existing character, especially as it's not well designed and didn't look very professionally drawn, and it is fun that it's so much from the series' history, but it was groan-inducing when this child, Alec Abrams, turns into Stephen Swift, aka Warrior Angel, from reading the comic.

I never liked when magic cropped up in Superman stuff, it's just silly (and we don't need real witchcraft signs and symbols in our series, thank you very much), and Zatanna wasn't one of the best characters, either. If you have magic, even though, as Clark says, it's not an exact science, it just undermines any reality that there is, and superheroes are always walking the fine line already. This season they've generally done a pretty good job of keeping things real, so it was a letdown to go back to magic and curses, and suchlike - to begin with it didn't seem much of a curse that whoever read the comic would turn into a superhero, but then you find out that he's destined to turn into Devilicus, the evil alter ego, but all this happens very fast and before you know it Chloe's up on a ledge about to be pushed off. I will give credit to the actor that played Warrior Angel - he was only doing what many before him have done in such films as 'Vice Versa,' 'Big,' etc, and pretend to be a boy in a man's body, but he did it well and believably, a more unguarded, natural attitude coming out. As usual with these things it's a bit awkward when you think about his real age and Chloe being interested in him, but I was much more worried by Oliver taking advantage of her mood at the end, to 'teach her archery.' He should be more respectful and she shouldn't rise to the bait, just as Clark denies himself when Zatanna uses magic against him.

On the whole, it wasn't a bad episode for him - we get to see him finish welding a couple of villains between chain link fence panels, knocking out another guy with a tin can (Teal'c did the same thing in an episode of 'Stargate SG-1'), but he also has contend with Zatanna taking advantage, which shows up her character all too clearly. Clark's justification of himself and his heroic life was also inconsistent: throughout the episode he lets out little bits of explanation or advice, but the scene at the end (the first sunset at the Kent barn scene we've seen in a while), just felt like a list of platitudes and lessons he spewed all over Alec, without much context: bullies are human too; no one starts out as a bad guy; life's hard but you mustn't allow pain to take over; just because you can do something doesn't mean you should; choosing to help people is good; everyone's worth saving; and a hero's work is never done. A bit corny, but I can appreciate the sentiments, if not the presentation. At least the Kandorians and Tess weren't part of the mix, but the Lois and Clark thing remains a bit jumbled and uncertain when you'd have thought it was solid by now. There are other little niggles such as the CCTV that just happens to be covering the comic case - if it was so rare that it warranted a camera, wouldn't the vendor have been more careful about keeping it locked? And Clark does make being a hero sound rather dull drudgery, a workmanlike appraisal. I like his attitude, taking no breaks; sacrifice, responsibility and accountability, the reality of such a life as opposed to the fantasy people at the con were dreaming of, and I suppose the message of the episode is that it's alright to enter fantasy now and again, just so long as it's not too much. Only this episode was too much.

**

New Star Trek TV Series!

New Star Trek TV Series!

After ten long years of waiting, it finally happened: the announcement of a new Trek TV series to begin in January 2017! Actually, it was more like nine years for me, as I saw 'Enterprise' on first run terrestrial in the UK, which didn't get to the final episodes until 2006, but that's by the by, as it had been something anyone who cared about Trek had been waiting for far too long to hear. The big question is what will it be about? Apparently it will feature new characters and will not be related to the approaching thirteenth film, 'Star Trek Beyond.' Whether this means it will be in the Abramsverse or not is uncertain, and for me, a key issue in how my level of anticipation. For forty-three years we never even had this concern, but with the arrival of 'Star Trek XI' in 2009 a whole new can of particularly annoying worms was opened, the timeline and universe now said to be the 'Prime' Universe, as opposed to this new one, nicknamed the Abramsverse after J.J. Abrams, the creative behind it. It was a heart-wrenching decision for those who had eagerly followed every iteration, back in the day when all we had to worry about was where a series would be set in the timeline and who would be in it. This new headache of multiple universes, all seemingly as valid as any other, really lessened the impact of what Trek meant - because it basically said that nothing really matters, as everything and anything that could or would happen, just split off into another universe. This is the way contemporary theoretical science now looks at such things, but as far as most of us concerned, such theories may as well be fantasy as much as sci-fi.

Science proved our Earth wasn't at the centre of the universe, not even the centre of the Solar System, but we've yet to find another planet just exactly like ours that could support life, so we have to think of other ways to make ourselves seem less special, or that's how it seems to me. Trek was never about diminishing humanity, but rather holding it up as a paragon (not something I agree with, but it makes for a positive viewing experience!), and seeing what is right and good in human dealings, presented through interaction with alien culture. There are so many reasons why it's taken so long for Trek to return to TV, its natural home, not the least financial wranglings that came about because of the split between Paramount (owning the film rights), and CBS (the TV rights). We know that Abrams, in the absence of his beloved 'Star Wars,' wanted to create an industry out of Trek, his own Trek the only one that mattered, turning it into a cross-platform, marketing, merchandise juggernaut. But because he was stifled by the rights issues, and because CBS continued to make money from the Trek brand, despite not having any new additions to the canon, thanks to the loyalty of Trekkers who will always support the kind of Trek they love, his plans were curtailed and the new universe went into virtual limbo, a four year wait between 'Star Trek XI' and 'Star Trek Into Darkness,' a bizarre outcome in the modern world where timing and making sure product is available to the consumer, is everything.

Yet this may have been a good thing in the end because it gave those that were intrigued by the eleventh film, and saw it as the first film, plenty of time and opportunity to go back to all the Trek there had been before. So rather than create a line in the sand stating old Trek was finished and now a new generation would enjoy the new Trek, there simply wasn't enough new Trek for people to grab onto, a fandom based on one film can't last very long, but one that has a further ten films and over seven hundred episodes can nourish for years and years. It didn't help that 'Into Darkness' failed creatively, even though it made a good chunk of money, with those that had really been on board for 'Star Trek XI' less happy with what they got second time around. This may have pushed the interested parties further towards the 'Prime' than they might otherwise have been, but regardless, the Fiftieth Anniversary approaches, as well as the third film in the new series. All the hoopla and attention paid to the franchise for its very special birthday year was no doubt in the minds of those with TV rights… Another reason Trek didn't return is because in today's world of popular anti-heroes, it's seen as preachy, the upstanding morals and high-mindedness apparently turn off those raised on 'Breaking Bad' and 'Game of Thrones,' where complex narrative intrigue is mixed with sex and violence to produce ratings. Trek was always a family entertainment, so how could it fit into the modern viewing world and yet satisfy the cravings of a new generation?

It's a question the new series will have to answer. So what will it do? Reading myriad comments on message boards, I've seen compelling arguments for both sides about which way the series will sway: with Alex Kurtzman revealed as Producer, the guy who co-wrote the first two Abramsverse films, it would seem almost certain that that would be the setting. But what are the rights issues involved? Was there, as some suggest, an embargo on all Trek production to prevent competition between the films and any new series, and does it mean that clause has now run out of time? Will we see further Abramsverse films, or will the film series be put to bed for a bit? Will it depend on how well 'Beyond' does? All are valid questions and hopefully the answers will be forthcoming in the near future. For now, we can only hope. Some say that because of the rights issues CBS could only use the Prime Universe, and why wouldn't they? It's a rich, diverse playground for someone who knows their stuff. But that's also an argument against: the canon is 'too restricting.' Personally, I've never believed this, demonstrated best with 'DS9' that you can take up the tools and the pieces of your predecessors and mould them, develop them in greater depth and precision. There are countless reference tomes out there (not to mention Memory Alpha or the rerelease to come of the much-anticipated 'Star Trek Encyclopedia'), and plenty of creatives who have expressed interest in adding to the mythos, so it's a lazy argument. Some of these have a lot of support: Ronald D. Moore probably the front runner, though personally I'd be happy if they could get Ira Steven Behr (the 'DS9' Producer), or Manny Coto (the Producer of 'Enterprise' Season 4, the final televised season of Trek to date).

