Mannix (TV Series) A Puzzle for One (1972) User Reviews

Joe loses another PI friend

[Guad42 · 7/10 · 27 March 2021]

Each season of the show seems to include episodes of Mannix working for a kid, Mannix meeting up with an old service buddy from Korea, and one of Mannix's PI friends getting killed. This particular episode is the last one. As pointed out by another reviewer, it is a bit of a cliché. Mannix's friend is blown up in a car and Joe follows up on the friend's current case load of four cases, some of which Joe steered to him. Someone is killing off the people involved in the cases and Joe can't figure out why. The explanation for all the killings is a bit of a reach. Another cliché is when the hood is covering Joe with a gun, Joe always manages to reverse the situation.

The cast is fine. Nice to see Adam West as a jerk. Nehemiah Persoff, still alive today at 100, had to be one of the busiest guest actors in the 60s and 70s. He did a great Twilight Zone and Hawaii Five-0. Jack Ging makes one of his semi-regular appearances as Lt Ives. I guess Lt Malcolm was on vacation. Joe gets knocked out and so does Peggy. Joe doesn't get paid. All in all, a good outing but why can't the PI friend just break his leg and then Joe takes over.

Being a secretary for Joe Mannix is a dangerous ocupation

[cpotato1010 · 7/10 · 1 January 2019]

OK, so once again Joe is hit on the back of the head, par for the course.

But this is also one of the episodes where Peggy is also knocked out, although with chloroform. She was knocked out/ tied up/ kidnapped is so many episodes, she should have put in for hazardous duty pay.

I do question the car bomb. The car was not parked there for very long, and it was a semi-public location. The killer would have had to raise the hood of the car, place the bomb and connect it to the ignition, then close the hood quietly, in just a few minutes time. There had to be an easier way.

Also, how many ways were there out of that upstairs room? When the cops take away the bad guys, they exit though a door at the top of the stairs, instead of going down the stairs and out the front door. And why did the cops bring the one bad guy back upstairs, when he had ended up on the stairs landing below. Very curious.

Adam West gets a bad rap

[glitterrose · 10/10 · 30 June 2022]

I recently watched this episode on FeTV and want to single out Adam West. It's a shame he got so badly typecast as Batman. A good actor can do any role. Adam played Batman as a hammy character because it was a hammy series. Don't assume Adam is a hammy actor because of one tv character he played. He did a superb job in this episode. And he's the link for why Joe's PI friend was killed. Adam's character really isn't up to any good in this episode.

So let's get to the guts of the review. Mannix passed some of his cases (4 cases) to a down on his luck pi. Bad news for this friend because he ends up getting killed from his car blowing up. Mannix looks into these four cases to see which one of them ties into the murder of his friend.

Case one: A lady (Elizabeth MacRae--Lou Ann Poovie from Gomer Pyle U. S. M. C) was down on her luck when she was younger. She did a skin flick and is now being black mailed over this dirty movie.

Case two: Investigating a cheating spouse (Adam West) and it turns out Adam's character is quite a player since he's got something going with four women at the same time!

Case three: A father that's very distraught over the death of his daughter. His daughter had a drug problem and died from an overdose, the father wants the pusher.

Case four: A guy on the hook from loan sharks

There was something Peggy said that kinda bothered me and unfortunately I can't remember the wording for what she said, go figure. It was the scene involving her telling Mannix about a psychopath being involved in the case. I don't really look at cases one and three being bad people. Elizabeth's character clearly looked disgusted that she had to resort to doing a dirty movie but she also said she was struggling financially and she was eating oatmeal for dinner. I'm not gonna judge her character in a harsh light because I realize sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

And case three was clearly struggling over the death of his daughter. I've seen Nehemiah Persoff in other things before and he usually puts in a terrific performance and this episode is no exception. Really feel like the writing for his character was strong...especially as he's nailing the point home that Mannix doesn't know what it's like to go through something like this. He point blank asks Mannix if he has kids and Joe doesn't have any. He doesn't know what it's like to go to a hospital and see your kid that messed up.

