Huggy Can't Go Home

DVD, Starsky & Hutch S4 (Huggy Can't Go Home)

Huggy walks the line between old allegiance rooted within him, and his position as friend and informant to S&H, the same tension between his young life in his old neighbourhood and that which he's made for himself away from it, and it makes for a good dynamic with which to explore loyalty, and the themes of misspent youth and seizing opportunity, making it one of the more thoughtful episodes of the season. As ever it's a joy to see a story centred around, and starring, Huggy Bear, S&H don't even come into it until almost ten minutes in, and it's a bit of showcase for Huggy to, in his words, "Reminisce about the good old days, which weren't that good, have a few laughs, tell a few lies." It had occasionally been tried before, but not since Season 2's 'Huggy Bear and The Turkey,' apparently designed as a backdoor pilot for a potential spinoff that never happened, did we get a Hug vehicle, and perhaps it was for the reason that that episode didn't take off, leaving us effectively barren of the Bear's equality with his costars in Season 3. Not that Dobey did much better, at least Huggy had one episode in each season, apart from that oversight! The device that sets Huggy up to visit his old stomping grounds is a little slim, in the shape of a 'working girl,' Lonnette, whom he posts bail for, presumably for old time's sake, then witnesses a murder connected to his old friend and mentor, Julius T. Washington, leading him into dishonesty with S&H to provide an alibi for the man that picked him up out of the gutter and effectively jumpstarted his road out of the hole that was a community without hope.

The impression of a downtrodden city is back in full force, with rubbish strewn streets (Hug has no compunction about adding to the detritus, so messed up is it already that one more piece of scrap isn't going to make any difference), shady characters and a lack of future prospects. Yet it isn't the usual depressing, negative impression, the people we meet all have their ways and means of survival: Fingers and Sour Joe, a couple of thugs who try and give Hug a hard time, spend their days ripping people off and don't seem particularly unhappy with their lot; the small lad (credited as 'Newsboy'), whom Huggy runs into and causes him to drop his papers, clearly has ideas about what he wants, even if it isn't the ideal course for him to follow; Junior, a young friend of JT's has prospects if he can follow the advice of his mentor and finish blossoming into mechanics skills; and Cora-Lee keeps her head down when the murder occurs, but she's got a lot to lose - hers seemingly a contented life working at The Funky Chicken. So although the environment may not be conducive to a full life, the people we meet have found their niches and ways to survive to varying degrees, though we see the spectrum of the good (Cora-Lee), the bad (Fingers and Sour Joe), and the potential to go either way (Newsboy and Junior), Huggy an example of what assistance can do to get someone out of that narrow set of choices.

Huggy is proof that someone from a rundown, battered community can rise up and improve his prospects, become a businessman, because for all Huggy's schemes and plans, to varying degrees of success, he has achieved a measure of completion, even if his former associates consider him to have become rusty, not being on the streets for so long, his derogatory nickname being 'Uptown.' There's the suggestion that the youngsters in the episode could end up like Huggy and Cora-Lee, or Sour Joe and Fingers, Starsky gently warning the boy he knows where he's headed if he keeps talking about the things he talks about, the quick route to cash and respect unfortunately a big draw to those in such a position. There's hope for him because of his industriousness in having a job at that age, and even more for Junior with JT's guidance behind him, only his own cockiness, overconfidence and temper (he wants to foolishly run after the robbers that hold up JT's poker game), that threaten to send him down the wrong road. Huggy warns him to listen to JT, learn all he can, then get out if he's got the heart or the brains to do so, and it reminds us why Huggy is such a cool character - it's not for his witty talk or sharp clothes, it's his attitude, honed from the same place Junior came from, the experience and the knowledge of what's what, and I can imagine him being no less of a great mentor to others.

The prime example of what these young lads should be cognisant of is inherent in Wesley Boseman, one of the players in the poker game. While the others unhappily accept the robbery, he can't hold back his rage at losing all that money and charges recklessly after the pair, ending up shot by the gun of Big Red McGee, losing much more than some notes: his life. It's true that it wasn't a bad haul and JT said he was planning to use the money to get out, just as Huggy had all those years before, but had stayed to keep on gambling, trapped in the same pit that he'd got others out of. You can't help but warm to JT, his thick, fruity voice, his air of confidence and friendship, and the fact that Huggy cares so much about him that he'd risk everything by lying to his friends and going after a dangerous criminal who, if he hadn't have been injured by his own partner in crime, would probably have killed Hug. He gets some action when he tracks down Big Red to the Belmont hotel courtesy of Cora-Lee's quick-thinking and dedication to him, and rugby tackles Red to the floor of his room, though getting knocked out in the struggle, Red escaping via the fire escape, bleeding from the front after being glassed by his partner, Dolphin, and not wanting to shoot someone with so many witnesses in the doorway.

