There are some heavy terrible reviews for this episode. What I think many are missing is how unintentionally hilarious this episode is. Even as it first aired when I was 17 years old the ridiculous caricatures of the bikers was so over the top that I can remember laughing out loud while watching it. If people could lighten up a little they might find the humor of these "topical" episodes from that era, particularly in the Jack Webb shows. As is often the case, Reed and Malloy are the least interesting characters, with the bikers hamming it up and stealing the scenes. Take another look from a different perspective.
6 Reviews
A Sound Like Absolute Terror!
chashans5 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I have no idea what bizarro-world version of this episode of Adam-12 others reviewers here were watching. What some of these other reviews say comes across to me as having no resemblance to what is actually presented on screen. Of course, to each his own. If they didn't like the episode, they're certainly entitled to their view.
I first watched this episode on it's initial airing in 1969. I had just turned 5. I watched Adam-12 with my parents. This episode scared the begoggles out of me. It was absolute terror! It has always stayed with me. The one episode of Adam-12 I have always remembered, it having traumatised itself into my then so very young soul. As a 5 year old, I had no idea whatsoever that the "stars of the show" were never going to be hurt by the frightening motorcycle gang. I was very worried for them. That is very impressionable.
Another review here states that Malloy and Reed are perfect Mr. Wonderfuls (something like that) throughout this episode and the entire seven years of the series. This tells me that they've never really watched the show. These are true human beings, usually heroic in the line of duty, yes. But they have their faults and those faults do show up on screen occassionally. Only a few episodes previous to this, Reed loses it upon his first encounter with a child molester. Sergeant MacDonald walks into the Station locker room just in time to see Reed beat the #+*× out of an unsuspecting locker. And Malloy? In an episode in a later season, Malloy loses self-control and seriously roughs up a kidnapper/child rapist. Those are just two examples of these two characters being shown in a very human light. Neither are pleased with themselves. Reed, as a probationary rookie Officer, is given the benefit of a doubt. Malloy, a seasoned Officer, faces the consequences of an investigative board.
The motorcycle gang may seem cliche. But actual motorcycle gangs ARE cliche! The real gang equivalents of Satin's Sinners (the gang in this episode) did do, have done and still do the exact sorts of things as shown in this episode. And as the closing credits of Adam-12 always say, the incidents seen in this episode are true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Then too, there's the gang leader, Bach. His name comes from the Classical Composer. His ignorant gang buddies may mispronounce it as "Batch", but Bach himself does have knowledge of classical music. He even plays a bit of Beethoven on his harmonica. Bach does in fact show slight glimmers of actual humanity a couple of times. You have to be paying attention to catch it. So there is a touch more to this character than the pretense that blinds the eye. Bach does, afterall, have to maintain his mean, big-boss leadership over his disciples.
Milner and McCord are terrific throughout. The actresses playing Reed's wife and Malloy's nurse girlfriend are also very good. Plus, the writer of the episode lets them be true, real women. They are not all frightened and trembling due to the invading gang. Behavior which may have been expected to be assigned to them by the show's production in that 1969 time period. They deal with the situation as real human beings might. Reed's wife Jean finds weary humor and a history comparison in the ordeal. Malloy's girlfriend gets to dig into the gang leaders psyche. She also gets to trade insults with him and certainly thoroughly enjoys pointing his own gun at him. This is some terrific writing as well as some terrific acting from all five of this episode's main characters. The supporting cast members that make up the gang are also quite good. Very menacing.
I also recall, having a love of automobiles even at the young age of 5, feeling awful for not just Reed as he watches his car being destroyed. But also feeling awful for the car itself! Such a sad and horrific ending to a vehicle which was just trying to take four lovely people out for a nice picnic. Poor car. Also, we get to see Kent McCord tear off out of the Ghost Town on Bach's totally awesome motorcycle. Go Reed, go!
I first watched this episode on it's initial airing in 1969. I had just turned 5. I watched Adam-12 with my parents. This episode scared the begoggles out of me. It was absolute terror! It has always stayed with me. The one episode of Adam-12 I have always remembered, it having traumatised itself into my then so very young soul. As a 5 year old, I had no idea whatsoever that the "stars of the show" were never going to be hurt by the frightening motorcycle gang. I was very worried for them. That is very impressionable.