Why bother to gather all this information and chuck it in a blog post? Because I have a big stake in Trek, it's my favourite form of entertainment, and I'd like to add my own view to the storm of speculation. I would love to see a series set in the 2380s. This would be after the events of the 24th Century-set series' and films, but could also tie into the events of 'Star Trek XI' - one of the biggest irritations of that film was not only that we were never going to see the story of how such iconic characters first met (because it's an alternate universe), but that we were teased with a huge change in the 'Prime' universe that would have affected the Alpha Quadrant, and perhaps the wider galaxy, in unknown magnitude: the destruction of Romulus. It was basically saying 'one of the key planets in the old universe is destroyed, bye bye, you're never going to know what happened next!' It's infuriating because it could have such fascinating consequences. So to have a series set, perhaps in the Neutral Zone, a colony that is protected by a Starfleet ship, also tasked with exploring the Zone, would be amazing. It could be set a year or two prior to the destruction and then show the aftermath, or the event could happen in the pilot, but either way it would be a melting pot of drama and spy intrigue, while also developing a culture (the Romulans), that's remained the least developed of all the major races, as well as fulfilling all the precepts of exploration both internal and external that we hope to see in Trek.

The likelihood? I don't know, but I have the feeling that, thanks to the relative success of the current films, the 23rd Century, or Kirk's era, to the uninitiated, seems like the most profitable avenue because it's somewhere traditional viewers know well and could also attract filmgoers. I could see them cannibalising the film sets (as happened back in the day), especially if they aren't going to make another film, but I wouldn't like to see this era unless it stayed true to the aesthetics that we've seen before. I'm not suggesting they would have to make a Constitution-class ship and all the sets exactly the same as on 'TOS,' but they also couldn't update it in the way the Abramsverse did. If they want to make advances in technology they really need to go further into the future. I'd be happy enough with a 25th Century-set series - they could still deal with the aftermath of Romulus' destruction. There is another alternative, and one that I'm not in favour of: to create a third alternate universe so they aren't 'constrained' as some people put it, and can chart their own course completely divorced from the past, whether to new galaxies or whatever. But what's the point of calling it 'Star Trek,' except for the brand recognition, if you're not making it part of a grander history, a living, breathing reality that is remarkably consistent when you take into account the breadth of people and companies involved over four decades! Canon is not a constraint, but a guide to help you on the journey, to force you to examine your motives and your ability: is it just for profit, to bang out a series and cash in on the name, or is it a longterm project that will rake in the cash by developing loyalty?

The thing with Trek is that there are so many possibilities, but few that would be certain to satisfy those of us that have witnessed the adaption and development of Trek's world: 'TOS' started it all and created a compelling, futuristic setting to explore that was supposed to be our own future. 'TNG' took this further by jumping a century forward in time and examining the same issues from a new perspective and aesthetic. 'DS9' plumped itself down in one location and yet somehow managed to craft the most compelling construct, utilising all that had come before. 'Voyager' explored the opposite end of a large galaxy we still know so little about. And 'Enterprise' filled in details on how the Federation came to be, cut off at the knees before it could really fulfil this precious mission. I'd love to see a series set during the Earth/Romulan War of the 22nd Century, I'd be interested in one set aboard the Enterprise-B or -C, teaching us about a period we know little about, the decades between 'TOS' and 'TNG.' But these things would be genuinely a headache and would require great patience, planning and people that love, respect and are willing to put the effort in to connect dots as well as be creative, so I think they're the least likely.

The most exciting thing about the announcement is that they've left us largely in the dark. With Kurtzman in charge we can imagine the style it will take, but we don't know who will be writing it. We don't know who will star, whether there will be any characters from other series' (played by the original actors in true Trek tradition, of course) - my pick for this would be Mr. Worf, as Michael Dorn is desperate to play him again and with the right writing, could raise a series higher just on his own. I really hope they get people involved who know Trek back to front: Doug Drexler, the Okudas, Larry Nemecek. These names have become as legendary as the series' they worked on. It's wishful thinking, as many such people are at the end of their careers or see it in sight, and it may be viewed as another 'constraint' to have throwbacks to the old regime. It depends how much they want to please longterm viewers or whether they're only interested in courting the younger viewer, ones that haven't bothered to search out more Trek after the films, or maybe haven't even seen the films themselves! Perhaps it's to be completely unrelated to all Trek that's gone before? Either way, just as we could thank it in the seventies for kickstarting interest in space drama, 'Star Wars' must bear much of the credit. If there were no vast SW behemoth rolling out this year then Trek might have remained a pipe dream, floating in the clouds.

Whatever the outcome, I hope that story and character is at the heart of all discussion. I blame 'Enterprise' for initiating the return to action-based, less thinking man's Trek in the 21st Century. As much as I enjoy that series (and think it had the strongest opening salvo of episodes of any series), it messed up the Vulcans, making it okay for them to be emotional, it placed action ahead of drama, and it failed to sufficiently develop the characters, something that gave Abrams precedent (if he needed it), to remake Trek in 'Star Wars' image, something that wasn't playing to its strengths. Yet even 'Enterprise,' with Season 4, showed what it could be capable of if the needs of canon were adhered to, using the canon as a canvas rather than a wall, to explore and develop themes and character that we want to see. If this new series can understand just what made Trek work so well in the golden age of the nineties, then it has the potential to reach the heights of my personal favourites, 'DS9' and 'Voyager.' The former fully reached its potential and remains a joy to see unfold, the latter never quite got there, but nonetheless provided quality entertainment that was exciting, moving and dramatic. But at the heart are strong characters that you care to see. I didn't even mind when story ideas were repeated across the various series' because if you can do it with different characters you will see variations, and that in itself is fascinating. Trek could well live for another fifty years, but only if it is nurtured by people that care about it, not about how much it makes - it's got to be more than just another job.

Anticipation Rating: ***

Star Wars

DVD, Star Wars (1977) film

What a thrill! Even now, almost forty years after it was originally made, and multiple viewings over many years, you still feel a real joyful high coming out of this film, as fresh as the day it was made. It's quite astonishing in some ways, but not having even been born in the decade this was released I can only imagine the impact it had on people back then - that, and reading old issues of Starlog Magazine, which gives a flavour of the wild excitement that 'science fiction' was 'finally' being treated properly, getting the money and the interest that it deserved. But these things only deserve such things if they're worthy of them, and the original 'Star Wars' film is by far the most ground-breaking, and, in technological regard and vision, way ahead of its time. While it's never been my favourite of the Original Trilogy, it has always had a strange, magical power that the prequel films can only attempt to recapture. It was a landmark in cinema, and you only have to think about how many films or franchises have been such a major step up from what came before in creating a living, vibrant universe, full of mystery and unexplored corners, to realise that very few have that power (for me, only 'The Lord of The Rings' trilogy consistently matches the sense of another time and place across a film series, recognisable, yet completely withdrawn from our own existence).

