Quincy M.E. (TV Series) Cover-Up (1980) User Reviews

The inquest scene--it's very, very gripping.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 11 May 2013]

"Cover-Up" begins with a guy having a heart attack and being brought to a local emergency care clinic. Unfortunately, the doctor who SHOULD have been on duty stepped out for a couple hours and he left his buddy in charge. The problem is that although his friend is a doctor, he is in no way qualified in emergency medicine...none. As a result of his incompetence, the man dies--the victim of improper treatment. However, the doctor who SHOULD have been there showed up and orchestrated a cover-up to hide what really happened. The only clues that something improper happened was the presence of a drug that actually killed the guy as well as Quincy's niece--the nurse who witnessed some of the blundering that killed the man. But, with doctors and the head of the clinic working hard to hide the truth, can Quincy get to the bottom of it?

This is a rather scary episode. I am not sure if unqualified doctors today can work in emergency clinics like they did in the show, though pretty much any doctor can go in practice doing things like plastic surgery without expert training. As I said, very scary for all of us potential patients! On top of this, the final minutes of the show at the coroner's inquest were great--very, very damning as Dr. Quincy described the horrible things the men did to do the cover-up. It was amazingly gripping--and one of the better moments in the series.

No crime or mystery but still a decent story

[rayoflite24 · 7/10 · 24 October 2015]

Cover-Up begins with Dr. Charles Aldred (Lin McCarthy) and his daughter Margaret (Margaret Ladd), a nurse, visiting their old friend Quincy (Jack Klugman) for a letter of recommendation as Margaret decides to become a doctor. Later in the evening, a man is rushed into the clinic Margaret works at in cardiac arrest, but the attending physician who is filling in for the normal doctor on duty is not trained in emergency care. The patient dies as a result and the owner of the clinic pressures Margaret to keep quiet over the switch which leads her to seek guidance from Quincy. He performs the autopsy which does not reveal anything unusual, but the toxicology tests uncover what really happened at the clinic that night.

This is an episode dealing with medical malpractice and there is no crime committed or even a mystery for that matter as we see what transpired right in the opening scenes. I'm typically not a fan of the episodes lacking the crime and mystery elements, but somehow this one remained interesting and compelling enough for me to enjoy it. The story was quite reasonable and I didn't find any huge plot holes unlike several other Season 5 episodes up to this point.

Overall this is a pretty decent and entertaining plot which is a little different from the norm and moves along at a good pace which I highly recommend viewing.

Decent Quincy episode.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 19 June 2008]

Quincy M.E.: Cover-Up starts at a bowling alley where Robert Keane suffers a heart attack, the paramedics are called & they treat him at the scene. The paramedics are ordered to take the patient to Dr. Danner's Emergency Clinic where Dr. Alan Drew (Nicholas Hormann) & nurse Margaret Aldred (Margaret Ladd) are supposed to be on duty, however Dr. Drew had a date with a lady & left his buddy Dr. Tate Edmunds (Michael Durrell) in charge. Unfortunately Edmunds has no experience of emergency room procedure & due to a mistake made by him the patient dies, realising they could be in big trouble Edmunds, Drew & the clinic's owner Dr. Paul Danner implement a cover-up. However Margaret feels uneasy about the situation & goes to her uncle Los Angeles coroner Quincy (Jack Klugman) to express her concerns, after learning of the cover-up Quincy is shocked & sets out to bring those responsible for an unnecessary death to justice...

Episode 15 from season 5 this Quincy story was directed by Paul Stanley & to be honest isn't a particularly bad episode but at the same time isn't a particularly great one, it's just rather average in the grand scheme of things. Here the Quincy production team decided to tackle the social issue regarding unqualified Doctor's in Hospital emergency rooms & that there are no statutory laws requiring them to have any special training, experience or even proper qualifications. The sentiment is all well & good & if you add that to the basic mystery element of the episode as Quincy tries to uncover the truth of what happened through medical science in order to get justice & try to prevent it happening again then Cover-Up isn't a bad way to spend fifty odd minutes I suppose. The problem is I like the more murder mystery orientated Quincy episodes & since Cover-Up doesn't have a murder in it there's obviously no murder mystery so be solved & therefore Cover-Up doesn't rate as one of my favourite episodes. There's a running subplot during this episode in which Quincy is challenged by Danny to try & find the secret ingredient of his special sauce which becomes a cheesy running gag throughout the episode.

As usual the episode is well made but unremarkable. The one thing of note that I did notice is that nurse Margaret played by Margaret Ladd seemed to be dubbed on quite a few occasions, her voice just sounds odd & very high pitched for no apparent reason & her mouth movements don't quite match what she's saying a few times. The acting is pretty good with Klugman again putting in a fine performance.

Cover-Up is a pretty good Quincy episode considering that it doesn't actually have a murder in it, despite this there's still enough here to enjoy & pass fifty odd minutes.