Bounty (2 Apr. 1985)

Two hillbilly types, Royko and Tanen, visit the VA Hospital to see Murdock. When they go to his room, Royko produces a sawed-off shotgun and blasts open the door. The two hillbillies take ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael O'Herlihy

Writers:

Frank Lupo (creator), Stephen J. Cannell (creator),

Stars:

George Peppard, Dirk Benedict, Dwight Schultz

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
George Peppard	...	John 'Hannibal' Smith
Dirk Benedict	...	Templeton 'Faceman' Peck
Dwight Schultz	...	'Howling Mad' Murdock
Mr. T	...	B.A. Baracus
Gene Evans	...	Darrow
Wendy Fulton	...	Dr. Kelly Stevens - Veterinarian
Bill McKinney	...	Royko
Paul Koslo	...	Tanen
Carl Franklin	...	Captain Crane
Lance LeGault	...	Colonel Roderick Decker
Mickey Jones	...	Radio DJ Cowboy Billy Bob
Joan Roberts	...	Phone Service Secretary
Edy Roberts	...	Nurse
Mike Tully	...	Orderly
Michael Chieffo	...	Mel

Storyline

Two hillbilly types, Royko and Tanen, visit the VA Hospital to see Murdock. When they go to his room, Royko produces a sawed-off shotgun and blasts open the door. The two hillbillies take Murdock hostage and drive off in a pickup truck with an Indian companion. When Face hears of the kidnapping he learns that the Army has been alerted, and barely escapes when Colonel Decker arrives at the hospital. Royko, Tanen, and the Indian drive over 100 miles upstate and arrive at the house of their pappy, Darrow, a famous bounty hunter who sees Murdock as his ticket to the A-Team, the big score he's sought all his life. Darrow draws the A-Team north, but Murdock escapes and a three-way pursuit ensues between the A-Team, the bounty hunters, and Decker. Murdock finds shelter with a small-town veterinarian, Kelly Stevens, as he tries to contact the A-Team, but as the two wait, Murdock and Kelly begin falling in love, to the point that when Murdock eventually reunites with the A-Team, he has to ...

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Plot Keywords:

reference to van halen | reference to the beatles

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 April 1985 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV, Stephen J. Cannell Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

47 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wendy Fulton, who plays the role of Dr. Kelly Stevens, is Dwight Schultz's wife.

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Goofs

The scene of the car chase where the A-Team tries to escape from Colonel Decker and his men by jumping over the construction site is actually copied from episode "Labor Pains" (#2.08). In that episode this scene also marked the end of a car chase with Decker.

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Quotes

H.M. Murdock: Now let me ask you a question: if you had a feeling that there was somebody in the back of your van, why, why didn't you tell those guys, why didn't you turn me in?
Kelly Stevens: [indicating her dog] Homer. He didn't chew your head off. I always found animals to be a pretty good judge of character.

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Crazy Credits

Our January 15 program referred to a National Linen Company. This was imaginary and not intended to refer to the National Linen Service Division of National Services Industries. National Linen Service is a textile rental firm doing business throughout the United States. We apologize for any confusion.

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Connections

References Kenny Rogers as The Gambler (1980)

User Reviews

The A-Team's Warmest Episode

Late in 1984 a syndicated entertainment magazine show aired a segment on Dwight Schultz and his involvement with "The A-Team." The segment included an interview with Schultz's wife Wendy Fulton. Many fans of the show likely saw this segment and thus, when learning that this episode would co-star Wendy Fulton, looked forward more than usual to this episode.

Knowing that Wendy Fulton is Dwight Schultz's wife is important because it adds to the warmth of the episode as Wendy and Dwight play off the very real love they have and thus imbue the episode with an extra humanity mostly missing from what is supposed to be an action comedy. Wendy plays a veterinarian, Kelly Stevens, who lives in upstate California. When a gang of shotgun-armed hillbilly-style bounty hunters kidnaps Murdock in broad daylight they take him upstate but he escapes, and finds shelter with Kelly Stevens.

The sparkle that emanates from Murdock and Kelly is just part of what makes this perhaps the show's best episode. Not only is there the love angle between Murdock and Kelly, there is the three-way pursuit involving the A-Team, the bounty hunters, and Colonel Decker, who arrives on the scene upon learning of Murdock's capture. This three-way chase intersects at the end of Act One when Murdock escapes the bounty hunters and they pursue, scant minutes before the A-Team bursts down the door of their house and then Decker arrives in a hail of bullets.

This is a case where a little more of Murdock and Kelly and less action would have made the episode better - an Act Three action scene where Hannibal and B.A. blow up some of Decker's cars to force a diversionary pursuit uses mostly stock footage from an earlier episode and could have been deleted altogether without disrupting the flow of the episode. In any event the episode shines thanks to its mixture of action and warmth, and one wonders why Kelly Stevens was never returned to the series as a periodic guest star.