Yet, for me, this film (before it became Episode IV - the lack of a subtitle is very apparent in the opening crawl), was, as far as I can remember, the last of the OT that I actually saw! It seems strange to say it, but I watched them in reverse order. 'Return of The Jedi' is 'Star Wars' for me, and I have very fond memories of seeing that at Christmas time(s), and I certainly remember catching 'The Empire Strikes Back' on TV one afternoon (again, possibly in the Christmas holidays), where, in the best way to watch a film, it began in daylight and ended with the dark winter early evening surrounding me. But this one? I saw it on video round a friend's house. I believe I first saw this original version in 1996 (as opposed to 1995 for 'Empire'), and I've never watched this version again until this time. For I decided to break out the 'Limited Edition' DVDs that contained the first Special Edition (or, technically, the second, as they made minor alterations to the cinematic releases of the late nineties versions which I did not appreciate, though nothing that was in this film), and the unaltered original, the only way you could see it at the time (and perhaps even now, I don't know). Lucas' relentless desire to tweak and alter his original masterpieces is akin to a great Renaissance painter deciding to go back a couple of centuries later and add a few dabs here or there, paper over that crack, etc.

I can understand the desire to update effects, and possibly even add scenes that were only cut out for reasons of time, and for the record I personally prefer the Special Editions (the first version, of which I still own videos!), even though some of the additions do look a little out of place to CGI-savvy eyes. I'll go into more detail about what really didn't work on the other reviews. But for this viewing I wanted to revisit the unaltered originals, just to make a change. I'd become jaded with the OT purely through watching it too many times in too short a period, but with the next trilogy on the verge of release and enough time having passed since I last saw them, it was time to relive all the SW films. There's actually very little alteration between this film and the SE that I know of, and really nothing that took me out of the experience, a testament to the quality and amazing depth of world-building that was achieved in this first instalment. I was almost thinking it a risk to be watching the 'untidy,' 'uncleaned' version, but slick high-definition images and twenty times surround sound is nothing compared to story and character, and you can't take away those things from a film like this, no matter how you view it. I even had to zoom in on my player, as for some bizarre reason it was cropped to 4:3, a letterbox within a box! But once zoomed, it still looked really good, and there was something exciting, almost daring to be watching an unchanged cinema version, the one that had originally been released. And, although the changes, as I said, will be more evident in the sequels, I was never bored for an instant.

That said, I preferred the beginning and the end, with the middle, set aboard the Death Star, for me the weakest or least interesting part of the film. It may have been because it was more formulaic action fare, inventive setting, but familiar situations, as the gang take advantage of their situation to rescue a princess. Ironically for a moon-sized space station, once the Death Star has been reached it becomes a much 'smaller' film, internal and artificial. The dullness of the colour palette, compared to the earlier parts of the film, full of exotic aliens and landscapes, was another factor, changing to stiff uniforms, dark corridors and, while you couldn't accuse the Death Star of being claustrophobic, it has far less sense of scope and scale than when we were on Tatooine. That could be a deliberate choice, like the incredible contrast of scorching day to blackest night in 'Pitch Black,' certainly wrapping a mood of evil and vast power around you, mirroring the characters' control and freedom being taken away when we go from such an expansive environment and move into the huge industrial mega-city that is the Death Star. The strong impression of right and wrong, good and evil, is palpatine… sorry, palpable. I noticed that, although we don't receive an introduction to the real evil controlling all this until the next film, the Emperor is mentioned by Grand Moff Tarkin, having just dissolved the Imperial Senate. It only took him twenty years to do it when you remember how we left Episode III, which is bizarre, but I suppose he wanted some semblance of order maintained until… what? They'd bred more Clone Troopers, or recruited humans to take their place? These Stormtroopers, aside from having similar armour, don't speak like Jango Fett, and there are clearly non-clone soldiers whose faces aren't covered by helmets.

I wouldn't be surprised if in the latest round of tweaks Lucas changed all their voices like he did poor Boba's in 'Empire,' but we're getting ahead of ourselves. The point is, the Emperor's power is felt, even though he's off screen, but within what is a simplistic expression of good versus evil there's actually more subtlety than that, as at least one character on each side expresses more complexity than might be remembered. It's easy to think of this as a simple, old-fashioned story, wrapped up in a big bow of future technology and fantasy - they even call Vader or Obi-Wan wizards and refer to the Jedi way as a religion. Vader takes the opportunity to demonstrate just what his 'religion' is capable of when he makes an example of an unbeliever, choking him from across the room. It's one of the first reveals that Jedi (as they all seem to be lumped together at this stage), have inhuman abilities to affect their environment or those inhabiting it. Before this, we just saw Vader as some big, stompy bully, a Lieutenant to the real bad guy, Tarkin, and even after this show of power he remains a subordinate, perhaps a fitting continuation of Episode III when he was enslaved by Palpatine. He's just a higher class of slave, where Tarkin seems to be the guy running the show. Anyway, Vader warns the unbeliever about putting too much faith in this technological monstrosity they've created, because no physical power is as strong as The Force. So although he's on the villains' side, Vader's quick to show his allegiance to a mystical power rather than an achievement of science, and his interest in, and use of such power serves to add more parallels with the Nazis, which is clearly what the Empire is based on.

They have Stormtroopers, they wear rigid military uniforms, and they have a policy of eradicating anyone that doesn't fall into line with their ideals, and since Hitler was also interested in occult power and mysticism we have that same peering into forbidden realms. Except in this case, The Force is shown to be something to aspire to. Vader may have twisted it, used it as a 'master of evil,' but Luke is invited to take the first step into a larger world, both figuratively and literally. The character on the heroes' side who mirrors Vader's complex loyalty, is Han Solo, a man seemingly only interested in wealth. He's proud (his ship is his pride and joy; he enjoys chasing the Stormtroopers who run from his madness in a most unsoldierly fashion), greedy, violent if needed, and only cares about himself. But then we see him realise the stakes and what the Rebellion is facing, he takes a shine to Luke, and perhaps something inside stirs, some noble spirit he'd forgotten or never considered. So he's one of the good guys, but he has to overcome himself to be fully accepted. This pretty much all happens off screen, allowing for the grand moment when the Millennium Falcon comes roaring to the rescue and gives Luke the time he needs to take the vital shot at the exhaust port. It's a shame we didn't get more insight into the inner workings of this complicated man's mind, but it would have reduced the impact of the surprise return if we'd seen him mope about and snap at Chewbacca, eventually realising he has to make the decision to do what he can to help.

I also feel that he has a sense of adventure, no matter how jaded he's become, and how focused he is on being around to use any reward that comes his way, whether from smuggling or rescuing princesses. Perhaps he sees something of his younger self in Luke, a boy turning man who's dissatisfied with the boring farm life he's forced to lead, one who dreams of a more worthwhile, exciting, purposeful existence. When we see Luke gazing wistfully out at the twin setting suns of Tatooine, with that haunting score behind it, you experience something of the frustration and sadness of someone chained to a life that isn't enough. He's mentally ready to go out into the 'big, wide world' and carve his own existence, though he doesn't have the guidance to do that, an adopted child who wants to know about his past, but is kept in the dark - Uncle Owen really put his foot in it mentioning his Father, which makes him doubly interested in… Old Ben Kenobi. In the two decades since Obi-Wan (for it is he - they didn't fool me with that Old Ben nonsense!), sequestered himself away on his 'favourite' planet in order to watch over Luke as he grew up, it doesn't sound like he's done much, except perhaps forget R2-D2 and C-3PO. To be fair, we saw him meet many droids in the prequels, R4 the one he had most to do with, that dustbin destroyed in Episode III, making his forgetfulness easier to accept - there are tons of the little blighters out there, many of them similar models, and he may not even have considered R4 to be his property. Or maybe the old fossil really is losing his marbles, as Han suggests! So we can forgive him, especially as droids are shown to be second class citizens, if they're even citizens at all! I wonder if they'll ever address the fact that droids are essentially slaves in the SW universe!