Another review here states that Malloy and Reed are perfect Mr. Wonderfuls (something like that) throughout this episode and the entire seven years of the series. This tells me that they've never really watched the show. These are true human beings, usually heroic in the line of duty, yes. But they have their faults and those faults do show up on screen occassionally. Only a few episodes previous to this, Reed loses it upon his first encounter with a child molester. Sergeant MacDonald walks into the Station locker room just in time to see Reed beat the #+*× out of an unsuspecting locker. And Malloy? In an episode in a later season, Malloy loses self-control and seriously roughs up a kidnapper/child rapist. Those are just two examples of these two characters being shown in a very human light. Neither are pleased with themselves. Reed, as a probationary rookie Officer, is given the benefit of a doubt. Malloy, a seasoned Officer, faces the consequences of an investigative board.
The motorcycle gang may seem cliche. But actual motorcycle gangs ARE cliche! The real gang equivalents of Satin's Sinners (the gang in this episode) did do, have done and still do the exact sorts of things as shown in this episode. And as the closing credits of Adam-12 always say, the incidents seen in this episode are true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Then too, there's the gang leader, Bach. His name comes from the Classical Composer. His ignorant gang buddies may mispronounce it as "Batch", but Bach himself does have knowledge of classical music. He even plays a bit of Beethoven on his harmonica. Bach does in fact show slight glimmers of actual humanity a couple of times. You have to be paying attention to catch it. So there is a touch more to this character than the pretense that blinds the eye. Bach does, afterall, have to maintain his mean, big-boss leadership over his disciples.
Milner and McCord are terrific throughout. The actresses playing Reed's wife and Malloy's nurse girlfriend are also very good. Plus, the writer of the episode lets them be true, real women. They are not all frightened and trembling due to the invading gang. Behavior which may have been expected to be assigned to them by the show's production in that 1969 time period. They deal with the situation as real human beings might. Reed's wife Jean finds weary humor and a history comparison in the ordeal. Malloy's girlfriend gets to dig into the gang leaders psyche. She also gets to trade insults with him and certainly thoroughly enjoys pointing his own gun at him. This is some terrific writing as well as some terrific acting from all five of this episode's main characters. The supporting cast members that make up the gang are also quite good. Very menacing.
I also recall, having a love of automobiles even at the young age of 5, feeling awful for not just Reed as he watches his car being destroyed. But also feeling awful for the car itself! Such a sad and horrific ending to a vehicle which was just trying to take four lovely people out for a nice picnic. Poor car. Also, we get to see Kent McCord tear off out of the Ghost Town on Bach's totally awesome motorcycle. Go Reed, go!
thought provoking
bilhickok18 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Not as bad as the other reviewer's say.
First of all, I'm not exactly sure what Jack Webb's politics had to do with it. Biker gangs are evil, regardless of Jack Webb's politics. They are frequently white supremacist. They are involved in murder, extortion, kidnapping and drug dealing. Does anyone think the Hells Angels, the straight Satan's, the Mongols, etc. Are choir boys? They are a real thing, and Reed and Malloy get caught in the middle of one.
You noticed I hope that these guys were all wearing colors, so they were not a bunch of guys out for a Sunday drive.
I did like looking at the shovel heads.
In addition, The situation raised a number of interesting legal questions. Would Reed and Malloy have had the right to open fire on these guys when they began smashing the car and verbally threatening them? One wonders, and they actually showed tremendous restraint.
As far as the portrayal Of the bikers in a cliché fashion, that was simply a problem that existed in all of the episodes. Drunk drivers are portrayed as exaggerared drunks, Criminals are portrayed as one dimensional, the repartee between the cops is at times Forced and cliché, and Reed and Malloy are perfect to a fault.
The program has 20 minutes to set up, develop, and resolve any episode. If it is true that all of these episodes were based on real incidents, in 20 minutes they did a decent job retelling the event.
If you suspend your disbelief, look past the sometimes outdated dialogue and unrealistic physical confrontations, such as the criminals always politely submitting to being handcuffed, it's actually a very interesting episode. And frightening.
What would you do if you found yourself in the same situation? I have explored scores of remote ghost towns, and it occurred to me How vulnerable you are in that kind of a situation, even if you are armed. And bikers love those kinds of places.
