Starsky's Brother

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S4 (Starsky's Brother) (2)

The words 'family' and 'history' aren't part of the series' remit, they weren't attempting to create a canon, to create character arcs or flesh out the main characters with detailed backstories, so whenever anything associated with Starsky or Hutch's lives, outside of what we see, is broached, it adds a rare flavour to an episode. We've heard about Dobey's partner, we've seen his family, and Huggy's cousins, but there's been precious little for the two main characters in that regard, beyond girlfriends (many), or associates/snitches. It simply wasn't the era of recurring faces (except in different roles, a standard for the series that continues as normal here), and filling out the past, but the casting department needs recognition for getting John Herzfeld for Nick (or Nicholas Marvin Starsky as he doesn't like to be called), because he is as you'd imagine a younger brother of Starsky would be! They have a similar look about them, Nick has the same cockiness, though less tempered with experience, and the same open, fun-loving attitude to life as his older brother. He also has a huge chip on his shoulder he's walking around with, and the episode doesn't really come into its own until Hutch observes that he's come to visit because he's crying out to Starsky, and then it goes from being a fun opportunity to have one of S&H's relatives visit and make a dent, to a deeper, more personal drama.

We're not talking soap territory, thankfully, and it's not that Nick has any great secret, aside from being on the opposite side of the law to his successful career cop brother, it is that he feels David was never there for him, and Starsky doesn't have a response, so we have to assume it's true. We also find out that Nick has been on his own a long time, so we can extrapolate they don't have any siblings or relatives he could turn to (Starsky himself introduces him to Dobey as his only brother), and you wonder what happened to their parents and whether they became estranged, or there's tragedy in the Starsky family past, because you really get a sense that Nick looks up to his big bro and feels the need to justify himself and the choices he's made. It's a bit of the same impression as we'd see in Huggy's trip back to his old neighbourhood later in the season (another good, characterful episode), with an attitude towards the person that left as being 'too good' to stick around. So Nick's teachers became the guys on the street with names like Tony Markona, 'Big' Billy Hayes and Spider McGuinness, the guys Starsky 'left behind,' as if that was a deliberate act to escape them rather than a natural progression of life. Maybe he did leave to escape, we don't know and we're not enlightened - as much as this is a deeper dive into Starsky for the series, it still leaves most questions unanswered because it was at heart just another episode in an episodic series. Nothing wrong with that, but you rarely even get a callback to anything that's happened before.

There was one thing that piqued my interested: early on Nick makes reference to two years, and I thought that had been when he and Dave had last met up (off camera, obviously), but later Hutch says Starsky hasn't seen the kid in four years (making it before the start of the series). Going back to check, Nick is referring to the girl, Marlene, they've just been charming at the airport, saying, "Two years and you're still trying." The only thing that brought to mind was the previous episode with Starsky in the title, 'Starsky's Lady,' in which his intended dies in tragic circumstances, and was one of, if not the, best episodes of the entire series. It seems harsh of Nick to refer to something like that in a bout of levity, and Starsky doesn't react in a sad way, but it's the only thing I could think of that would make sense, that this could be the first woman he's properly pursuing since then, or that Nick's suggesting it is. Also, as important a moment in his life as it was, and memorable, it's such an obscure way to reference something like that that it leaves me completely uncertain whether it was the intention or not. I'd like to think the writers were paying that much attention to the details that have built up over the series, but the general rule is they don't bother too much in that regard and just deal with new things, new people and don't make vague callbacks.

In a story so heavily concerned with the Starsky brothers you'd expect the S&H dynamic to fall by the wayside, not to mention Huggy and Dobey being immaterial to the plot as they had been in some recent episodes, but in fact it's this that provides strength to the story, and support for Starsky as he has to face the implications of his brother's attitude to money and life: there are clues early on, from the way Nick wants to bet about which of them Marlene's more interested in for a fifty bucks stake when Starsky meant fifty cents. Or his new wardrobe of expensive clothes, and the fact that he foots the bill for the disco night with Hutch, Marlene, and her friends without saying much about his job prospects back home. Even the way he dismisses Starsky's way of life as wearing him out with chasing, fighting, being shot at, though David counters by saying it's the opposite, that's what keeps him sharp. Starsky must sense something's not right, but it's his brother and he trusts him and backs him when this week's Federal agent drops his suspicions on S&H in Dobey's office. Usually the feds are shown to be pretty unpleasant, sneery, and generally an authority for S&H to bump up against, but Weldon and the doomed Bronson seem like level-headed types. Sure, they still come out looking stupid since the villain of the week, Frank Stryker, knows they're watching him, they keep losing whoever they're trailing, and eventually lackey Jake blows up their surveillance room across the street - there's even some sympathy for the guy that bites it since Bronson had a family, and Weldon isn't as gung-ho and authoritarian as some from his organisation.