He hasn't aged that well from when Ewan McGregor played him, but then again, this time he's the real deal and you warm to this definitive version much more than his younger self: reassuring, powerful and wise, I guess he didn't have a lot to do in his little hovel, aside from chatting to his dead master, and that much time indoors can do terrible things to a man, I'm sure. I'd love to know what he did in that period - though likely there for the majority of that time, he could well have gone off on his own important missions at times. Perhaps we'll one day get a film set during Luke's childhood where we see Obi-Wan take an active part in the affairs of the galaxy again? His self-imposed isolation finally comes to an end in this film. Did he know his destiny was about to be fulfilled, the endless years of waiting coming to an end? No doubt he was aware of Luke's impending departure to join the Academy (thanks to Uncle Owen it would have been just one more season), but would he have followed his charge out into the galaxy to continue watching over him? What is the Academy, anyway? In 'Star Trek' it would be the HQ of the good guys, Starfleet's training school, but we're in a world where the 'Federation' are the bad guys. Luke's excited to hear about the Rebellion, so his sympathies clearly fall against the Empire, so who runs this Academy? His friends have already joined and show up in the Rebellion, so it's an odd inconsistency - if it were a rebel organisation it wouldn't sound so formal or be common for people to join up, but if the Empire's, they'd all be indoctrinated. I can't believe it would be a remnant of the Old Republic, though it could appear to be removed and separate from the Empire's control even if it actually wasn't, so maybe it was best Luke didn't end up there?

I'm getting sidetracked, as is easy to do in such a vast and fascinating universe peopled by archetypal characters, simple, yet so well defined, both in the writing and music. I've always thought of this first film as being somewhat bland in comparison to the other two, mainly, as I said, because of the whites, greys, blacks and muted greens and blues that make up much of the film's visuals aboard the Death Star. It's in large part due to the fact that my introduction to the toy box of ideas, execution and the whole experience was in reverse, so of course I think of 'Return of The Jedi' as the best - it was doing all that this film did for viewers that began with it, and taking things a stage further, so this was like a step back. Yet this was the defining film, creating so many of those musical themes, the entire aesthetic, the style of the visuals, the characters themselves, easy to take for granted now they're so familiar. So of course this seems more basic, but it's also because I think of the characters as basic and stereotypical, which to an extent they are, being unfinished creations. But it's not just the characters, though so much was crafted and put in place, you can see clearly that it's not yet completely set in stone. Names are mispronounced (Tarkin and the Rebellion lecturer call her Leia, Leah!), the family elements aren't quite there (Vader stands behind Leia without the slightest inkling she's related to him - perhaps anger clouded his feelings, it did?; Luke takes a fancy to Leia as if she was never intended to be his sister), and even key characters are played differently (is it just me or is Vader having a bad day? He's really angry, ranting and raving with less of the cool assurance of power seen in the other films).

Despite all this evidence that Lucas didn't have all the details of his epic in place, and never really believed he'd be able to make the story longer, it holds together better than I remembered with the inconsistencies and the niggling cartoony feel that I'd always thought was there, less of a problem. Case in point: at the beginning we see the two droids on Leia's ship trundle across a firefight between the invading Empire forces and the Princess' guards. I know droids are considered irrelevant, but it's just so silly to see them walk through a firefight like that and it could have been a decision that carried through the film, but actually that's as ridiculous as it got in terms of comedy undermining drama. And though Vader is less controlled (even his mask's eyes are tinted, so he's literally seeing red!), it's not as hard to accept as in my memory - it could be that he's feeling the pressure from the Emperor to keep things on track and yet things are getting out of hand. If he did feel concern it was justified as he ends the film spinning off into space. Regardless of all these signs of an unfinished vision, consummated in the sequel, the film is remarkably accessible, and it is this quality above all that shines out. In the prequels I'd often find myself feeling irritated by the lack of definition, things were unexplained and unclear. Here, the lack of planetary names, races, lore is often absent so as not to bog you down, but because story is king rather than environment you make mental notes about things being interesting and that you'd love to know about, but it's more like the unfurling of a great map for you to pore over at leisure, while at the moment of watching you're too busy following a specific route. The prequels are a glimpse into some of those avenues we want to explore, just not done in the best way or with the best actors, and due to these, and other reasons, don't work as well.

You're dropped in the middle of vast scale, mystery, and a generational story, our imaginations fired by talk of crusades and knights, a thousand generations of Jedi keeping order in the galaxy, and it is this common parlance that makes it so easy to keep up. It helps that Luke is also unknowing and eager to learn of such things, but even his simple farm life, though it's on an alien planet, is broken down into phrases we understand - Luke wants to go somewhere and do something that sounds weird to us, but Owen tells him he can waste time with his friends when his chores are done, interpreting for our benefit. The rules and period are set out organically as and when we need it - we're not left bored by continual references to cultures or seeing creatures that leave us lacking understanding, but grow with the characters as they discover and learn of their place. Luke is obviously the main character, with his fresh-faced idealism, but they're all played with warmth (well, maybe not the icy Princess Leia, almost the only female character in the film), or scowling roguishness, wise good nature, severe cruelty or plain jittery worry. Some of them aren't even easy to comprehend fully: one of the best devices to create a sense of alienness was the use of unintelligible characters that use interpreters to get their message across (the joyful reunion of the medal ceremony is played with knowing looks and glances, all enough to convey the mood, though technically R2 and Chewie get the last words!). It's just one more unique aspect of the vision we inhabit. Chewbacca is huge and like nothing else, a dangerous creature, though Han and he (for some reason I used to think he was a she when I was young), talk up the threat of Wookies for their own amusement.

The droids are our way in, poor C-3PO (whom I noticed seemed to switch on his eyes only when he was indoors), constantly left dazed or bewildered, he'd much prefer a nice, quiet life away from all this, though like all the characters, there's more to him than he thinks. Even so, he provides much of the comedy and gives us an outsider point of view - though familiar with much of the galaxy and technology, he only wants to perform the tasks he was built for, not get involved in rebellions and battles. In spite of his reservations and constant comical complaining, he still thinks he knows best, such as when he goes his own way in the desert (why didn't R2 tell him he knew all about the Rebellion, and of their past life before they served Captain Antilles? Probably because 3PO wouldn't have believed him and might have become a liability). There must be a lot of droids wandering around out there judging by the full hold of the Sand Crawler! The cute factor is something else the film does well, again giving contrast to the nastier aspects of the adventure: R2 somehow expresses himself in a way that his size and shape begs to be hugged, yet is also resourceful and the SW equivalent of a penknife. How they managed to make a penknife crossed with a dustbin appealing is just one of the magical wizardry they achieved through sound and design. The Jawas also have the cute factor - size is important in establishing a universe very different to our own, whether it's the huge difference between a Jawa and Chewbacca, or the Falcon and the moon-sized Death Star, opening things up so you expect anything.