Mannix gets knocked out again. Peggy gets drugged. Although Mannix should be used to getting knocked in the head since it happens practically every episode.

Anyway, excellent episode and would highly recommend to Mannix fans or fans of anybody guest starring in this episode.

FOUR THE HARD WAY. ABSOLUTELY.

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 21 June 2023]

Dedicated to us true MANNIX fans.

In real life.... Joe and Peggy would have probably said "Enough!" This episode is enough for anyone. Joe's PI friend is killed and he takes over his work load (four related cases) --proving dangerous to his health, and Peggy too. I agree with the last reviewer, it's clear any friend of Mannix does not have a long life.

On the table is a case of blackmail (porno!) , loan sharking, drugs... and death. The cast is superb co-starring one of the great dramatic actors, Nehemiah Persoff (who passed at 102 in 2022). Persoff was in some dynamic films and best known on tv for MISSION IMPOSSIBLE and HAWAII FIVE O, playing some exceptionally desperate characters.

BATMAN Adam West has an integral role here, connected to the death of the private eye, and not necessarily a good guy. After Batman, West played a wide variety of roles with that unmistakable, deep voice, put to good use. One trivia note, he also played a cop on the DETECTIVES, starring movie star Robert Taylor in the early 60s. And had it not been for BATMAN, he may have become a tv detective himself.

Elizabeth MacCrea (best known for GOMER PYLE), plays Diane and turns in a solid dramatic performance. Also Johnny's Carson's kooky blonde sidekick, Carol Wayne makes a guest appearance.

Directed by Jeffrey Hayden, who I am sure was a good friend of Adam West as he directed many episodes for BATMAN. Also known for PEYTON PLACE. He was married for years to actress Eva Marie Saint.

Note; written by David Harmon, who also wrote for IRONSIDE and the BRADY BUNCH. Did you notice the car? That's Greg Brady's (BRADY BUNCH) junk car that gets blown up, according to production notes, a 1956 Chevy Bel Air. Did David have something to do with that famous car? Interesting coincidence.

SEASON 6 EPISODE 11 remastered color CBS/Paramount dvd box set.

Excellent ep. West and 2 very beautiful ladies make great guest stars

[belanger75 · 10/10 · 9 June 2019]

The plot is complicated. A fellow detective/mutual friend of Mannix's is bumped off and Joe takes on 4 of the late PI's cases. One leads to a beautiful lady trying to get back a porno film she appeared in years before. Another leads to a stock broker (West) cheating on his marriage. Mannix takes the broker in as a boarder in sort of like protective custody. This part of the story gives West lots of great screen time. And there are the beautiful ladies the broker is cheating on his marriage with. Marvelous ep. A winner!

Mannix meets Batman!

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 6 June 2015]

Grrrrrrr!!! The first five minutes of this episode really annoyed me. An old friend of Mannix's comes to see him--and about 30 seconds later the guy is murdered--blown to bits! Why did this make me mad? Because just about every time you see an old friend of Mannix, the guy will be dead by the end of the show! Heck, in the PREVIOUS episode, another one of Mannix's friends was killed! This must have happened at least a dozen times during the course of the show--and it's a cheap plot device. As a result, no matter how good the show was, it's clichéd.

The story involves the murdered friend and Mannix looking into the cases this friend was working on at the time. One brings him to a grieving father (Nehemiah Persoff), another to a woman who once made a porno film, a guy who gambles and a stockbroker who cheats on his wife (Adam West...Batman from the 1960s).

The four stories were mostly very good. But the one about the gambler was dumb--especially since someone tried to kill him with a speargun at a huge distance! Such a shot is nearly impossible (let alone stupid)--especially since the shooter was a hired killer who should have just used his gun!!! Duh!