Dead and Alive begins with two shady men giving a package to a courier, Peter Neilson (Bruce Wright), who insists that this will be his last delivery for them. As Peter drives down the road, his truck suddenly explodes and veers off crashing into a gas station causing a huge explosion. Quincy (Jack Klugman) later conducts the autopsy of the body found in the wreckage which is assumed to be Peter, but it is so badly charred that he cannot make a positive identification. After further examination of teeth fragments seems to confirm that it was Peter, his sister (Ayn Ruymen) disputes the findings telling everybody that she received a phone call from Peter proving that he is still alive. This puts her at odds with her mother (Priscilla Pointer) who wants Peter declared dead so the case will be closed and she can collect on the insurance policy.
I found this to be an interesting and enjoyable mystery episode with a good balance of action thrown in, especially the accident scenes in the beginning which I thought were well done. Although it was pretty apparent who was responsible for the accident and death, who was actually killed and what happened after was not, so this kept my attention throughout. There is also some humorous scenes thrown in as Quincy, Sam (Robert Ito) and Danny (Val Bisoglio) go on a hillside search which Danny was not prepared or dressed for.
All in all, a good Season 4 mystery episode entry which I highly recommend.