Not all droids are cosy and helpful, however, as we get a view of the nasty side of life with such things as the interrogator droid that hovers nightmarishly towards Leia with outstretched needle. For a 'U' certificate it's surprising how grim it can be - the top end must be the still-smoking skeletons of Luke's Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Although his life wasn't satisfying, it was all he knew and to see his home destroyed and his only living relatives burned up is quite a stern shove into his new life. We also see the bloody arm of an alien that took a dislike to Luke, Obi-Wan showing just what a lightsaber is capable of. It's a flurry of action, but the shot looking at the arm with blood at one end does seem a bit much. And of course, we also have torture (Vader constricting that guy's air passage), and violence (the sound of a broken neck when Vader lifts up the guy on Antilles' ship (is that Captain Antilles himself, or someone else?), not to mention the destruction of an entire planet, without mercy. The funniest moment in the whole film is a misconstrued phone call as 3PO thinks he's hearing his party being crushed to death in the waste disposal of the Death Star, when really they're whooping in joy at survival! So although it is a film with great appeal for children it also shows this is a real world of consequences and has more depth to it than its glossy surface belies, one reason why its remains an attractive proposition even to adults. One thing changed for the SE was Han shooting in response to Greedo at the Cantina - I never understood what was wrong with him doing that, since we know he's a criminal and a rogue, and especially that his life always comes first. If they were trying to make him more noble, it was unnecessary as we see the change at the end.

The Death Star really isn't built with health and safety in mind, is it? Just look at those lifts with their lack of guard rails, or the doors that slam down at super-speeds - you have to walk through quickly or you'd be chopped in half, as one Stormtrooper famously almost discovered! No wonder everyone's frowning all the time: a safe workplace is a happy workplace! While I'm on the subject of things that don't make much sense: why does Leia say Luke is a little short for a Stormtrooper, the armour fits perfectly, or was she just trying to assert her princessly authority, realising it was someone just wearing the armour and not behaving in the same stiff, regimented style as a real soldier? In the first place what was she doing near Tatooine that forced her to send the Death Star plans via R2, to Obi-Wan, so he could pass them to her Father on Alderaan? Was it simply that the Outer Rim is less likely to see Empire forces around, so it was a safer route (the same excuse used for a visit in Episode I)? And just who was Obi-Wan tasking Luke to deliver the plans to anyway, since Alderaan gets blown up, and he knew about the destruction, feeling it in The Force (incidentally, something that was inspired by Spock in 'TOS' episode 'The Immunity Syndrome' where the Vulcan telepathically senses that a ship full of Vulcans has been destroyed). The Death Star modules must have been delivered wrapped in polystyrene judging by the contents of the waste disposal area! But if something as big as that eel creature could escape, wouldn't all the water drain out, too?

An asteroid collision is expected to be on a chart, how? Google Maps turned Google Galaxy with constant rolling updates on every little piece of rock in the galaxy would require a computer the size of the Death Star - maybe that was its secondary purpose, so the Empire could track everything and everyone? The grappling hook Luke uses to swing himself and Leia across the gap had a rope that was more like string, and with that much weight it would have cut deeply into his skin! R2-D2 looks black when he's aboard Luke's X-Wing, perhaps to avoid complications from the blue screen mattes used behind the craft. The Death Star seems to have no central bridge, so a guy has to run round this massive station in order to find and tell Vader what's going on, who then orders him to get all pilots to their fighters for ship to ship combat - surely there's a better way of relaying commands! And the station itself can somehow shift itself to catch up with the Falcon on Yavin, yet takes ages to orbit the planet to get into range to fire on the base! Not to mention that in this original version Vader is seen to have a white lightsaber after his fight with Obi-Wan as he strides towards the closing blast doors (having toed the remains of Obi-Wan, presumably just to make sure he wasn't hiding in there somewhere!). Why did Obi-Wan give up in the first place, was it to prevent Luke from risking himself to come and save him, leaving the conflict between Father and son for the future? I suppose Qui-Gon had taught him how to 'become more powerful than you can possibly imagine'? But why does he say "Only a master of evil, Darth," as if that's his first name, not rank? It never sounded right to me. And finally, although I enjoyed seeing this original version in widescreen for the first time, it also showed up the considerable flaw of very badly painted rebel soldiers in the throne room scene - the ones closest to camera!

Fortunately, despite all the holes and a story that's pretty slight when you think about it, (which doesn't really matter thanks to the presentation and different structure to what you'd normally expect for a fantasy adventure), Luke had the best mentor he could have in Obi-Wan - he doesn't force The Force on him, but gently suggests it, explains it and encourages his energy and verve along the right path ('Luke, you switched off your targeting computer, what's wrong?' 'Nothing, I switched on my midiclorians!'). Luke's a quick learner, and not just in the ways of The Force, using Han's greed to manipulate him into helping rescue Leia - and who wouldn't be impressed by that chunky, solid lightsaber he's given, a proper weapon and tool. I always used to be surprised at Han saying a good blaster was much better until I saw Episodes II and III with all those Jedi cut down so easily! Other blitzed preconceptions were Obi-Wan saying Anakin was betrayed and murdered by a young Jedi - I'd always assumed Anakin was middle-aged when he became Vader from reading the 'Return of The Jedi' souvenir annual, which talked of 'the face of an old man' when the mask's taken off. So Anakin was the right age in the prequels, it just lessened my imagination of how his life might have been (such as becoming evil as he lost his body, not losing his body to technology after becoming evil - perhaps a subtle shift away from technology being often evil in the OT, to being a necessary part of life, in the prequels).

So Obi-Wan tells Luke how his Father was 'killed' - interestingly, I don't think this was evidence of Lucas' lack of planning, I think Obi-Wan felt Luke wasn't yet ready to hear the truth, perhaps underestimating him, but playing it safe - you could even say he manipulated the young man, bolstering his natural enmity to the Empire, and risking Vader having an advantage when they inevitably met, so not the best planning from him, but makes sense to the story. He also talks of him as the best star pilot in the galaxy (which must be how Vader regains control of his spinning TIE fighter to live again), a cunning warrior (we never saw that in the prequels), and a good friend (or that, really, just a matey rivalry). And he mentions that Vader was seduced by the Dark Side, when in reality he just had bad dreams and decided he wanted all the power there was! So on the whole, paying full attention in order to write a review does mean you learn the truth about things, catch many a loose line that you may have missed before, or a little visual thing you never noticed. At the same time you're not paying as much attention to the broader canvas, maybe not taking in the magnitude of what was achieved - the model work is astonishingly good, whether it's the horseshoe design of the Millennium Falcon that became such an icon of cinema, a different spaceship, yet somehow realistic, to the X-Wings, TIE Fighters, Death Star or Star Destroyer, the house style was brilliantly executed, providing a playground like no other seen before.

To sum up, this remains a really good film, and if it had been the only one it would still have been in a class of its own. That it kickstarted a marketing juggernaut is a whole other angle, basically creating the merchandise culture of tie-ins that we still see to this day and making Lucas a very rich man. Yet it wasn't the success that drove it, it was an unknown and could have failed miserably (though that's hard to imagine simply looking at the sets, models and design - even with a bad story that would have been compelling). It may have just rehashed the old 'Flash Gordon' serials in a new way, strapped on World War II design and approach to combat, but it did it with imagination and a creative hunger to release all this pent-up talent that it still holds up today. Yes, you can still see the seventies in the hairstyles and some of the clothing, but not enough to take you out. I thoroughly enjoyed re-watching this film and I look forward to examining the next two in great detail to see how much was changed for the Special Editions and whether the 'untidy' version of them will similarly hold up - going by this one, I think that's a definite.

