#deckwatch

Then in the car when H is getting ready to go in, S watches him anxiously. It's subtle, but H is shaking ever so slightly as he's strapping the gun to his leg. S clocks his nervousness immediately, of course and asks if he's okay. H isn't, and lets it show for just a moment before giving S one of his little appreciative grins to try to reassure him.

I don't blame Hutch for being scared. He's confronting a serial killer inside the home of a woman who isn't exactly the brightest bulb in the pack, and he's doing it alone. Kind of. Lucky for him, he has the best partner in the entire world watching his back, and he knows that too.

I also find it funny how Laura is their biggest obstacle in getting everyone out safely. I understand she's under a lot of stress, but if Hannah hadn't been so good at distracting Harry/Hector, she would have gotten them all killed several times over by her complete incompetence. I find her extremely frustrating. It's no wonder all her dates, including H, end up playing cards with Hannah instead of hooking up with her. Yeesh.

Moving on, I love when H's medical knowledge is showcased. He does a great job of playing doctor. I also love the subtle detail of refusing to call this murderer by his preferred name. He may have to help him medically, but he refuses to show any respect to this piece of garbage.

Next, H's earlier nerves come back to haunt him as one of the straps to the leg holster falls and is visible to Hector. Then Laura, being the genius she is, decides to smash a vase over Hector's head and nearly get herself killed. H is forced to give up his gun, but S is waiting in the wings. (Off topic, but calling Hutch 'Goldilocks' is legitimately so funny. Touché, Hector).

H is visibly terrified in the next few minutes. It's now or never. He doesn't have much time left, and the bad guy has a gun now. He's responsible for the lives of the two women and his partner, and Hector is ready to explode. S is scared too. A gun pointed at his partner’s chest is much more dangerous than a knife.

The sound of the ticking clock in the background is really effective in heightening the tension and reminding the viewer of what S&H already know. Time's almost up. Hector promises to kill everyone in the house before he dies just sitting in that chair, and that lights a fire in H. He knows S is ready whenever he is, and this is the perfect moment with Hannah out of the room and Laura off to the side.

He offers Hector a deal in 3 steps. S understands immediately and gets ready. They work together so seamlessly here. They have no need to say a word to each other. On 3 H has no fear S will accidentally hit him, and S has no fear H will still be in the way. They move perfectly together, and old Hector is yesterday's trash.

Then, of course, there's the predictably ridiculous tag where Starsky gets cream pied in the face, and Hutch wipes off some cream from Starsky’s face with his finger and licks/sucks it off before announcing his love for women with spunk. Even my phone tried to change some of those correctly spelled words to something else because IT was flabbergasted I just wrote that down as a factual statement about a real scene that aired on cable TV in the 70s.

They knew exactly what they were doing. Leaving in this ab-lib/blooper or whatever you wanna call it just confirms it. In conclusion, PMG is the director of all time and I believe both boys are best described throughout this entire episode as, "Hummanuh hummanuh hummanuh a-WOO-ga!!!"

Oh! One more very important thing!