The Six Million Dollar Man (TV Series) Rollback (1977) User Reviews

Rollback

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 15 December 2023]

Steve Austin goes undercover as Philip Taylor, a roller derby skater with great talent and a mean streak. Through a seemingly successful ruse, Steve is hired to replace a skater he injures on the Thunderbirds team whose owner is seeking to acquire and sell top secret government information. He undergoes highly unusual training with the Thunderbirds, thought to be in preparation for infiltrating and stealing information from the Pentagon. As the heist unfolds, Steve soon finds out that his cover is blown and that OSI is the real target.

More of a down to earth episode which has no Bigfoots, aliens or goblins, and it's simply a heist/mission impossible style episode - there's some fine scenes such as skating through a tunnel. There's a strong feeling that Steve has the odds against him as Loggia's villain has all the winning cards. It's an entertaining one with not much bionic display.

Roller Derby Steve in Action!

[hypestyle · 7/10 · 12 May 2021]

Steve gets hired to infiltrate a roller derby team who is owned by a corrupt businessman who is involved in stealing government secrets for high bidders. The owner, played by television veteran Robert Loggia, hires ex cons to be on his roller derby team, in the hopes that they will help him on future theft jobs. By the 1970s, roller derby had caught on to nearly mainstream status, and various scripted television shows and movies of the time seemed to go out of their way to feature it.

Steve gets "outed" early on, but Loggia's character doesn't let on right away. Instead, he prefers to let Steve practice roller derby with the rest of the team, along with seemingly incongruous other activities like dart throwing and glass blowing. Turns out, this is all in preparation for a major theft job at the Pentagon, which Oscar tells Steve to play along with in the hopes that the entire group can be caught with evidence of their scheme.

Rock singer and future soap star Rick Springfield has a bit part here.

There's not a lot of bionic based action until the climax which takes place during a Halloween charity party. On the plus side, depending on your preference for the kind of stories told in this series, there are no robots, no Sasquatch, no aliens, or other fantasy elements in this episode.