He had no trouble at shooting Boseman in the middle of the street and broad daylight, but it was a split second decision and it was like the Wild West - as soon as a shot rings out everyone shutters up and ignores the accusing body lying in the street, not wanting to get involved. It had been a while since they'd talked of 'salt and pepper' teams on the series, though it used to be more common, this one of Dolphin and Big Red is far from harmonious and you wonder how they ended up working together since Dolphin is such a stereotypical southerner in his voice, mannerisms and attitude. It's funny seeing him so uncomfortable at The Funky Chicken where Red sent him for soul food, trying to make small talk (though the woman he talks to seems to like the attention), and just getting himself into a bother that triggers an outburst at Big Red and the far from acrimonious splitting of their partnership. Dolphin dies by the bullet, but Red takes longer, slowly bleeding to death from the stab wound and saving Huggy the job. Would he have gone through with it to recover the stolen money for JT? He certainly scared me with his wild eyes and the way he smashed that pipe against the metal shutters, threatening to split Red's head like a rotten melon! Was it an act? I don't know, and it's not Huggy's character to use violence - not that he's a hippy, but he's always used his words and emotions to talk his way out of things rather than blunt force, but in this case he wasn't doing it for himself and sometimes people can do things to protect others that they wouldn't do for themselves, so the jury's out.

That Huggy didn't have to make the ultimate choice and kill Big Red allows for a happy ending, and while modern TV would prefer him to have gone through with such a strained action, pushing his character further than it had been before, and probably creating an arc of guilt and concern over his position with S&H, the series was episodic and I like how it concludes with the three of them jovial at The Pits, fences mended and a mention that JT bought a dry-cleaning establishment 'somehow.' We aren't privy to exactly what happened when S&H discovered Huggy standing over Red's corpse, whether he hid the money or they just didn't mention it, but they clearly knew, and had assisted Huggy in the cover-up in some way, despite Captain Dobey's forceful threat that they'd be walking the beat again if they didn't play it straight. It was the old Dobey after a few episodes of the cuddly variety, exploding at his men ('don't tell me about the streets until you've been out there as long as I have!') warning them, as if they needed it, that JT was Huggy's mentor, taught him everything he knows and he's not the kind to forget. Early on S&H are surprised to find their friend lying to them and say that he's never done that before. Even if that wasn't true, it shows how close they are and how much they trust him that such a moment has meaning - I can't remember if Huggy brought them in on it when his life was in danger in 'Kill Huggy Bear,' but that's about the only time I can remember there being some kind of issue between them.

Although there's an atmosphere of a sad neighbourhood and the bittersweetness of Huggy having escaped, there's also some upbeat, feel-good moments amid the lack, none more than when Hug goes into The Funky Chicken and sits down at the counter. Cora-Lee half acknowledges a customer, turns away, then as Huggy's face widens in a grin, the penny drops it's her beloved friend returned and she whirls round and plasters him full of kisses and joyful squeals, a lovely moment. There's also a bit of comedy, such as the customer sitting next to him whose happy face intrudes on the reunion until Huggy asks him if he minds! I also felt Dolphin's pain when, in his disgust and frustration with Big Red and his ways, he slumps sulkily onto the bed, which promptly crashes beneath him, and he flings the bedclothes about in a boiling-over rage. I know the feeling! But it's really a credit to the writing and characterisation that although S&H aren't front and centre and there's less of their banter to enjoy, the bits we get don't make them feel like they're missing from the episode (unlike 'Huggy Bear and The Turkey' where it was more of a cameo). We get the old trope of them just about to tuck into some food (hot, fresh bagels for breakfast), when the call comes in and they have to rush off to the scene of Boseman's murder - unusually, Hutch is the one feeling tired and downbeat, while Starsky is bright and breezy, embracing the early morning. And they're not always working together in the episode, either.

Part of the reason may have been because David Soul's turn in the Director's chair had come, his last time on the series. Once again I find myself appreciating his style more than his costar, Paul Michael Glaser, and the very directed scenes I associate with him. Soul had a more natural way to his work that fit better with the series, not trying to be artistic and obviously homage classic directing styles of the past, but an immediacy to it. It's not that he never framed any shots that were noticeable for their different tone, because you only have to recall scenes such as the one where Boseman pursues the thieves - we get a shot from inside the car where Big Red is trying to unlock the door as we see Boseman charge at full pelt towards us. Or the moment he's pushed back, slips to the ground and is shot, all happening from a raised angle. But there aren't a lot of showy shots like that, so although some do stand out, it feels much more cohesive, and isn't as workmanlike as the series' standard directorial fare, tending to the practical as it does for a weekly series that had to knock out twenty-odd episodes a season, whereas the series' stars were obviously doing it for creative reasons to further their own experience of the series and bring something to it that was different. Perhaps Soul's point of view is messier, less precise than Glaser's deliberate way, more in your face, such as the handheld camera shots used inside the car when they're driving, or looking up at him or Starsky, and I really enjoy his choices and wish he'd directed more episodes.

