"Quincy M.E." Last Rights (1980)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Georg Fenady

Writers:

Sam Egan (writer)
Glen A. Larson (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Quincy M.E." (1976)

Original Air Date:

16 September 1980 (Season 6, Episode 1)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Crime

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Coroner | Murder | Cult Favorite | Courtroom | Amateur Detective

Cast

Jack Klugman	...	Dr. R. Quincy, M.E.
Garry Walberg	...	Lt. Frank Monahan
John S. Ragin	...	Dr. Robert Asten
Val Bisoglio	...	Danny Tovo
Robert Ito	...	Sam Fujiyama
Joseph Roman	...	Sgt. Brill
William Daniels	...	Dr. Charlie Volmer
Philip Abbott	...	County Commissioner Bill Sullivan
Clifton James	...	Cliff Webb
Ben Hammer	...	State Senator Kane
Warren Stevens	...	Wayne Fields
Ivan Bonar	...	Simon Grossland
Shannon Farnon	...	Helen Volmer
Peg Shirley	...	Bea Thatcher
Christopher LeBlanc	...	Ned Duncan

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The name of actor Blake Marion (as Ed Lampley) appears twice during the end credits.

Average Quincy episode to kick off the sixth season.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Quincy M.E.: Last Rights starts in the small Californian county of Stoker which has a population of 28,361 but that is quickly reduced to 28,360 when local businessman Wayne Fields (Warren Stevens) finds the dead body of his teenage son Cory with an empty drug container near by, considering Cory had a drug addiction problem his father assumes that he died from an overdose which will look bad all round so he puts pressure on county commissioner Bill Sullivan (Philip Abbott) to keep it quiet. New forensic pathologist Dr. Charlie Volmer (William Daniels) comes under huge pressure to ignore Cory's death & put it down as an accident but he refuses which upsets a lot of powerful people. Volmer turns to Los Angeles medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) for help in resolving the situation...

Episode 1 from season 6 this Quincy story was directed by Georg Fenady & one has to say that I thought Last Rights was a throughly lacklustre opening to the sixth season. Traditionally Quincy season openers are very good but Last Rights is a really dull fifty odd minutes, there's no murder, no mystery, there's lots of badly dated heavy handed moralistic preaching that I don't think is even relevant these days & the main man himself Quincy takes a back seat in the episode as his mate Volmer becomes the focus. I was unimpressed. The whole message about people only wanting to know the truth when it's convenient for them might have made a decent platform for a good episode but most of the events here are very predictable & there are an awful lot of coincidences that happen in a short space of time which first gets Volmer into a sticky situation & then just as quickly gets him out of it. The character's are one dimensional walking clichés (a corrupt businessman who uses his power to try & get what he wants, uncaring politicians, drugged up teenagers, an owner of a local company who turns out to be a big bully only interested in money & a local small time reporter who no-one will listen to until Quincy show's up) & there isn't even any humour in this episode either.

Mostly set inside Stoker county Last Rights looks OK & is competently made if unspectacular, it certainly isn't much to look at. Larger than life character actor Cliffton James plays a bad guy while William Daniels plays Volmer, he has a voice you will probably recognise but not a face which can be quite frustrating but a quick check of his IMDb profile reveals he actually provided the voice of K.I.T.T. in Knight Rider (1982 - 1986) which explains it & he also appeared in all 137 episodes of St. Elsewhere (1982 - 1988). Klugman again is on top form, the only time Last Rights comes to life is at the very end when he stands before a committee & has to make an impassioned speech about the integrity & need for forensic pathology.

Last Rights is a disappointing start to to the sixth season of Quincy, this just has none of the elements that I usually find so entertaining about the show apart from the always watchable Klugman & his fine performance. Luckily things improve.