After babysitting a blind girl and rescuing Greer from a backwoods village of the damned, the Mod Squad finally lands a serious case worthy of its teamwork and talent. The trail of a series of guns and ammo heists leads to a sinister plot--a private army awaiting an apocalyptic scenario to catapult it to power.
J.D. Cannon is outstanding as magnate and militia mastermind Van Marney. He's an atypical antagonist, cultured and well spoken, ideologically driven and not selfishly motivated (compare him to the thugs played by John Milford and Cliff Osmond in the last two episodes). Marney is a capitalist crusader whose persuasive speeches nonetheless fail to persuade Pete and Linc to join his efforts to return America to the halcyon days of his grandfather's era (the days of the so-called robber barons). Marney's dire words about the nation's strength being sapped and our once great civilization being reduced to rubble have proved prophetic almost fifty years later as we've witnessed America slip into steep decline.
But is the solution to America's problems guns and ammo? Marney's misguided solution of an armed and combat-trained militia did smack of Hitler's brownshirts as Pete pointed out, but not the Klan bedsheets that Linc suggested. Linc's race sensitivity is particularly tender here, at one point even claiming Marney is a bigot. Based on what? Marney had treated him with the same respect he afforded to Pete. If anything, Linc was disrespectful when he was daydreaming at the window while Marney plotted a heist. Marney later dismissed with a laugh Linc's "bedsheet" remark and even invited Linc to join his organization (which welcome Linc rudely rebuffed). Marney's sights were set on much bigger things and wider vistas, his vision not narrowed like Linc's, who can't see past the chip on his shoulder.
Linc does come off poorly in this episode, his acting more wooden than Pete's car. Julie's action is mostly off camera, following and losing a suspect, then pouting with worry when Pete and Linc won't answer the phone. That gives Greer a chance to play Dad and to reassure her the boys will be fine. Greer also gets to play traffic cop, writing Pete a ticket in a fun, cloak-and-dagger exchange of information. And speaking of intrigue, why did Julie have to bluff about having an appointment for interrogation in order to see Greer? Pete, Linc, and Julie are regulars in Greer's office. It wasn't even necessary to set up the surprise sighting of Julie by Carl North, Marney's mole in police headquarters.
The seemingly ubiquitous John Harmon played North, and played him as the nervous weasel Harmon always seemed to play. Harmon's character was aptly named Rodent in "The City on the Edge of Forever" episode of STAR TREK (and Harmon returned to play the sniveling Tepo in "A Piece of the Action").
Another cast member worthy of mention is Sean Garrison, who did a fine job as Samuel Coles, lieutenant to Marney. He had the look and talent of a man who should have worked more than his relatively scant credits report. His character was a cold-blooded sharpshooter dishonorably discharged from the service. But those marksman skills are only on display once, when he picked off his hapless comrade while he scurried down a ladder. With so much attention given to guns, I was expecting Coles at some point to pin down Pete and Linc through a sniper's scope, but instead their climactic conflict found Coles brandishing a snub-nose revolver while he, Pete, and Linc are crammed into the front seat of a vintage truck. It was an anti-climactic climax at best.
That brings to mind the shortcomings that cost the episode a star. Why would Marney radio Coles immediately with word that Pete and Linc are undercover cops? Marney knows they could hear them and would react. Such an impulsive move from the mastermind who meticulously planned the training and placement of 10,000 militiamen all over the country was out of character. But that lapse of judgment did literally speed things to the denouement (cue speeding and swerving truck tumbling down grassy hill. What, no explosion? Maybe those only became requisite in the '70s).
The epilogue proved especially interesting in light of the gun control debates that continue to rage. Julie, in full-blown flower girl naiveté, says it would "be nice if all the guns in the world" were aboard the tug that's going to dump the seized weapons into the ocean. Linc, presaging NRA-era Charlton Heston, rebuts with "Wouldn't change anything. It's not the guns--it's the people who use them." Solid.
J.D. Cannon is outstanding as magnate and militia mastermind Van Marney. He's an atypical antagonist, cultured and well spoken, ideologically driven and not selfishly motivated (compare him to the thugs played by John Milford and Cliff Osmond in the last two episodes). Marney is a capitalist crusader whose persuasive speeches nonetheless fail to persuade Pete and Linc to join his efforts to return America to the halcyon days of his grandfather's era (the days of the so-called robber barons). Marney's dire words about the nation's strength being sapped and our once great civilization being reduced to rubble have proved prophetic almost fifty years later as we've witnessed America slip into steep decline.
But is the solution to America's problems guns and ammo? Marney's misguided solution of an armed and combat-trained militia did smack of Hitler's brownshirts as Pete pointed out, but not the Klan bedsheets that Linc suggested. Linc's race sensitivity is particularly tender here, at one point even claiming Marney is a bigot. Based on what? Marney had treated him with the same respect he afforded to Pete. If anything, Linc was disrespectful when he was daydreaming at the window while Marney plotted a heist. Marney later dismissed with a laugh Linc's "bedsheet" remark and even invited Linc to join his organization (which welcome Linc rudely rebuffed). Marney's sights were set on much bigger things and wider vistas, his vision not narrowed like Linc's, who can't see past the chip on his shoulder.
Linc does come off poorly in this episode, his acting more wooden than Pete's car. Julie's action is mostly off camera, following and losing a suspect, then pouting with worry when Pete and Linc won't answer the phone. That gives Greer a chance to play Dad and to reassure her the boys will be fine. Greer also gets to play traffic cop, writing Pete a ticket in a fun, cloak-and-dagger exchange of information. And speaking of intrigue, why did Julie have to bluff about having an appointment for interrogation in order to see Greer? Pete, Linc, and Julie are regulars in Greer's office. It wasn't even necessary to set up the surprise sighting of Julie by Carl North, Marney's mole in police headquarters.
The seemingly ubiquitous John Harmon played North, and played him as the nervous weasel Harmon always seemed to play. Harmon's character was aptly named Rodent in "The City on the Edge of Forever" episode of STAR TREK (and Harmon returned to play the sniveling Tepo in "A Piece of the Action").
Another cast member worthy of mention is Sean Garrison, who did a fine job as Samuel Coles, lieutenant to Marney. He had the look and talent of a man who should have worked more than his relatively scant credits report. His character was a cold-blooded sharpshooter dishonorably discharged from the service. But those marksman skills are only on display once, when he picked off his hapless comrade while he scurried down a ladder. With so much attention given to guns, I was expecting Coles at some point to pin down Pete and Linc through a sniper's scope, but instead their climactic conflict found Coles brandishing a snub-nose revolver while he, Pete, and Linc are crammed into the front seat of a vintage truck. It was an anti-climactic climax at best.
That brings to mind the shortcomings that cost the episode a star. Why would Marney radio Coles immediately with word that Pete and Linc are undercover cops? Marney knows they could hear them and would react. Such an impulsive move from the mastermind who meticulously planned the training and placement of 10,000 militiamen all over the country was out of character. But that lapse of judgment did literally speed things to the denouement (cue speeding and swerving truck tumbling down grassy hill. What, no explosion? Maybe those only became requisite in the '70s).
The epilogue proved especially interesting in light of the gun control debates that continue to rage. Julie, in full-blown flower girl naiveté, says it would "be nice if all the guns in the world" were aboard the tug that's going to dump the seized weapons into the ocean. Linc, presaging NRA-era Charlton Heston, rebuts with "Wouldn't change anything. It's not the guns--it's the people who use them." Solid.