Hutch is the one that cuts through all the emotion with his direct and pertinent observation on the reason for Nick's visit, but there's time for him to carry on with the duo's detecting, even if he remains more muted than usual, Starsky's ire turned on Stryker, so that Hutch literally has nothing to say - he even turns to speak, then changes his mind as he walks out. Stryker was one of the better than average villains, and that always helps. That he's willing to kill a Federal agent shows he's a dangerous man, but also a bit foolhardy, the type that expects his way. He gets more depth than the usual gangster in a suit pushing a drugs empire: the scene where we see him beaten at draughts (or checkers as they probably call it), by his own heavy, Al, who finds it most amusing, especially when Jake agrees with his boss' quick-tempered response to the loss that he would have beaten him if he hadn't done that and that he's going to beat him soon, and you can see they're both smirking at the bad loser, so he's not the sort to command absolute respect despite his connections and money. One thing about him that stands out is the name. We had a big bad guy in Season 1's 'Snowstorm' (again, a drug empire - I used to confuse the guy with another one in the pilot since they were the same actor), and although it could be a common enough name, that guy was responsible for killing Dobey's partner, so again, I wondered if it was a deliberate callback. It's not the same character because that Stryker was arrested (and much older), but it would have been fantastic if it had turned out Frank was his younger brother and could have been a brilliant parallel for him to get revenge on S&H by corrupting Starsky's brother.

The fresh exuberance of Nick did actually put S&H into a different light, and although it was only four years after they started the series, they actually begin to seem older, no longer the young bucks eager to get the criminals. Starsky's tired, Nick says he looks tired, and while such banter is par for the course, I think there was some truth to it, that the job probably does wear them down a bit. Hutch is starting to look a little podgy compared to how he used to be, the hair's receded a little, and it wouldn't be that noticeable, but Nick demands comparison at twenty-eight, which I suppose would have been around the age S&H were at the start of the series, and now they're approaching the mid-thirties. Starsky even comes across as old-fashioned when he offers one of Marlene's young girlfriends his arm to go on the dance floor and she completely ignores it. And he doesn't want to think about going out the next night, when, after the disco Nick starts talking about what they'll do then. But in case you felt the series was showing up its stars, Starsky gets the last laugh on his errant brother. Not only is he up and ready to go a mere five hours of sleep later, while Nick slobs around on the couch (dragged there by the hair when he dared to try and take Starsky's bed for himself!), he's also alert, shown to be better mentally, and, in the best lesson of the week, he rubs it firmly in little bro's face when they arrive to rescue him from Stryker and find him tied to a chair while Starsky is 'free as a bird.'

I'm not sure how Nick got away without getting a criminal conviction and is allowed to saunter off back to his old life back East, but as I keep pointing out, this is episodic television at its most episodic, so of course he was going to either die (too harsh), or return from whence he came, because that's the way you reset the status back to quo. It would have been nice if he'd been able to hang around for a few episodes and cause some headaches for his sibling, and he is one of the characters I would most have liked to see return (again, that Season 5…), but it's such a good, heartfelt story, without pushing the morality into your face, just gently showing what a life of drug-dealing and irresponsibility will get you (rather than, say, 'TJ Hooker' which is much more heavy-handed and preachy in the way it delivers its messages about society). I say gently, but there was a rounded content to the episode, with action spectacle (S&H blasted off the stairs as they ascend to check on Bronson just at the moment Jake blows the explosives in a flurry of carpentry and dust), personal drama (the great scene in Starsky's kitchen as Nick tries to justify himself and his brother stands like a rock against the fridge, not even letting him grab a beer as he paces about, then stalks off into the sitting room), and there's room for the series' trademark brand of dotty comedy (the opening with Mrs. Krupp; the disco night with the girls), so it's a pleasure all through. What I always find myself asking after such an example of how the series should be done, is why didn't they manage to do this every time?

