After a jogger (Robin Dearden) is attacked near an athletic field veteran cop Sgt. T.J.Hooker (William Shatner) and his young partner Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed) are dispatched to the scene. They arrive in time for Hooker to give chase as a prolific and athletic serial rapist (George McDaniel), dubbed 'Bigfoot' by the media, flees. Hooker valiantly pursues but the attacker eludes him.
Ambitious, rude and arrogant police detective Sgt Wayne Conrad (James O'Sullivan) is assigned to the 'Bigfoot' case and is convinced the attack was committed by a random weirdo (Charles Bartlett) who likes to confess to crimes and has a long record of having been a nuisance to police. Hooker and Romano show no bias though the suspect confessing was collared by them.
This is a very well-directed episode. The sequencing of shots gives an illusion of depth that buttresses the diagesis. The televised news conference, featuring characters in the episode, being broadcast at the scene of another crime gives the audience an exaggerated sense of scale. The gimmick of the talk radio show linking residents of the city together is also quite effective in presenting the illusion of this fictional setting.
Aside from the normal clichés of the series (like football tackles of suspects) one cliché that is featured stands out - Hooker's use of his nightstick to subdue the baddie. The character is seen utilizing the implement with varying degrees of aptitude in episodes. Shatner got good at using a nightstick and I mean REALLY good! We're talking Kung Fu good! His remarkable display of nightstick magic in this episode has to be seen to be believed.
Another aspect depicted well in this entry is the flake element of police work. We see it exemplified in the serial confessor character and the outraged citizen character. The weirdos that police have to deal with make for entertaining stories. They are much more entertaining than the contrived whimsy of showing Hooker and his partner kidding each other about their respective peccadilloes.
The 'City of Passion' storyline trilogy of the cop show 'Hunter' adapted by ex-LAPD cop Dallas L.Barnes from his novel also featured a serial rapist called 'Bigfoot'. Barnes also wrote this episode of T.J.Hooker.
Ambitious, rude and arrogant police detective Sgt Wayne Conrad (James O'Sullivan) is assigned to the 'Bigfoot' case and is convinced the attack was committed by a random weirdo (Charles Bartlett) who likes to confess to crimes and has a long record of having been a nuisance to police. Hooker and Romano show no bias though the suspect confessing was collared by them.
This is a very well-directed episode. The sequencing of shots gives an illusion of depth that buttresses the diagesis. The televised news conference, featuring characters in the episode, being broadcast at the scene of another crime gives the audience an exaggerated sense of scale. The gimmick of the talk radio show linking residents of the city together is also quite effective in presenting the illusion of this fictional setting.
Aside from the normal clichés of the series (like football tackles of suspects) one cliché that is featured stands out - Hooker's use of his nightstick to subdue the baddie. The character is seen utilizing the implement with varying degrees of aptitude in episodes. Shatner got good at using a nightstick and I mean REALLY good! We're talking Kung Fu good! His remarkable display of nightstick magic in this episode has to be seen to be believed.
Another aspect depicted well in this entry is the flake element of police work. We see it exemplified in the serial confessor character and the outraged citizen character. The weirdos that police have to deal with make for entertaining stories. They are much more entertaining than the contrived whimsy of showing Hooker and his partner kidding each other about their respective peccadilloes.
The 'City of Passion' storyline trilogy of the cop show 'Hunter' adapted by ex-LAPD cop Dallas L.Barnes from his novel also featured a serial rapist called 'Bigfoot'. Barnes also wrote this episode of T.J.Hooker.
