A "this time it's personal" story for Linc as the Mod Squad targets heterodox healer Asa Lorimer, a man extorting large sums from his hapless patients. The story opens with a funeral already in progress, led by minister Bartlett Robinson mealy mouthing the old cliché that heaven needed Jackie more than we did. But why should we expect sound theology from the "Peoples Church," a name that stirs up memories of the Peoples Temple, Jim Jones, and Guyana?
Jackie was a childhood friend of Linc's, notably a white kid who stood in contrast to the "walking hate machines" polluting the planet (presumably at both KKK and Black Panther rallies). Jackie left behind a pregnant wife that we don't meet, but Jackie's weepy mother tells Linc that Jackie never shared how sick he was or the fact he quit treatment at their traditional doctor in favor of Lorimer's unorthodox methods. Jackie, who Linc brags once bought a baseball bat on a fifty-cent-a-week installment plan, was unbeknownst to his family paying Lorimer fifty dollars cash a treatment. Not a very good son or husband to be keeping such vital things from his loved ones.
The story appeared poised to be an expose of "quack" healers who offer gullible marks snake oil, but the emphasis shifted to an extortion racket story. Lorimer's clinic is more a front for the extortion racket he operates with his eyepatch-wearing accomplice Carl. From what we see of Lorimer's treatments, they appear to be a combination of chiropractic and biofeedback. (I smiled when Lorimer bangs on the top of his machine just as we did our old television sets.) Lorimer's prominently displayed motto reads: "It is within you. You are the physician," which I doubt would raise an eyebrow in our era of holistic health and alternative medicine. It was really Lorimer's entrapping people and extorting money from them, forcing them to sell their furniture and family heirlooms, that was the real crime.
A story that more specifically addressed medical quackery was the "Once Upon a Time" two-parter on HAWAII FIVE-O that aired earlier this same year in February 1969.
Linc wants to put Lorimer "in a cage," and his reckless vendetta results in his cover being blown when he clumsily tries to trick Lorimer into making an illegal diagnosis. Pete has better luck, but admits he felt himself falling under the spell of Lorimer despite knowing he was a phony. Maybe it was because the actor playing Lorimer was best known for playing Dr. McKinley "Mac" Thompson on BREAKING POINT, a 1963-64 spinoff of BEN CASEY. Paul Richards played a psychiatrist on that one-season series, and I wondered if the writer snuck in an homage by having Lorimer ask Linc if he'd considered seeing a psychiatrist ("I don't need a headshrinker," barked an offended Linc in response).
Speaking of actors from past series, a highlight of the episode is guest star Dwayne Hickman from THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS. He plays wheelchair-bound Russ Purdee, a man desperate to believe Lorimer's empty promise that his paralysis will be cured and that he'll walk again. Still Dobie at heart, he falls hard for the dreamy and creamy Julie Barnes, who uses him to get to Lorimer. And like Thalia before her, Julie is bound to break his heart.
"The Healer" is compelling, but falls short of being a great episode for a number of reasons, mostly because the story loses its way and leaves a few unanswered questions, among them: Why was Harry Slocum murdered? It's never made clear, though perhaps his weeping at the funeral was meant to imply he was getting out of the extortion racket. Since he was Lorimer's source for referrals, and knew the workings of the racket, he had to be rubbed out. But why at the funeral? Had he exited with the other mourners, how could Carl have run him over in front of a crowd?
Another credulity-stretching question concerns the irresistible charm of Captain Greer. Discovering Lorimer is preying on the lonely old eccentric Mrs. Finney, Greer need only make a social call for tea and cake and she's on the phone to Lorimer breaking off treatment.
The story opens with Jackie's funeral and Linc's desire to avenge his death, but Linc and Jackie are lost along the way and the focus shifts to Julie and Russ Pardee. The focus on quackery similarly gives way to the extortion angle. Adding to the blurriness is the director having two incidents of dialogue for the next scene beginning in the current scene.
An eyepatch-wearing goon named Carl, an old biddy who talks to her pet bird Napoleon, and to top off the pile of central casting clichés are the Amorosas, a poor Mexican couple who are bringing their little girl to Lorimer. We know they're poor because they drive a ramshackle pickup and live in a shotgun shack. And we know they're Mexican because when they clamber into their truck mariachi music is heard on the soundtrack. Pepe Hern plays the skeptical father who warns Linc away from Lorimer. It's too late for us, says Senor Amorosa, in despair and destined to lose his daughter unless he can break the spell Lorimer has cast over his well-intentioned wife.
A good episode ending on an encouraging note, and one that allows for measuring the changes wrought over the course of the 1960s. Compare a 1960 episode of Dwayne Hickman's DOBIE GILLIS to this December 1969 episode of MOD SQUAD and it is immediately evident how much has changed in the culture and in television. The color, content, and techniques of TV production made giant leaps forward. Pete mentions the moon landing from five months earlier. And imagine Thalia having her shirt alluringly open like Julie does in the closing scene. It was fun seeing button-down Dwayne Hickman hanging out with the counterculture, and one thing that spans the ages and hasn't changed is Dobie's never ending quest for a girl to call his own.
