Although the TV series "Madigan" only lasted six episodes, inexplicably they filmed three of the six in Europe. Considering Madigan is supposed to be a New York City cop, having him on cases in London, Portugal, and Naples seems incredibly strange. I have no idea why they chose to do this...perhaps Widmark and the crew wanted a nice European vacation! Regardless, it sure doesn't make a lot of sense for the character.
In this third and final overseas episode, Madigan is NOT in Italy due to being invited or hosted by the police. Instead, he's there to meet a mobster who was deported there long ago. The mobster wants to return to America and proposes a deal where he helps the police close up a New York drug mob in exchange for being able to go home and see his family in America.
When Madigan arrives at the airport, someone shoots someone right next to him...and he assumes the killers just missed and wanted to kill him. Regardless, the shooting was poorly done, as the silencer made absolutely no noise in the airport...none. Silencers do not work that way...they reduce noise but many people SHOULD have been able to hear the gun going off and it's sloppy the way they handled it. So will Madigan survive his trip and will the deal with the mobster actually pan out for him?
One of the better things about the show is that it guest stars Raf Vallone...a very good and capable Italian actor. This doesn't make up for the problems with the script...such as why Madigan does NOT work with local authorities. Overall, a weak episode...and one that longs for Madigan to return home to New York.
In this third and final overseas episode, Madigan is NOT in Italy due to being invited or hosted by the police. Instead, he's there to meet a mobster who was deported there long ago. The mobster wants to return to America and proposes a deal where he helps the police close up a New York drug mob in exchange for being able to go home and see his family in America.
When Madigan arrives at the airport, someone shoots someone right next to him...and he assumes the killers just missed and wanted to kill him. Regardless, the shooting was poorly done, as the silencer made absolutely no noise in the airport...none. Silencers do not work that way...they reduce noise but many people SHOULD have been able to hear the gun going off and it's sloppy the way they handled it. So will Madigan survive his trip and will the deal with the mobster actually pan out for him?
One of the better things about the show is that it guest stars Raf Vallone...a very good and capable Italian actor. This doesn't make up for the problems with the script...such as why Madigan does NOT work with local authorities. Overall, a weak episode...and one that longs for Madigan to return home to New York.