The cliché of a bad small town has been used on Mannix before as well as every other show, or so it seems. It is the pilot episode for Cannon and showed up on Rockford Files, Simon and Simon, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Kung Fu, the Wild, Wild West and probably several others.
Joe receives death threats and then has a near miss with a bomb and a sniper. He goes to a small town to see a recent parolee, Ira Beecher, who had once threatened Joe. Joe is set up and ends up shooting the parolee when the guy shoots at him with blanks. Joe barely escapes the sheriff and his deputy. While on the run, Joe has conversations with the son of a rancher killed in stampede and Ira's girlfriend. Joe learns the rancher may have been shot and a reporter investigating the event was shot. Ira agreed to take a manslaughter rap for killing the reporter for money but now he was blackmailing the actual killer so he had to go. Joe get taken prisoner and gets away with the standard car chase. How and why the state patrol would have a road block set up is a question. I think Peggy did call Lt Malcolm but he and the state people worked mighty fast. Why would they set up a road block rather than come into town?
Since people in the town took care of the father and then a reporter, why did they need Joe at all? Another episode where bad guys have an elaborate scheme to get someone when the simple, direct approach would have worked.
There are always a few questions about logic and timelines in most Mannix episodes so no point in dwelling on it.
The conversation between mother and son is a bit stilted but overall, the cast is fine but no big names as is usual with this show. Maybe cutting back on the budget in the last year. Speaking of money, Joe doesn't get any again. A routine episode with the bad town getting their comeuppance in the end. It is a decent way to pass an hour.
Joe receives death threats and then has a near miss with a bomb and a sniper. He goes to a small town to see a recent parolee, Ira Beecher, who had once threatened Joe. Joe is set up and ends up shooting the parolee when the guy shoots at him with blanks. Joe barely escapes the sheriff and his deputy. While on the run, Joe has conversations with the son of a rancher killed in stampede and Ira's girlfriend. Joe learns the rancher may have been shot and a reporter investigating the event was shot. Ira agreed to take a manslaughter rap for killing the reporter for money but now he was blackmailing the actual killer so he had to go. Joe get taken prisoner and gets away with the standard car chase. How and why the state patrol would have a road block set up is a question. I think Peggy did call Lt Malcolm but he and the state people worked mighty fast. Why would they set up a road block rather than come into town?
Since people in the town took care of the father and then a reporter, why did they need Joe at all? Another episode where bad guys have an elaborate scheme to get someone when the simple, direct approach would have worked.
There are always a few questions about logic and timelines in most Mannix episodes so no point in dwelling on it.
The conversation between mother and son is a bit stilted but overall, the cast is fine but no big names as is usual with this show. Maybe cutting back on the budget in the last year. Speaking of money, Joe doesn't get any again. A routine episode with the bad town getting their comeuppance in the end. It is a decent way to pass an hour.