Jackie was a childhood friend of Linc's, notably a white kid who stood in contrast to the "walking hate machines" polluting the planet (presumably at both KKK and Black Panther rallies). Jackie left behind a pregnant wife that we don't meet, but Jackie's weepy mother tells Linc that Jackie never shared how sick he was or the fact he quit treatment at their traditional doctor in favor of Lorimer's unorthodox methods. Jackie, who Linc brags once bought a baseball bat on a fifty-cent-a-week installment plan, was unbeknownst to his family paying Lorimer fifty dollars cash a treatment. Not a very good son or husband to be keeping such vital things from his loved ones.
The story appeared poised to be an expose of "quack" healers who offer gullible marks snake oil, but the emphasis shifted to an extortion racket story. Lorimer's clinic is more a front for the extortion racket he operates with his eyepatch-wearing accomplice Carl. From what we see of Lorimer's treatments, they appear to be a combination of chiropractic and biofeedback. (I smiled when Lorimer bangs on the top of his machine just as we did our old television sets.) Lorimer's prominently displayed motto reads: "It is within you. You are the physician," which I doubt would raise an eyebrow in our era of holistic health and alternative medicine. It was really Lorimer's entrapping people and extorting money from them, forcing them to sell their furniture and family heirlooms, that was the real crime.
A story that more specifically addressed medical quackery was the "Once Upon a Time" two-parter on HAWAII FIVE-O that aired earlier this same year in February 1969.
Linc wants to put Lorimer "in a cage," and his reckless vendetta results in his cover being blown when he clumsily tries to trick Lorimer into making an illegal diagnosis. Pete has better luck, but admits he felt himself falling under the spell of Lorimer despite knowing he was a phony. Maybe it was because the actor playing Lorimer was best known for playing Dr. McKinley "Mac" Thompson on BREAKING POINT, a 1963-64 spinoff of BEN CASEY. Paul Richards played a psychiatrist on that one-season series, and I wondered if the writer snuck in an homage by having Lorimer ask Linc if he'd considered seeing a psychiatrist ("I don't need a headshrinker," barked an offended Linc in response).
Speaking of actors from past series, a highlight of the episode is guest star Dwayne Hickman from THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS. He plays wheelchair-bound Russ Purdee, a man desperate to believe Lorimer's empty promise that his paralysis will be cured and that he'll walk again. Still Dobie at heart, he falls hard for the dreamy and creamy Julie Barnes, who uses him to get to Lorimer. And like Thalia before her, Julie is bound to break his heart.
"The Healer" is compelling, but falls short of being a great episode for a number of reasons, mostly because the story loses its way and leaves a few unanswered questions, among them: Why was Harry Slocum murdered? It's never made clear, though perhaps his weeping at the funeral was meant to imply he was getting out of the extortion racket. Since he was Lorimer's source for referrals, and knew the workings of the racket, he had to be rubbed out. But why at the funeral? Had he exited with the other mourners, how could Carl have run him over in front of a crowd?
Another credulity-stretching question concerns the irresistible charm of Captain Greer. Discovering Lorimer is preying on the lonely old eccentric Mrs. Finney, Greer need only make a social call for tea and cake and she's on the phone to Lorimer breaking off treatment.
The story opens with Jackie's funeral and Linc's desire to avenge his death, but Linc and Jackie are lost along the way and the focus shifts to Julie and Russ Pardee. The focus on quackery similarly gives way to the extortion angle. Adding to the blurriness is the director having two incidents of dialogue for the next scene beginning in the current scene.
An eyepatch-wearing goon named Carl, an old biddy who talks to her pet bird Napoleon, and to top off the pile of central casting clichés are the Amorosas, a poor Mexican couple who are bringing their little girl to Lorimer. We know they're poor because they drive a ramshackle pickup and live in a shotgun shack. And we know they're Mexican because when they clamber into their truck mariachi music is heard on the soundtrack. Pepe Hern plays the skeptical father who warns Linc away from Lorimer. It's too late for us, says Senor Amorosa, in despair and destined to lose his daughter unless he can break the spell Lorimer has cast over his well-intentioned wife.
A good episode ending on an encouraging note, and one that allows for measuring the changes wrought over the course of the 1960s. Compare a 1960 episode of Dwayne Hickman's DOBIE GILLIS to this December 1969 episode of MOD SQUAD and it is immediately evident how much has changed in the culture and in television. The color, content, and techniques of TV production made giant leaps forward. Pete mentions the moon landing from five months earlier. And imagine Thalia having her shirt alluringly open like Julie does in the closing scene. It was fun seeing button-down Dwayne Hickman hanging out with the counterculture, and one thing that spans the ages and hasn't changed is Dobie's never ending quest for a girl to call his own.
