Quincy M.E. (TV Series) The Deadly Connection (1977) User Reviews

A rather typical Quincy versus the evil corporation episode.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 14 April 2013]

Quincy is called to work, briefly, in a small town. Although no one dies (odd for a Quincy episode), people in this small town are getting sick. The problem is that no one seems to know why and for a while, all the leads go no where. Eventually, however, a POSSIBLE link occurs--a lead which might implicate a local factory that makes cattle feed AND poisons (a bad combination, I know).

Overall, this is an okay episode of "Quincy". I say okay because a couple things seem pretty limp--that a company would put cattle feed and deadly poison in packages that are almost identical! Also, the ending seemed a bit improbable AND well before it occurred, my wife said "I bet you that man's daughter will get sick next"--and she did. Predictable and a bit silly but overall still a decent and watchable episode.

Classic Quincy.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 7 November 2007]

Quincy M.E.: The Deadly Connection starts as Dr. Asten (John S. Ragin) calls LA coroner Quincy (Jack Klugman) & his trusty lab assistant Sam Fujiyama (Robert Ito) into his office, Asten tells Quincy that his expertise has been requested in a small town in Arizona called Porterville in which there has been a mysterious outbreak of some sort of unidentified epidemic. Quincy & Sam are on the next plane out there, they meet up with Dr. Jessop who has 18 very ill patients on his hands but no clue whatsoever why they are so ill. It's up to Quincy to use his detective & medical skills to find the common cause, identify the illness & cure it. All in days work for him then really...

Episode 11 from season 3 this Quincy story was directed by Alec Marol & I wouldn't call it a classic episode by any stretch of the imagination but taken in it's own right it ain't too bad. The script here rather dubiously has Quincy who is an LA coroner don't forget travel out to Arizona by request of Dr. Jessop to assist him in the identification & cure of a potentially fatal epidemic. I'm sorry but right away I'm asking the question what would a coroner know about epidemics & how would a coroners skills be put to use in such a situation? I mean it's not exactly Quincy's field is it? Wouldn't Dr. Jessop & the Porterville hospital have requested a specialist? I mean forget about the fact Quincy is a part time police detective & human rights campaigner because although we know this Dr. Jessop wouldn't, all he would know is that Quincy is a coroner so what was Dr. Jessop expecting Quincy to do exactly? Well if you take the huge leap of faith & accept that it might actually happen in reality The Deadly Connection is a decent way to pass 50 odd minutes, I'm a big Quincy fan so maybe I'm biased but I liked it. I liked the mystery elements even though the eventual resolution is far from startling, I just like seeing Quincy run around like a bull in a China shop trying to get to truth while fighting against red tape & bureaucratic officials. Hey, it's what he does best. The twist at the end of this one isn't great & feels a bit routine but it works well enough all the same.

Unusually for an episode of Quincy not one single person dies in The Deadly Connection & Quincy doesn't perform or oversee an autopsy either. Being set in Arizona the scenery is different as well although I still suspect it was shot somewhere in Los Angeles. There's one of those really cheesy light hearted happy endings as well in which Sam tries to turn Quincy into a cowboy by buying him a huge stetson hat, Quincy tries it on, everyone laughs, the end. Quality writing.

The Deadly Connection is a fine episode of Quincy, it's not the best one they ever made but it's far from the worst & doesn't have any horrible moral message. Worth a watch for sure.

Dull and unremarkable episode

[rayoflite24 · 5/10 · 29 August 2015]

The Deadly Connection begins in Arizona where a teenager and his grandfather are working on their ranch when suddenly the older man becomes very ill and collapses. Later in the LA coroner lab, Dr. Asten (John S. Ragin) meets with Quincy (Jack Klugman) and Sam (Robert Ito) to tell them he is sending them out to that Arizona community to help identify an unknown outbreak which has now infected 18 people. Quincy and Sam travel to the ranch community and work diligently to try and find a common thread among the cases to help determine the origin and this eventually leads them to a company that manufactures cattle feed. The owner denies all responsibility and until they can confirm the cause, Quincy as well as the local doctors cannot prescribe a treatment regimen for the ill patients.

I found this to be a pretty dull and unremarkable Season 3 episode with some holes. Why would a Los Angeles Coroner and his assistant be called out to a rural Arizona community to assist on this case? Does Arizona not have any experienced and credentialed pathologists in the state? You would think they would have brought someone in from Phoenix, Tucson, etc, wherever the closest highly regarded coroner lab was located. This and the fact that Dr. Asten cheerfully sends Quincy and Sam out there with no concern over losing two of his best people in the lab for days or the expense it is costing their department is completely out of character. The Asten we know would be begging them to wrap up and get back to their work quickly, he'd also be making Arizona pick up the tab for their travel expenses since it was their problem rather than paying out of his own budget.

The episode moves at a very slow pace and there is no murder featured, heck no one even dies which is quite unusual for Quincy. I also found the conclusion to be very predictable and anti-climactic, so don't expect a big payoff as a reward for watching all the way through.