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.

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