Even though there are no car chases or shoot-outs in this episode, it is very violent. On the violence scale, it probably ranks as one of the highest of the series. A two-bit criminal who preys on helpless young people has his hooks in a disturbed young man who likes to hurt others, generally by beating them with a bat. The criminal uses the kid to make money by fulfilling contracts to maim or kill. When Hutch makes the criminal angry, he uses the kid to terrorize Hutch as well.
This is a dramatic story and well put together. DS and PMG are playing our tough and smart Hutch and Starsky. It has a good flow and rhythm. It is scary, with the crazed guy swinging his bat at people to inflict much pain. Gary Sandy plays the disturbed kid very frighteningly.. The villain behind the kid is a sleazy, slimy dude that we want to see taken down by Starsky and Hutch, so the story feels mostly right. Starsky and Hutch take a little too long to connect the terrorism of Hutch with the criminal they are chasing for the beatings, especially since we viewers have known it right from the start, but that's OK; they had to get the evidence to make the connection. (It's a little strange that Hutch doesn't go to the hospital with his injured girlfriend, but he's got to catch the bad guy, so we'll let that go.). There aren't any scenes that particularly stand out to me, but it's all quite good.
We have here again that common plot line from the 70s of an emotionally damaged individual who is not responsible for his actions and ends up being pitied instead of vilified. I am not sure why that kept coming up again and again, unless it was so that the violence could be diffused and not personalized. Everything was blamed on "society" back then; it was a weird decade.
This is a dramatic story and well put together. DS and PMG are playing our tough and smart Hutch and Starsky. It has a good flow and rhythm. It is scary, with the crazed guy swinging his bat at people to inflict much pain. Gary Sandy plays the disturbed kid very frighteningly.. The villain behind the kid is a sleazy, slimy dude that we want to see taken down by Starsky and Hutch, so the story feels mostly right. Starsky and Hutch take a little too long to connect the terrorism of Hutch with the criminal they are chasing for the beatings, especially since we viewers have known it right from the start, but that's OK; they had to get the evidence to make the connection. (It's a little strange that Hutch doesn't go to the hospital with his injured girlfriend, but he's got to catch the bad guy, so we'll let that go.). There aren't any scenes that particularly stand out to me, but it's all quite good.
We have here again that common plot line from the 70s of an emotionally damaged individual who is not responsible for his actions and ends up being pitied instead of vilified. I am not sure why that kept coming up again and again, unless it was so that the violence could be diffused and not personalized. Everything was blamed on "society" back then; it was a weird decade.