We even see a different angle of the police office, the camera placed where Dobey's office would be, from the position of Pinky or Perky, and we see there's a door there which I don't think I've ever noticed before, so maybe it was actually a different set since we don't see the conventional angle at all. But it's not the camera angles that I remember most about this episode, it's the character, the decision to pull off a different kind of story, a little bit of insight into Huggy's past - I'd love to know more, but anything we get on the main characters that fleshes them out is welcome. I liked Huggy taking matters into his own hands, getting back to his down and dirty roots on the street, showing himself he hadn't lost his experience as people thought, and it's very 'real' when S&H call out asking where he is when he's in Big Red's hidey-hole and his answer is, "A long way from home." One of the standout features of the episode is its willingness to indulge in doing something completely different by having an original song (from Jac Murphy - don't know if that was a famous lyric writer), performed by Dr. John (again, not being a musical person I don't know whether that's a famous singer of the time), taking time out for a montage of Huggy waking the streets and rediscovering his old haunts and the people he used to know, both good and bad. We'd had musical interludes for S&H before, but never on this scale, and it really adds something special to the episode. Maybe it was just a marketing thing and they hoped to release it as a single and make a packet, but that doesn't matter because it's just a good sequence.

What we learn about Huggy (apart from his almost marrying Cora-Lee but for her three hundred pound Mother busting him up!), is that he was the victim of a misspent youth, and he doesn't decry the accusation of JT, who claims that without him picking him up he would never have got out of it. It's clear he owes the man a lot - as he says to Junior who goes with him to track down Big Red, followed in secret by S&H (wisely using Hutch's battered Ford rather than the obvious Torino! - Starsky even complains Hutch was worried about them being spotted in his car, and now they've lost them, one of the rare times the series calls attention to the ridiculousness of driving such a recognisable vehicle when tailing someone!). Hug tells the lad to stay while he deals with Red because "I owe him and you don't; not yet anyway," which is telling all on its own. When he bravely descends into the dark lair of dangerous Red in his wide brim hat, he looks like Indiana Jones entering an eerie tomb and rarely has he had such an air of heroism about him, even though it doesn't come naturally. He definitely has heart, whether it's the dogged determination to confront Red and recover the means for JT to get out of his gambling life, his protection of the paperboy during the murder, or getting Lonnette out of custody when he didn't have to, he does care about his friends, which makes it more hard for him to be on the opposite side of S&H as they do their job, and provides drama, a necessity for a good episode: heart and drama, that's what the best of the series is about, and they were still pulling it off.

For being another episode that doesn't fit the norms, it misses out on a lot of the usual bits and bobs. There's the occasional pop culture reference, with Lonnette complimenting Huggy on coming through for her like Muhammad Ali; Hug calling Starsky Dick Tracy when quizzed about the phone call he just took (interestingly he answered saying "Huggy's Pits," rather just 'The Pits'); and Hutch calling chubby Monahan, Humpty Dumpty! The collection of characters in the poker game were close to wacky, but not very, with the Spaniard, Rodriguez, sweaty Monahan (gulping down milk by the carton), JT and his distinctive voice, the quick-tempered Boseman, Junior, and a fifth man we see head down on the table, but never hear his name. None of them really fit the category, and only the paperboy, with his slang talk and confidence much more mature than his age would suggest, as well as his mature visions of the future, is the closest we come to (though more world-weary), and Cora-Lee was close, too, but was also quite grounded and certainly not crazy by the series' usual definition, just moderately over the top in her excitement. The two returning actors had very memorable roles, though back in Season 1 and 2 respectively, so they must have felt enough time had passed that the audience wouldn't remember. Richard Ward (JT), was the original Captain Dobey in the pilot, and my only regret is that we didn't get a scene with him and our Dobey - maybe that was why the Captain was so inflamed, he sensed a doppelganger sharing his screen time! The other was Roger E. Mosley as Big Red, previously The Baron in 'The Set-Up,' but now better known to me as good guy TC in 'Magnum PI'!

After seeing a sign for Los Angeles in the previous episode, 'Ninety Pounds of Trouble,' we get another indication of confused location shooting with the van parked outside the bakery where Starsky picked up breakfast, having the words 'Brooklyn Bagel Bakery' clearly visible for the quick of eye. This one could be more explainable as it could be a chain of bakeries or a Brooklyn one delivers to other cities, but it was still odd! We also hear where Huggy's old neighbourhood is: 4015 West Central, but again, the city must be huge if it's within the jurisdiction of S&H to be the closest ones there, yet it's far enough away that Huggy hasn't been back in a while. It's the same issue I had with S&H's old friend Luke Huntley in 'Birds of A Feather' - if he lived in the same city how could it be they never ran into each other for so long? The only answer can be size. I would also like to make another mention of the music, because the song isn't the only time we hear it, the strains of 'Huggy Can't Go Back' can be heard from quite early in the episode and it comes in now and again, used effectively as a theme to Huggy's situation as both outsider and insider.

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