****

Partners

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S3 (Partners)

Oh no, not another clips show! First, I believe this is the only clips show in the whole series, and second, it's actually pretty good. I always go into it thinking negatively, because the idea of a clips show, in and of itself, is a waste of time - it's designed to reuse clips from other episodes so they don't have to spend any more money, yet still have another episode to show. And generally, this 'sub-genre,' if you can call such a cheap shot that grand a name, is a real letdown, and not worth your time (I think of possibly the worst ever episode of 'Star Trek,' the 'TNG' episode 'Shades of Grey,' or several of the 'Stargate SG-1' examples, as evidence). If you don't have enough money to make a full episode, don't give us less than half of one and fill the rest with bits of other episodes. But done right, as it was here, it can surprise you. In its favour is that seeing moments from the two main characters' lives works better than seeing bits of sci-fi plots, as we do in those other series' - this series is about these two men (clue's in the title), and they chose to show us some of the most important and moving moments from their lives - if you're going to repeat scenes that were among the best drama or action from the series, then it can work. It's also not the usual ten to the dozen clips chucked in willy-nilly, but carefully selected sequences, not short scenes. We get the full impact of what S&H were willing to do for each other and for others, we see what it was like to lose people who meant so much to them, we see them at their best.

The other reason this works as an episode is thanks to a framing story that is in itself interesting: Hutch is uncharacteristically annoyed at Starsky's speed and recklessness in a car chase, so when it ends in tears he fakes amnesia, which of course leads to his partner reminiscing about all these things they've been through together. Yep, that's the spoiler: Hutch was faking all along. When you watch it not knowing that, it has another layer because you're half thinking how preposterous it is that a character could lose all his memory, and the other half wondering how they're going to resolve the issue, but I think it works best when you do know, as you can empathise with Hutch and laugh at Starsky, then see the change that happens. We think we're getting a hint when we learn from Dr. Greene that it's possible his memory will recover with the rest of him, so we're in the mindset of it being a real affliction. So when we witness little hints that Hutch may not be quite as forgetful as he claims, and as we see the change come over him after Starsky talks about when they lost Terry and Gillian, it's affecting. At first he's rude, disparaging and irritated, but by the time we get to these misty-eyed, melancholy reminders of a sad past, we can see him lose the heart to keep up his pretence. He can't refuse to remember Gillian or Terry, they meant too much, so he says nothing. It also gives Hutch an opportunity to look at his partnership and career from the outside - he complains about cops being on a macho power trip, he expresses his feelings of disgust at such a life, he even gets to insult Captain Dobey to his face without consequences (or so he thinks!).

What makes the framing story work is that it has an arc, it's not just referring to other episodes to fill time, it has specific concerns regarding police work, S&H as defenders of the law, and could possibly be an ideal jumping on point for someone who wants to know what the series is all about. It shows us that it's all about S&H and what that actually means, why we care to see them do their stuff, demonstrating the whole series dynamic. It helps that we see some of their best acting work as well as some of the best stunt and action sequences, moments that, pulled from their respective episodes might just be better than the episodes they were taken from. To recap the episodes that feature, we have (in order of appearance), 'Lady Blue' (Starsky reminding Hutch of their code name, Zebra 3, and a previous time he displayed irritation about numbers and code names - going off on one about being a person, not a number); talk of his medical history turns to the time in 'The Fix' he was turned into a drug user; he needs to be reminded why he was a cop in the first place - to help people, so he's told about what he did to save a kidnapped girl in 'The Psychic' (running round the city in a cruel game by the kidnappers, Starsky backing him up on a motorbike), though he's not actually in the room; Hutch's complaints about his driving leads Starsky to recall his own stint behind the wheel (the fantastic dune buggy chase in 'Murder At Sea, Part II'); Huggy reminds them of when Starsky, suspended, punched Hutch in order to create a cover to get into a group of disgruntled vigilante cops in 'The Committee'; so Starsky tells of when the reverse happened, and Hutch punched him in the face, in 'Gillian'; which turns to their heartbreak at losing Terry in 'Starsky's Lady.'

They're very well chosen extracts that show the heart and soul, as well as the fight and power, of the series, and I really like how organically the conversation and the respective scenes trickle down, leading one to another, not forced. It's an examination of, not just the pair of them, but their personal history as we've seen it unfold on the series, so it's a joy to hear them discuss momentous events such as when Hutch found his girl, Gillian, dead, and his buddy was forced to tell him of her real background and how she was going to give it all up for him. Or the same kind of scenario that happened to Starsky, losing Terry and the aftermath of what it was like when she was gone. We've gone through these times with them, but, as was the case for TV at the time, we rarely see any longterm consequences. We see characters reappear occasionally (less as the series went on), but we don't tend to hear S&H discuss the past, it's all about what's happening now, this week. So in that respect it's a joy to see that the events that shaped them haven't been forgotten by the characters, they're still deeply affected by those losses in particular. It makes the series more real to see such things talked about again. It could so easily have been a collection of short action scenes that didn't have much meaning out of their context, but precise care was taken to show only the best.

It also shows how the series has changed, if only in aesthetic. S&H look a lot neater in the first season clips than we're used to seeing them this season! I suppose it was the style of the time to let your hair grow (and it didn't stop there, with Hutch sprouting a moustache in Season 4!), and even though things are only a couple of years in the past there's a greater sense of change than might be expected. What hasn't changed is that S&H still have their backup in Captain Dobey and Huggy Bear, who both visit them at the same time. It's like a foreshadowing of the final ever episode of the series, when they were once again all together in a hospital room. The fun and humour is there to enjoy, especially in the framing story, as Dobey is given no respect. One moment I always found particularly funny turns out not to be quite as I thought: I always heard the airheaded nurse greet Dobey as Captain Dopey, and he corrects her, but according to the subtitles it was "Mr. Dobey" and he corrects her to Captain. The married Captain shouldn't be speaking to her in quite the way he does, I feel! And for once, the comedy, lighthearted end cap makes perfect tonal sense: Dobey's informed by the nurse that Hutch was faking all along, unbeknownst to S&H, who come in and keep up the pretence, Hutch 'unable' to remember his name, thinking it was something like 'blimp'! In sweet revenge Dobey winds up the bed so Hutch is sitting vertically, then tells them both they'll be on traffic control tomorrow!

While there is a sense of fun, with Starsky desperately trying to recover his partner's memory, there's also another look at their deep bond. The first thing Starsky does when he's brought to a hospital bed is realise that the bed next to him is empty - it's a chilling visual, usually associated with death, so he's understandably concerned for the wellbeing of his partner. Hutch has no qualms about teaching his friend a lesson for his driving which ended with them crashing through a small shed of some kind, in the chase after Billy Joe and his mate. It was a good chase sequence with the usual massive turning circle when S&H have to change direction to join the pursuit, and might well be the largest turning circle of the series! It's fast and furious (though you can see in at least one shot that the escaping vehicle only has one occupant, the driver, his jittery passenger absent), and in stark contrast to the opening conversation which is all about Hutch enjoying the sweet smell of spring in the air, while Starsky's grumpy and irritated. It soon turns into the usual rubbishing of the Torino by Hutch, Starsky defending it, so it could well be that the motivation for driving so dangerously was in response to Hutch's challenging the quality of his pride and joy, and Hutch responding in kind. He wouldn't usually be so squeamish about speed, it was just a chalk and cheese mood they were in. I must say it was very unlike Starsky to lose control and not in the spirit of the series for them to be outdone on the job by a country hick with a bad case of speeding! We're told the baddies were caught later, but it's a shame S&H had no bearing on the capture.