I've often found that watching episodes with a view to writing a review afterwards can make a poor episode more enjoyable if it's full of threads to pull at and details to speculate over, but can also work in the opposite way: a good episode that doesn't have much speculative potential or isn't filled with the little nuggets to mentally mine can seem a lesser experience than before. This one holds up as both a deeply detailed store of analytical prospects, and is also a strong episode in dramatic terms, close to being the best so far, though 'The Avenger' has a greater edge that puts it a notch above. It deals fairly with all four main cast while making it about five people, and the various interactions work well so that I'd have to put this up there towards the top bracket of episodes on the series. I particularly enjoyed Huggy Bear's explanation of how he got his name, told in inimitable style by himself:

"Huggy's the name,
and my game is the same,
the ladies they love me,
'cos they all wanna hug me."

A bit of series lore laid down right there!

The episode is rich in its conventional memes, from the typical Red Carpet of Villainy that covers Stryker's club, The Velvet Slide; to Dobey chowing down (a tin of chilli this time), while his weight is rudely called to attention (after Nick's been sucking up to him, Hutch retorts: "The man said heavy, Captain, not overweight"); to the usual competition between S&H over a girl being adjusted to S&N; and pop culture references (Starsky calls his brother Sleeping Beauty when he doesn't want to be woken; Nick makes his introduction to Ken with: "Dr. Hutchinson, I presume"; and Nick sees himself as a regular Robin Hood which Starsky calls him ironically), and when S&H&N meet Marlene's friends at the disco they get the ladies names mixed up, which could be a reference to the times when S&H used to be confused with each other. They do like their discos, it was obviously the in thing at the time of this season because they keep going back to it so Starsky can perform his wacky dance moves (another episode that must have provided inspiration to the 2004 film). I think the generic disco music had even been used before on the series, and it certainly was reused in the episode: when we later visit The Pits (which is 'near the station,' according to Starsky, though whether that means the police, bus or train isn't clear), it's playing there, too! While the music in general wasn't memorable as it has been in some episodes, the slightly sad violin that plays as we zoom in on Trans World Airlines where Starsky goes to pick up Nick is like a marker preparing us for the tragedy to come of things not being all nice and dandy, and returns again when Starsky's giving Nick what for about his crooked ways.

I like that Huggy makes contact with Nick even before he knows he's Starsky's brother, later admitting he thought he was familiar when S&H show up to enlighten him. Familiarity in face and clothing style (even if Nick is a bit more flamboyant than his more casual brother), isn't the only thing familiar about the episode, as it has several of the same story pieces as the preceding one or two: another use of a bomb activated by radio frequency; another angry encounter for S&H with the feds (admittedly it was more of a snide, competitive one in 'The Groupie,' but we've seen many times when S&H have shown their lack of respect for such figures - it's usually one of them defending the other from accusation or suspicion, this time it's Nick); and Starsky pays a visit to threaten the villain again (just like 'Cover Girl'), while another motel room (Buena Vista Motel), plays an important part in proceedings (they tracked down the assassin to his motel hideout in 'Cover Girl'), as Nick visits to pick up his drugs package, getting deeper into the mire - the female courier seems to take some kind of pity on him, seeing him for the young, green guy he is and giving him some advice. Whether it was because she knows how many Nicks have been used by the likes of Stryker or she just took a fancy to his naivety, seeing something of her own past in him, I don't know.

