"The A-Team" The Bend in the River: Part 1 (1984)

Director:

Michael O'Herlihy

Writers:

Stephen J. Cannell (creator)
Stephen J. Cannell (writer)

TV Series:

"The A-Team" (1983)

Original Air Date:

25 September 1984 (Season 3, Episode 2)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime

Plot:

The A-team goes to the Amazon Jungle in Peru, to rescue Tawnia's fiancé from a river pirate called "El Cajon" who scares everybody off for the shady Doyle.

Plot Keywords:

Reference To Donald Duck | Vietnam | Army | Soldiers Of Fortune | Special Forces

Cast

George Peppard	...	John 'Hannibal' Smith
Dirk Benedict	...	Templeton 'Faceman' Peck
Dwight Schultz	...	'Howling Mad' Murdock
Mr. T	...	B.A. Baracus
Marla Heasley	...	Tawnia Baker
Marta DuBois	...	Bobbi Cardina
Barry Van Dyke	...	Dr. Brian Lefcourt - Archeologist
Michael Preston	...	Doyle (as Mike Preston)
Danny Wells
Rafael Campos
Kai Wulff	...	Krueger
Sergio Calderón	...	El Cajon / The Coffin
Richard Moll	...	Churlisco
Don Pedro Colley	...	Christopher, Amazon River Guide
Eric Holland

Filming Locations:

Stockton, California, USA

Quotes:

Krueger: You fat bucket of donkey sweat, where is it?
El Cajon: You make a big mistake,
[fires his shotgun leg]
El Cajon: It's a double barrel, senor. The man who walks on one leg, carries a shot gun in the other! Is good trick, no?
[laughs]
El Cajon: The fat bucket of donkey sweat do it again, huh?

One of A-Team's very best episodes

Now this double episode is a nice surprise in a series whose episodes were always made in the fast lane. An exotic location (yes, B.A. has to fly again), actually looking realistic this time. Remember: there are too many A-Team episodes that only suggest another country by simply inserting stock footage images of for instance an elephant, stating: we're in Africa today. On this river a nasty El Cajon rules the waves (mind the leg). The actors actually seem to enjoy it this time around, with Murdock as would-be film director. The story has space and time to develop into a 50s sort of b-movie spectacle with love interest for Tanya. And Face really fancies miss Dubois. They show reruns till kingdom comes on Dutch television, but this is the one always to watch.