No surprise the chase was so well directed as the Director was Charles Picerni himself, the double for Starsky, and (I think), the coordinator for pretty much all their stunts. He finally gets behind the wheel of the camera and calls the shots. I suppose they felt it was a justifiable 'risk' to allow a stunt guy free rein on an episode that was partly made up of previous episodes, but he used his full abilities to give us a fantastic car chase, one of the series' best. It feels like that was the deal: he gets to make his chase, but has to put up with the rest of the bed-bound episode. Presumably the writers chose the clips to suit the story, so he would probably have had less responsibility than an average Director, and he did a good job on it. It's also fun to point out that not only does he appear in one of his few credited acting roles on the series (in 'Murder At Sea, Part II'), but he was also driving as Starsky in that clip and directing the overall episode, so he gets to showcase three roles and three different positions in TV production: actor, stuntman and Director! He'd also had another role this very season ('Murder On Voodoo Island'), matched only by Karen Carlson (Gillian in 'Gillian,' and Christine in 'The Heroes'), and Helen Martin (Season 2's 'The Committee,' and this season's 'Manchild On The Streets'). It also means that George Loros appears in all three seasons ('Texas Longhorn,' 'The Psychic' and this). The only actor to return in the framing story was Zachary Lewis who'd been Mousy Loomis in Season 2's 'Nightmare' - even on a clips show with few new roles they brought an actor back! We get six old credits in 'Memory Sequences Guest Starring (In Order of Appearance).'

Memorial Hospital is the place S&H recuperate, as it should be, but that's far from the only reference or running joke: Dobey's back to eating again, digging in to Hutch's bowl of fruit (his weight is also commented on), and his dislike of Huggy is evident again - once he's gone he says he thought he'd never leave. Huggy digs in to Hutch's chocolates, keeping the good Captain company in that regard, and gets one of the few pop culture references when he tells Hutch that they go back further than Lois and Clark. Starsky does his Humphrey Bogart impression again, in response to… Is the nurse doing Lauren Bacall, or someone else? My film knowledge isn't up to it. The old joke of S&H's names being confused or mixed up returns in partial form, with that airhead nurse calling him Mr. Sparsky, then telling Dobey at the end that Starsky or Sparsky was faking it all along, when she actually meant Hutchinson (Hutch himself deliberately calls his partner, Mr. Starkey!). The scary music from 'Murder Ward' was the choice to transition between the framing story and the past, which actually works quite well, even though none of the scenes deal with the horror aspect of the series, but it does have a 'falling back in time' quality to the sound. And I think it was the blonde nurse who gets the best line: she tells Hutch it's time for an electroencephalogram, and he asks if it will hurt. Only if he falls off the examination bed! Priceless. I suppose the nurses were the equivalent of the usual dotty characters we expect, as the clips were all too serious to feature such shenanigans.

Unsurprisingly, Starsky doesn't take Hutch's revelation that he was pretending to have lost his memory, very well. It comes out when Hutch has been softened up by talk of Gillian, thanking his friend for being there for him. Starsky responds by saying that he was there for him, too, then talks of Terry and what it was like after she died. Those two scenes in particular were heavy, not to be taken lightly, so Hutch can't keep up the charade, revealing himself by saying how bad Starsky always was at Monopoly. So they both get taught some sort of lesson, Starsky the obvious one, Hutch that if you pretend to be something you're not, it will eventually make you guilty and you'll be exposed. But it truly was a selection of their greatest hits, a warm, heart-tugging teddy bear of an episode that has great heart to it, and for a clips episode that's quite something. I'm not saying I wanted more clips episodes, and I'm pretty sure this was the only one of the series, but it is surprising that it worked as well as it did and worked as a one-off, a testament to how much the two characters mean to each other and us, the audience. Perhaps that means it wouldn't be a great jumping on point for new viewers, as its resonance comes from a relatively long history, this being the sixty-ninth episode. This late in the series' life it was fitting to take the time to look back at where we'd come from. Maybe not much changes from episode to episode, but the deep friendship we see demonstrated is as strong as ever, and that, in the grand scheme, is all that matters.

***

Foxy Lady

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S3 (Foxy Lady)

Another provocative title, no doubt designed to keep people tuning in (not the return of last season's Foxy Baker), but it has a double meaning in that Lisa Kendrick, the despicable 'lady' of the title, out-foxed everyone: Starsky, Hutch, the intelligent bad guy, the thuggish bad guy… It's not often that S&H fail to get the last laugh (at least one of them), on the baddies, but Lisa knew just how to twist everyone round her little finger, and just when you think she's about to get her comeuppance for putting people's lives in danger, thieving and dishonesty, she pulls a rabbit out of the hat: the stolen million she's been holding for her husband, Kevin Mackey, before he got shot, and which she planned to swan off to Algiers with, had become too hot to handle, so she turned it in for the 5% reward from the insurance company who paid her a cool $50,000! S&H end up with egg on their face (or more specifically, ladies underwear, after they started searching her suitcase). It served them right, really, for their unprofessionalism which, when it comes to the opposite sex, reached new heights in the episode! We're used to them competing for the latest lady to cross their paths, and it's usually pretty funny as they're trying so much harder to be suave and sophisticated, but always come off as immature and childishly transparent (best seen this season in 'The Heroes' when they try this very trick on Chris, the female reporter). It's even funnier this time as Lisa's such a flirt, playing off their attention all the way, not one of the 'liberated' seventies women who are all about career and equality, she's devious, trading on her looks to fox those around her.

She's actually a really good villain, better than the main two which she spends trying to avoid, partly because we're not really sure how to take her at first, and also because she has a real knack of brazening things out. Little things, such as when she leaves the safety of Starsky's apartment in the night, and when S&H show up at her door in the Hotel Carmel, the next morning, with a slight hump that both their hospitalities were turned down, she happily greets them and immediately smoothes over their egos. She plays the role of a ditzy blonde bimbo, but she's actually very cunning, having used the opportunity presented by the hapless cops to stash the money, always knowing just what to say to manipulate the situation. Even when it looks like the game's up, they've cornered her, they know about the stolen money and they have her at HQ, she's still comfortable enough to think up a story to explain her actions in a plausible way. Maybe it's not that plausible really, but she says it with such conviction and portrays such put-upon honesty that even then they're not sure whether she's lying or not! It's a masterful performance from her, but in case we thought it was only the easily led S&H that she can play, she also keeps up a front when kidnapped by Carelli and Zachary.

Again she has a story ready, or else she can think very quickly on her feet, and convincingly protests that she was going to give them the money. Clay Zachary, the intelligent, imposing, white-haired leader is hardly taken in, but keeps giving her chances when what she says fails to ring true. Even after they've been sent to 'Ken's place,' end up having to kidnap him, too, and there's no sign of the money, he still allows for her explanation that she meant the other one, a classic case of S&H's identities being confused, although this time it's part of the plot. I still don't know whether to believe her that she was so unimpressed by the pair that she couldn't even take the time to get their names the right way round - if she's as switched on as she seems to be, it's more likely that she was playing for time by sending them to the wrong place. But it's also fun to think that S&H made such a small impression on her that she didn't trouble to even think about who was who, making it more amusing and more bruising to their egos! Carelli, the idiot thug that is Zachary's employee, desperately wants to smack Lisa about, but he knows they need her and she keeps her cool at all times, staying laid-back and sensible, never throwing on a temper or making demands, and he's well out of his depth with her.

The tension surrounding her and the fact that we see S&H make fools of themselves is what makes this an above average episode - it feels much more like a Season 2 episode where they would often have strong enemies to keep track of, but also the stories would play on their sense of comedy and fun. So it's much less serious and heavy with issues than many of this season's episodes, and it is genuinely hilarious sometimes - the scene where Hutch tries to fob Starsky off, pretending he has no idea where Lisa is, she's probably in the hotel bar, or something, and no, he can't use the toilet because it's… I thought he said out of order, but it could have been out of water, I wasn't sure! And then Lisa pops out of there. Such blatant lying and double-crossing makes me smile to even think of. As does the moment where Hutch goes to Starsky's apartment next morning, his partner having stolen Lisa away while he was in the shower. He slams the front door hard to wake up the sofa-sleeping Starsky, but the funniest moment is when he goes to open Starsky's bedroom door to see if Lisa's there, and Starsky, ever the gentleman, wants him to keep out, so they have a tugging match, one pushing the door handle, the other pulling! Hutch wins out, and a good thing, too, because she's not even there, having left a note to 'Ken' (foreshadowing the supposed mixup later on).

