Don Galloway, playing Ed Brown, really comes into his own this season. In numerous episodes he's heavily featured, and he pulls it off. This is the apex of Galloway's career, and it shows. He can carry an episode for sure.
Raymond Burr must have needed a rest as Ironside spends the episode in bed with the flu!
The common theme of the corrupt small town is evident again, as it has been in man Ironside plots. Once we see a character head into a small town we just know they're going to be attacked, lied to, sabotaged, and all sorts of horrible things.
The story alludes to something that happened in the 1970's that many people regret now: Selling off beautiful environmental resources (here, beachfront land for a chemical factory!) to make a buck. Many of the characters in the episode basically call the two people wanting to preserve nature crazy. It's still a tension today, but in the 1960's and 1970's the destruction of America's beaches, rivers, streams and forests was unbelievable.
Anyway, Ed gets to the bottom of it all by himself and has a real edge to him while doing it.
The guest stars aren't A-listers, but two stand out.
Loretta Swit appears and must have filmed this right before or during the beginning of her 11 year run as Hot Lips Houlihan on MASH. Kenneth Mars also is in this, but if you've seen him in Young Frankenstein, then it's just not going to be right seeing him as a mild mannered, rather meek, lawyer. And he also serves the Ironside/Star Trek connection, appearing in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.