In the middle of the sixth season of Hunter the writers went outside the box a bit and decided to do a story about a serial killer targeting gay men. This type of plot hadn't really been done before, at least not on this program. And surprisingly for its time, it's a very thoughtful and well-balanced treatise on the subject. Since this is a police procedural the writing connects homophobia with hate crime, specifically murder.
One thing that happens in the beginning is that a culprit is nabbed and confesses to a bunch of these murders. However, as Hunter and another investigator (William Smith who had played a cop on the last season of the original Hawaii Five O) look at a board with the photos of five victims pinned to a board, they learn that the man in custody only killed four of the five. One victim's assailant is still unknown, which means the investigation cannot be closed until the other killer is brought to justice.
Hunter doesn't have much screen time with McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) in this episode. She is mostly peripheral to the action, though Kramer does have a good scene with Smith when McCall accuses this other investigator of not doing his job well. He lashes out and makes derogatory comments about McCall always trying to act like one of the boys. Not sure if that's supposed to be a muted comment about him referring to McCall being a bit butch as an officer, or if he's referring to her always siding with Hunter and Captain Devane (Charles Halloran). At any rate, it's a well-acted scene.
Back to the investigation...in the course of hunting down leads about the elusive other killer, Hunter visits a gay bar or two. These scenes would obviously be staged differently now. It's like the producers and director were a little too afraid to make the men in the working class bar a little too flamboyant or even sexual. But later when Hunter visits a posh hookup spot for gay men frequented by white collar homosexuals, there are some stereotypical references to these gay men liking Cole Porter songs played on piano...which I found a trifle amusing.
During the course of Hunter's visit to the piano bar, he discovers that the place is a hangout for a much respected cop on the force that Hunter must work with on the case, played by Rick Giolito.
In a subsequent scene, the cop comes out to Hunter and admits he's gay but feels he should keep his private life from their captain and the other cops at the station. It doesn't even seem as if McCall or any of the female detectives knows about his preferences. To the show's credit, most of the dialogue in this section of the story is realistically frank and progressive.
Hunter is depicted as supportive and understanding towards the gay cop. By the end of the story, he has helped the guy come out to the captain who will still help the gay cop receive a promotion. Meanwhile, the unknown killer is ultimately tracked down and in the process Hunter uncovers a department leak and cover-up that's been going on.
My only slight criticism here is that while I think the script means well and it's an interesting story about two killers targeting gay men, the casting feels off to me. The guest actor who plays the gay cop is a bit 'too straight.' In Hollywood there was a trend for gay actors to be kept in the closet and to play straight characters (Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, George Nader and others); and a similar trend for straight actors to play gay characters when they would pop up (Jack Coleman on Dynasty comes to mind). It would have felt more authentic if a real-life out of the closet gay actor had played the gay cop. It would have been a bit more groundbreaking.
One thing that happens in the beginning is that a culprit is nabbed and confesses to a bunch of these murders. However, as Hunter and another investigator (William Smith who had played a cop on the last season of the original Hawaii Five O) look at a board with the photos of five victims pinned to a board, they learn that the man in custody only killed four of the five. One victim's assailant is still unknown, which means the investigation cannot be closed until the other killer is brought to justice.
Hunter doesn't have much screen time with McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) in this episode. She is mostly peripheral to the action, though Kramer does have a good scene with Smith when McCall accuses this other investigator of not doing his job well. He lashes out and makes derogatory comments about McCall always trying to act like one of the boys. Not sure if that's supposed to be a muted comment about him referring to McCall being a bit butch as an officer, or if he's referring to her always siding with Hunter and Captain Devane (Charles Halloran). At any rate, it's a well-acted scene.
Back to the investigation...in the course of hunting down leads about the elusive other killer, Hunter visits a gay bar or two. These scenes would obviously be staged differently now. It's like the producers and director were a little too afraid to make the men in the working class bar a little too flamboyant or even sexual. But later when Hunter visits a posh hookup spot for gay men frequented by white collar homosexuals, there are some stereotypical references to these gay men liking Cole Porter songs played on piano...which I found a trifle amusing.
During the course of Hunter's visit to the piano bar, he discovers that the place is a hangout for a much respected cop on the force that Hunter must work with on the case, played by Rick Giolito.
In a subsequent scene, the cop comes out to Hunter and admits he's gay but feels he should keep his private life from their captain and the other cops at the station. It doesn't even seem as if McCall or any of the female detectives knows about his preferences. To the show's credit, most of the dialogue in this section of the story is realistically frank and progressive.
Hunter is depicted as supportive and understanding towards the gay cop. By the end of the story, he has helped the guy come out to the captain who will still help the gay cop receive a promotion. Meanwhile, the unknown killer is ultimately tracked down and in the process Hunter uncovers a department leak and cover-up that's been going on.
My only slight criticism here is that while I think the script means well and it's an interesting story about two killers targeting gay men, the casting feels off to me. The guest actor who plays the gay cop is a bit 'too straight.' In Hollywood there was a trend for gay actors to be kept in the closet and to play straight characters (Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, George Nader and others); and a similar trend for straight actors to play gay characters when they would pop up (Jack Coleman on Dynasty comes to mind). It would have felt more authentic if a real-life out of the closet gay actor had played the gay cop. It would have been a bit more groundbreaking.