There are some similarities to the previous episode, 'Hutchinson: Murder One' - it's again about a woman who's a crook with the potential to get away with ill-gotten, expensive gains, who hoodwinks Hutch, ending up the spending the night in his apartment while he sleeps on the sofa, and with two villains that come after that which she's got no right to keep, tearing up his place in search of it, disturbed by him when he comes home, fighting him, he takes out the burly one, but the more intelligent one smacks him unconscious from behind. That pretty much describes the plot of both episodes, though this one is a lot less unhappy, instead being great fun to watch. For once, you can tell it's Hutch's stunt double in the fight, as well as someone doubling for Zachary (I didn't see Carelli well enough, but he was probably doubled, too), maybe the camera was closer in, as it was an internal scene, and we get a relatively good view of his face. You'd think he'd learn a little about security, it's caused him trouble before, in 'Fatal Charm' and 'Hutchinson: Murder One,' the habit just too strong to break, seemingly. It's nice that he can be a police officer with so many people actively hating him, and yet he feels safe and secure enough that he can continue to leave his key above the door! The worst thing is that Starsky's taken on the habit, too - that's how Hutch gets into his apartment, so it must be rubbing off on his partner. Obviously the bad things that have happened weren't enough to make either of them think better of it, or maybe they assume villains would kick the door in anyway? Hutch even pops the key back up after Starsky's used it to get in as an unwanted guest!

I blame Dobey for his men's predicament with Lisa: he knows their nature only too well, and yet he unthinkingly tells them to take her to a low-profile, nice hotel for her safety, and that they'd better 'hold her hand' for a while. If that isn't an invitation to unprofessionalism from the top, then I don't know what is. The Captain should have chosen his words (and his men), more wisely. Right away they're saying that's just the kind of assignment they like, just as Grover, the old guy in the police office, says when they ask him to watch Lisa, who proceeds to swap outfits with Maggie, the cleaning lady, and skedaddle. Surprising that her expensive-looking dress fitted the old cleaner (trainers didn't quite match!), and she manages to make even the rough jeans and shirt look trendy on her! So the whole office is rather inappropriate, especially as she's a witness to a killing - Starsky says she looks fragile so he should be the one to question her because of his innate charm and sensitivity, but there's not a lot of that going on from either of them. But if they're only playing at their roles, Lisa's doing the same, so you can hardly feel sorry for her when she was in control the whole time, even when tied to a chair by the baddies.

Kevin Mackey, the man who gets shot at the start, never had a line, but for some reason he is credited, which is unusual, but although his appearance was brief, he was being talked about throughout the episode so seeming like a more important character than simply being this 'runner' for a mob boss, going from San Francisco to Algiers. Another character who's role is minuscule, and seemed like a holdover from an earlier draft, is the reporter who trades barbs with S&H when they're outside the airport where the shooting took place. He's credited as Stu Basset, although Starsky calls him Brenda Starr, the only reason I know it was him was because the actor, Danny Zwerling, had been in three previous episodes ('Huggy Bear and The Turkey,' and 'The Set-Up' two-parter), and I recognised him. But their mutual antagonism looked like it was supposed to go somewhere, not be a flash in the pan. We know they know a lot of people, but it's often jarring when they talk to someone as if they see them all the time, but it's someone who's never been on the series before. Someone who I thought had been on the series before, was Morgan Woodward, who played Zachary (a well known face from two episodes of 'Star Trek'), but this was actually his first time. John J. Fox, who played Grover (and gets more scenes than the average colleague of S&H), had previously been Father Delacourt in Season 1's 'Terror On The Docks.' The face of Paul Rizzo from 'The Heroes,' appears to make a comeback on one of the rap sheets Lisa's shown, though the name on it is Thomas D. Powell.

If we're talking crazy character quotient, it's as low as the rest of this season, but the taxi driver who's cut up by the shooter of Mackey is a candidate, since he's far more concerned with the manner of driving than the shooting, and is one of those that remembered the licence plate number. Maggie the cleaner could also be considered, but it's a much more 'realistic' set of characters, in keeping with the general tone of the season, so no one stands out in that regard. Hutch's healthy-eating lifestyle seems to have taken a dive, as all he has in his fridge is the remains of a pizza which he proceeds to drop on the floor and subsequently offers to Lisa as her evening meal. No wonder Starsky was able to persuade her to dine out with him! I'm not sure how she knew where Hutch lived, I suppose it's possible he told her in case of emergency after dropping her at the hotel? How Zachary knew is more of a mystery, and a bit worrying, as we don't see Lisa give them directions (that would have messed up her identity mistake as they'd have gone to the correct apartment). I love that the "I'm Starsky, he's Hutch" thing is used in the plot, although a shame they didn't actually get to say it - Lisa even messes up their first names once they've set her right on their surnames! Hutch reminds his partner to get a receipt for the breakfast they share with Lisa at the hotel, perhaps in continuation of the last episode where he was concerned at Starsky's lack of receipts for expenses claims, though this time he clearly doesn't care as he leaves the bill with him!

When Zachary and Carelli ransack Lisa's hotel room and lock the door from the inside, you'd think S&H might have given some consideration that a maid might be cleaning the room, or something legitimate was happening, but they immediately assume the worst and bust open the door in traditional fashion, followed by a fire escape chase (one of the guys they bump, down at street level, looked like the familiar background face who has bulging eyes - hadn't noticed him for a while). Before all that, we see S&H take Lisa down to breakfast and the camera lingers on the corridor where the two villains come out of a door at the end before picking her lock. Oddly, the film jumps when the three of them have gone round the corner, as if they didn't have Zachary and Carelli waiting behind the door, and only had them go in and come out after that portion of the shot was filmed, the camera having moved slightly. It would be a strange decision, unless it's just a camera mistake. And it would be remiss of me not to mention the scene where Starsky shoves Lisa's note in Hutch's mouth, just like the clip in the credits, although that was from 'Vampire.'

Although there's no Huggy, Dobey gets slightly more screen time, whether that's chatting to Lisa (he's more even-tempered this episode), personally taping Starsky's wire to him with hands like a cold trout, or following in an unmarked car with Grover to try and keep some backup near Starsky: 'We may not be there to hold your hand, but we can come in and clean up the mess'. Reassuring, as ever! I like to see him out and about, especially as it's so uncommon, although Zachary keeps watch on the phone box Starsky has to report to, from the Oceanside Pastries shop and makes him change cars and take off his wire. It wasn't a bad little showdown at the end: a deserted airfield and an exchange of prisoners for the cash (actually Starsky's laundry). Cuffing himself to the 'money' bag would sound like a good idea, especially as Hutch has the key, but it was just a leather bag, not a case, so I'm sure they could have ripped the handles off or cut into the bag without needing to get it off his wrist. I suppose it was just a deterrent to even the odds a little, and it worked. I'd have liked to see Hutch hanging on to the plane Zachary tries to escape in, as a tense escape attempt would have made that last scene a little more exciting (though it is funny to see Lisa use Starsky's usual tactic of leaping on the bad guy's back!). A little more action in the episode could have brought it up to an even higher level, but its fun, positive atmosphere and comic timing make it one of the more enjoyable episodes of this season.

***