While I wouldn't hesitate to call this a solid episode, I would also have to say that this isn't even close to being one of my favorites, mainly because nothing memorable happened. I thought William Daniels did a commendable job as Thomas Caine, although his talents could've been used far more for my tastes, as the man is a fine actor; I can't say the same for Camilla Sparv(Evelyn/Maggie), as I didn't detect any real chemistry between her and James Garner. Ron Silver makes one of his first acting gigs here, as he had a couple interesting scenes as Ted, one who examines art to see if it's legitimate. The premise has Caine hiring Rockford to stand in for him at art auctions to bid on these odd looking bird sculptures, which are supposedly priceless, but them suckers are ugly. It turns out that the woman, who tries to help Rockford early on, winds up being a thief and attempts to steal the bird, along with 2 goons; this is the 3rd auctioned bird, as the other 2 got smashed in scenes I'm too lazy to mention. Rockford does his usual con job in an airport to recover the stolen sculpture, and he also figures out, and yet again smashes the bird, that stolen jewels were inside the bird, and this is what the woman and Caine were really after; soon after, the police come and save the day, with Dennis shooting a thug. The final scene between Rockford and an agent from Lloyd's of London at a restaurant was pretty funny, as Jim was expecting some kind of reward for helping to locate the stolen sculpture, but since all 3 were broken, he may not get enough to pay for the check. Lastly, this was the 3rd episode in a row where a Monte Carlo was chasing the Firebird around town. As I said above, I wouldn't call this a bad episode by any means, but not too much really happened worthy of recommendation, which is rare, but no show is perfect.
Review of The Italian Bird Fiasco
