I was going to give this episode a 10 just for all the great scenes with the fetching Beth Davenport (Gretchen Corbett) in a negligee, but unfortunately the script and casting lowered this rather serious episode to an 8.
Beth Davenport is defending a football player named Davy Woodhill (Howard McGillin) from a charge of armed robbery and murder. She's asked Jim to find the one alibi witness who can clear Davy--a married woman named Doreen Carpenter (Sondra Blake) who was with Davy the night of the killing. In the meantime a creepy psycho stalker is throwing Beth off her game by sending her dirty books, movies, and making vaguely harassing phone calls. Jim wants to find the creep, but Beth insists he continue the search for Carpenter at all costs.
There's some nice tension between Jim and Beth at the top of this episode. He's been "off fishing" and hasn't been available. Both Corbett and Garner play this very well with an eye towards their on again off again relationship. Corbett gets a lot to do in this episode and besides wearing a negligee, gets to be terrified and do a little investigating on her own. A great episode for we Beth Davenport admirers.
Although the episode is mostly serious, Garner has a funny scene with a talent agent as he tries to find Carpenter through her son, a bad child actor. Joe Santos also gets a funny moment as he becomes the department spokesperson for the Woodhull investigation. Angel is referenced as a source in this episode but does not appear. Norman Bartold, who plays the judge, makes the last of his four "Rockford" appearances.
The problems with this episode lie in the writing and the casting. First off, Rockford figures out the crime fairly early, so there's really no surprise when he turns out to be right. And then why for instance, does Woodhull admit to Beth what he's been doing once he's acquitted of the crime? Why not just shut up? And what's the idea of bringing Carpenter in only to have her shot before she can testify? Both McGillin as Woodhill and Blake as Carpenter are wholly unconvincing. McGillin in particular comes off as a Greg Marmalard reject from the Omegas in "Animal House".
Still its nice to have an episode feature Beth, and the ending shows there still may be something in the Rockford-Davenport relationship.
Beth Davenport is defending a football player named Davy Woodhill (Howard McGillin) from a charge of armed robbery and murder. She's asked Jim to find the one alibi witness who can clear Davy--a married woman named Doreen Carpenter (Sondra Blake) who was with Davy the night of the killing. In the meantime a creepy psycho stalker is throwing Beth off her game by sending her dirty books, movies, and making vaguely harassing phone calls. Jim wants to find the creep, but Beth insists he continue the search for Carpenter at all costs.
There's some nice tension between Jim and Beth at the top of this episode. He's been "off fishing" and hasn't been available. Both Corbett and Garner play this very well with an eye towards their on again off again relationship. Corbett gets a lot to do in this episode and besides wearing a negligee, gets to be terrified and do a little investigating on her own. A great episode for we Beth Davenport admirers.
Although the episode is mostly serious, Garner has a funny scene with a talent agent as he tries to find Carpenter through her son, a bad child actor. Joe Santos also gets a funny moment as he becomes the department spokesperson for the Woodhull investigation. Angel is referenced as a source in this episode but does not appear. Norman Bartold, who plays the judge, makes the last of his four "Rockford" appearances.
The problems with this episode lie in the writing and the casting. First off, Rockford figures out the crime fairly early, so there's really no surprise when he turns out to be right. And then why for instance, does Woodhull admit to Beth what he's been doing once he's acquitted of the crime? Why not just shut up? And what's the idea of bringing Carpenter in only to have her shot before she can testify? Both McGillin as Woodhill and Blake as Carpenter are wholly unconvincing. McGillin in particular comes off as a Greg Marmalard reject from the Omegas in "Animal House".
Still its nice to have an episode feature Beth, and the ending shows there still may be something in the Rockford-Davenport relationship.