The use of eccentrics is kept to a minimum, which is how it works best or the whole thing turns into a farce of 'Dandruff' and 'The Groupie' proportions. It begins, just as 'Cover Girl' did, with Hutch dealing with a crime of a humorous bent, which, just like that other opening scene, could have been some padding to bulk out the episode a little before we get to the actual story (though it's fun, and it's always a laugh to see Dobey get outraged, this time for Starsky's absence, though you'd think he'd be used to his men off following leads individually and wouldn't think anything of it). Mrs. Krupp is being held for whacking her husband with a baseball bat, but it's all done in such a jovial manner, and she's clearly such a wacky type that it is funny. I can't imagine why she was allowed to keep hold of the offensive weapon in question, and it's bizarre that Hutch makes up a charge of First Degree Husband Beating to scare her, rather than taking it seriously and charging her with GBH, but it's another sign of the Seventies when I suppose it was deemed ridiculous that men could be injured by their wives. It doesn't stop Hutch's interactions with her from being amusing, nor the poorly hidden nervousness of Officer Sweeney, who's left to deal with her. That's about it for characters exhibiting eccentricity, except for Marlene, who is more than feisty: first meeting being chatted up by Nick, then her attention switches to Starsky when he butts in, and then when introduced to Hutch she latches onto him, but keeps talking about the others! Her friends, Katie and Carol, aren't eccentric, except for being friends with such a changeable sort!

I have to wonder if the moment S&H bring Nick in to see their office and Hutch suddenly stops in front of the door, making Nick bump into it, was deliberate, or just something that happened on the day of filming. It's just one of those little things you see crop up here or there, but in this case it could equally work as a bit of teasing. I also noticed the cab driver that picks up Nick from The Velvet Slide looked like he could be the bulging eyes extra that is seen occasionally on the series, though it was hard to tell at that distance, in a cab, with a cap on. And the ongoing saga of what exactly is outside Starsky's front door, continues: this time we see a wall there with bushes in front… The question of whether the place S&H work in is a city or a town gets further discussion when Weldon notes that of all the bars and coffee shops 'in the city,' Nick went to Stryker's, and yet Stryker himself notices he's 'new in town,' as if the kind of expensive jacket he's wearing couldn't have been bought except in a big city. It's a slim difference, Stryker could have just meant it as a manner of speech, but it does make me question whether Bay City is in fact a city - as far as I can remember it's never even been named in dialogue. And it's surprising how rough Paul Michael Glaser was allowed to be with the actor playing Stryker at the confrontation at Carmelle Printing and Engraving where he violently throws him around before cuffing him!

Anthony Ponzini must have known what he was in for, though, as he'd been in the previous season's 'The Trap' as Trayman, though here he gets Special Guest Star billing. Fittingly, the only other returning actors were also two of his goons: John O'Leary as Victor, his crooked attorney (previously Steinmetz in Season 3's 'A Body Worth Guarding'), and Nicholas Worth, the draughts champion, Al (who'd been both Barnes in Season 1's 'The Omaha Tiger,' and Denny, Amboy's goon, in Season 2's 'Bust Amboy'). It's like they knew these guys would work as heavies! While hiring experienced actors was one way to ensure the episode worked (although I wouldn't have said the bad guys were among the best of the series, just above the average), the episode also benefited from good directing with the occasional flair: I was enamoured with the uncommon use of slow motion (as seen so effectively in 'The Avenger,' though directed by a different Director), in the explosion on the stairs - they've really done well at not making the stunt guys obvious this season, you can barely tell it isn't actually S&H. I also liked the shot at the bar where we're focused on Stryker talking, then his head moves and we see in the mirror he's talking to Nick.

Where the episode triumphs is in its widening of the Starsky legacy through excellent casting, successful chemistry, a solid story and a good moral. We learn about Nick's life being so different to Starsky's, despite them growing up only a few years apart, he has the typical brotherly competitiveness, the looser approach to life that puts Starsky into a difficult position (like when he can't be bothered to find his ticket at the airport and tells his brother to just flash the police badge so they can get through), has some charm in the way he sucks up to the boss (prompting Dobey to appreciate his manners and upbringing), but has that restlessness about him that denotes an unsatisfied inner life, still carrying bitterness and resentment for how he feels Starsky treated him and the way things have gone in life that makes you warm to him, but also see the maturity in Starsky by comparison. Starsky's friendship with Hutch means they can talk beneath the facade that Nick puts on and further confirms their great mutual understanding, Nick a catalyst or magnifying glass on that. And it is fitting that Nick gets something of a last laugh when he hustles Hutch and Huggy for higher odds on their farewell pool game, admitting afterwards that he's left-handed, the usual freeze frame playing out, while the sound of balls plunking into pockets continues! It's a really nice, homely scene to cap the episode, the four of them hanging out at The Pits after hours (whenever after hours would be - must be the morning!), like a little family group.

***