"The Fugitive" The Judgment: Part II (1967)

User Rating:

8.8/10   

Director:

Don Medford

Writers:

George Eckstein (writer)
Roy Huggins (creator)

TV Series:

"The Fugitive" (1963)

Original Air Date:

29 August 1967 (Season 4, Episode 30)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

On the train back to Indiana, Kimble convinces Girard to give him one day to track down the one-armed man...

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Fugitive | Chase | Falsely Convicted | Obsession

Cast

David Janssen	...	Dr. Richard Kimble
Richard Anderson	...	Leonard Taft
J.D. Cannon	...	Lloyd Chandler
Jacqueline Scott	...	Donna Kimble Taft
Diane Baker	...	Jean Carlisle
Louise Latham	...	Betsy Chandler
Bill Raisch	...	Fred Johnson
Johnny Jensen	...	Bobby Taft
Barry Morse	...	Lt. Philip Gerard

Runtime:

USA:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Filming Locations:

Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Company:

Quinn Martin Productions (QM)

Trivia:

ABC executives initially objected to the idea of a series finale because they feared that it would hurt the show's syndication profits.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[In the dead of night, Kimble and Gerard are handcuffed together on a train bound for Stafford, Indiana. Kimble stares pensively out the window, contemplating his fate, and Gerard tries to busy himself reading the newspaper. Gerard takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes in exhaustion]
Narrator: A man may travel many roads, and one day find his way home again. But for Richard Kimble, this road is not of his choosing and this day has come too soon. Two men, traveling together, bound by links of steel, and the memory of a sensless murder committed years before. Two men, one of whom has finally caught his elusive quarry.
Lt. Philip Gerard: Six more hours.
Dr. Richard Kimble: There's no point in asking you again, is there?
Lt. Philip Gerard: No, I'm afraid not.
Dr. Richard Kimble: I don't need three days, just twenty-four hours... that's all.
Lt. Philip Gerard: All I can give you is the same promise I made when you agreed to waive extradition... I'll keep the story of your arrest out of the papers. Anyway, I doubt your one-armed man is even in Stafford.
Dr. Richard Kimble: No, Johnon's in Stafford. I know that.
Lt. Philip Gerard: All you can be sure of is that someone paid three thousand dollars to bail him out of jail.
[...]

Plot summary

For emotional impact this clearly gets a 10, but I give it only a 9 because of implausible character actions designed to heighten the excitement of the finale, and a weak, unconvincing romance between Kimble and Jean Carlisle (actress Diane Baker).

Kimble, Lieutenant Gerard and Fred Johnson all go to Stafford, Indiana, each of them with a mission. Johnson's mission leads to his undoing.

In this episode, we finally see the actual murder of Helen Kimble. We see who was there, how she was killed, and why she was killed. Lloyd Chandler (actor J. D. Cannon), a neighbor of Kimble's sister, plays an important role in having the truth come out.

The epilog is touching, and very fitting. Does Kimble go free? You'll have to watch and see for yourself.