It was a different kind of episode, not one showing their day-to-day life in LA, but rather how they dealt with a Life and death scenario With a pregnant woman on their day off in a remote location with no back up.
All in all, kind of interesting.
First of all, I'm not exactly sure what Jack Webb's politics had to do with it. Biker gangs are evil, regardless of Jack Webb's politics. They are frequently white supremacist. They are involved in murder, extortion, kidnapping and drug dealing. Does anyone think the Hells Angels, the straight Satan's, the Mongols, etc. Are choir boys? They are a real thing, and Reed and Malloy get caught in the middle of one.
You noticed I hope that these guys were all wearing colors, so they were not a bunch of guys out for a Sunday drive.
I did like looking at the shovel heads.
In addition, The situation raised a number of interesting legal questions. Would Reed and Malloy have had the right to open fire on these guys when they began smashing the car and verbally threatening them? One wonders, and they actually showed tremendous restraint.
As far as the portrayal Of the bikers in a cliché fashion, that was simply a problem that existed in all of the episodes. Drunk drivers are portrayed as exaggerared drunks, Criminals are portrayed as one dimensional, the repartee between the cops is at times Forced and cliché, and Reed and Malloy are perfect to a fault.
The program has 20 minutes to set up, develop, and resolve any episode. If it is true that all of these episodes were based on real incidents, in 20 minutes they did a decent job retelling the event.
If you suspend your disbelief, look past the sometimes outdated dialogue and unrealistic physical confrontations, such as the criminals always politely submitting to being handcuffed, it's actually a very interesting episode. And frightening.
What would you do if you found yourself in the same situation? I have explored scores of remote ghost towns, and it occurred to me How vulnerable you are in that kind of a situation, even if you are armed. And bikers love those kinds of places.
It was a different kind of episode, not one showing their day-to-day life in LA, but rather how they dealt with a Life and death scenario With a pregnant woman on their day off in a remote location with no back up.
All in all, kind of interesting.
A Psychedelic Sewer
StrictlyConfidential1 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
(*Gus Archer quote*) - "Look, son, pretty girls are just like rainbows."
On their day off Jim Reed and Pete Malloy take Jean and Sally to Silverload which is an old Western ghost town situated far beyond L. A.'s boundaries.
A belligerent gang of bikers known as Satan's Sinners shows up and causes no end of trouble for the 2 couples.
(IMO) - The members of the biker gang were so stereotypical in their badboy characters that it was really laughable.
On their day off Jim Reed and Pete Malloy take Jean and Sally to Silverload which is an old Western ghost town situated far beyond L. A.'s boundaries.
A belligerent gang of bikers known as Satan's Sinners shows up and causes no end of trouble for the 2 couples.
(IMO) - The members of the biker gang were so stereotypical in their badboy characters that it was really laughable.
Definitely one of their lesser episodes
fredcdobbs515 February 2016
SPOILER: On their day off, Reed and his pregnant wife and Malloy and his date--a cute nurse--go exploring an old ghost town and run into a gang of nasty bikers, who disable their car and whose leader threatens to kill them. Although the series didn't very often show Reed and Malloy spending a lot of time together off-duty, you'd think the show's writers could have come up with a better idea than this. It's taken for granted that nothing bad is going to happen to the show's two stars, so no matter how much the bikers threaten them or actually attack them, there's no tension or suspense wondering if Reed, Malloy and company are going to come out of it OK--of course they will. So that means that the bikers will end up on the short end of the stick, which--to no one's surprise--is exactly what happens. The writing is simplistic in the extreme: the bikers are pure evil and are sneeringly referred to as "unwashed" and listening to "indecent, filthy music", which in 1969--when this episode was shot--was anathema to arch-conservatives such as the show's producer Jack Webb and pretty much a sign of the coming apocalypse that would be brought on by the "hippies", the "youth movement" and all the other forces of evil that were destroying America (to their way of thinking, at least). In addition, the biker gang's leader is played by Bruce Glover--Christian Glover's father--in such snarling, clenched-teeth, off-the-wall scenery chewing as to be embarrassing. Of course Reed and Malloy--and, by extension, the forces of goodness and decency--triumph, much as you knew they would. I actually like Adam-12 and thought it was overall a pretty good show, but every so often Webb's far-right politics would find their way into an episode or two, and this is one of them. Skip it.
One of the worst episodes
bhogston17 September 2021
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
