#deedeemccall

Who’s That Guest Star?  As always, Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer star as Rick Hunter and Dee Dee McCall. Guest stars: Peter Haskell (Rich Man, Poor Man Book II, Bracken’s World, The Law & Harry McGraw); Kip Gilman (Nurses, lots of episodic TV including the season 1 episode of Hunter, “Legacy”); Katherine Moffat (Iron Man TV series, episodic TV); Katherine Cannon (Father Murphy, Beverly Hills 90210, lots of episodic TV); Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Guild); Eda Reiss Merin (Mrs. Sturak, the babysitter in Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead); Anna Navarro (lots of TV and movies starting in the '50s).  Charles Hallahan as Devane, Richard Beauchamp as Carlos, Perry Cook as Barney the Coroner.

Peter Haskell as Hennessey

Kip Gilman (credited as Kenneth David Gilman) as Clint Langer

Katherine Moffatt as Laura Hennessey

Katherine Cannon as Gail Morton

Brent Spiner as Willie Vaughn

Eda Reiss Merin as Mrs. Mikelski (IMDb has her as Mrs. Sandoval but that's wrong.)

Anna Navarro as Mrs. Sandoval (IMDb has her as Mrs. Mikelski in error)

Budge Threlkeld as Mickey, Uniform Cop

Don Edmonds (left) as Det. Rayner (aka RayRonDonBob)

Charles Hallahan as Devane

Richard Beauchamp as Carlos

Perry Cook as Barney the Coroner

Where Can I Fast-Forward Through a Car Chase?  12:48-13:11, 42:40-43:37.

Does Anyone Have Sex, and Does Their Partner Live Through The Episode?   Heck no. They’re too busy chasin’ bad guys.

They're not pleased.

What Are They Wearing?   McCall:  1. Red blouse with pin/brooch at the neck, grey trench coat with red scarf, navy slacks.

2. Royal blue pant suit (looks like the same one from the beginning of "From San Francisco With Love"), white blouse, brooch at the neck, low-heeled pumps, bracelet.

3. Beige pant suit, white turtleneck, black pumps, black/white patterned belt, lapel pin, big earrings.

4. Royal blue dress, silver belt, big earrings.

Hunter:  Jeans, button-down shirts, ties, sports coats.

Wow, This Is Old School:  All the phones and payphones. It looks like McCall's holding a microcassette recorder at 11:01. Charlie has both a Rolodex & an ashtray on his desk; now he'd have a computer, and smoking would now be prohibited in the station house. Clint drives a Plymouth Volaré; they stopped making those in 1980.

What’s For Lunch?  At 19:44 we see Hunter's got coffee, but he does not sip. They eat a late dinner at 21:22. McCall seems to be eating but I don’t know what. At the end of the scene Hunter’s about to eat (looks like a salad) when the scene ends.

Where In L.A.?  IMDb lists 1284 S Oakland Avenue, Pasadena as a filming location. It's a huge estate, so I assume it's the Hennesseys' estate, though it looks different to me. Perhaps it's been remodeled in a big way since the '80s.

At 10:00, they drive west on Lyons Ave near Arcadia Street in Santa Clarita and the following 'Clint on the phone' scenes are all in the same area: at 10:18 Clint stops at Valencia Liquor at 22925 Lyons to use a payphone. At 11:23 he stops on Lyons near Chestnut Street (he's standing near what's now Grand American Tire).  

Lyons Ave in Santa Clarita

Valencia Liquor

Clint's apartment is the northeast corner of S Catalina Street & 7th Street, across from what was then the remains of the Ambassador Hotel, now the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools.

Catalina and 7th Streets; Ambassador Hotel in the background

As always this season, the old Culver City City Hall is used as Metro PD's Division 122.

It’s an X-File:  Hunter’s hairstylist Norma Lee did some episodes of XF; director Les Sheldon and First AD Jefferson Kibbee also directed some episodes of 21 Jump Street, which starred Steven Williams, who played X on XF. I know, it’s a reach, but Mulder would trust me on it. However, there's a better and more legitimate link: Eda Reiss Merin, who played Mrs. Mikelski, played the babysitter in Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, and guess who was in that? David Duchovny!

Who Does Hunter Shoot, and Do They Die?  McCall shoots at Clint’s car tire; Clint survives.

Any Scenes Worth Watching?  At 22:01 McCall nags at Hunter to eat though he says he’s not hungry, telling him, “Your clothes are hanging; eat!”

I'm not sure what she's talking about. Nine months ago (in 2.19, "The Setup") she told him he was getting fat, which he wasn't, and now she's saying his clothes are hanging, which they aren't.

Is There Banter?   Not really, but a few funny bits, like cutting to Charlie testing his blood pressure, and McCall warning Clint that it's a bad idea to fight Hunter.

Bonus goofball gif:

        Bonus Screencaps:

This week, we will be dealing with rich people.

And criminals. At least one, anyway. Because nobody hangs around a nice estate in a ski mask if they're on the up and up.

It's clear that the woman on the right is the boss of the woman in red. Sounds like they're planning an event or party.

"Get on the floor! Face down, now!"

After he duct tapes the nice ladies and ties them up...

...the bad guy kidnaps the richer of the two.

The gardener sees this.

Brave!Gardener comes at the kidnapper with his chainsaw.

Rich lady is alarmed on the gardener's behalf.

Bad guy fires.

Gardener, we hardly knew ye.

The bad guy continues with his kidnapping.

Our first timestamp, and Barney the Coroner is there.

He tells Hunter the gardener took two slugs to the chest and died instantly.

Uniform Cop says the kidnap victim struggled, and that he found her scarf on the lawn, and a necklace in the street.

This guy comes running up asking if they've heard anything about his wife.

"Mr. Hennessey?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"Well, I'm SERGEANT Hunter and this is Sergeant McCall; we're from Metropolitan Homicide."

McCall asks him to ID his wife's scarf and necklace.

"Do you think I give a damn? My God, my wife is gone! Where the hell was everyone?" Already I'm like, why's this guy such a jackhole to people trying to help?

"We were going over the guest list for Saturday night. We didn't hear anything, he was just there."

Hunter asks if she can describe the kidnapper. 

She says he was all dressed in black and had a ski mask and a black leather jacket with an eagle on the back.

"Tall? Short? Round? Thin? What?" Why are you such a jerk, Mr. Hennessey? "He looked big," she offers. "'He looked big?' You were there! You can tell us more than that!"

McCall asks if he had an accent.

She doesn't know.

"You don't seem to know anyting. Did he hurt Laura?" Mr. Hennessey asks. She says if she could have, she would have done anything, but he was pointing a gun at them.

"Gail, you must have noticed something about him! What color was he?" Gail doesn't know and Hennessey's all pissy. Which, as far as I know, is his normal state of being.

Yeah, I pretty much feel like they do about him. Hunter tells him to calm down.

Mr. Hennessey does not want to calm down.

"We understand how you must feel," Hunter says.

"You don't understand anything! This happened here, to me, to my wife!"

Hiunter: "Your gardener's been murdered; has anybody called his wife?"

He basically says stuff like "I understand, you have my word ... That doesn't give me enough time!"

Hunter asks for a trace on the call.

"No, I'll get it; I'll be where you want me when you want me there."

"Just please, don't hurt my wife."

"They've given me an hour and half to raise $4 million. They said no cops, no FBI. So we better come to an understanding."

"If you want any cooperation from me at all, I set the rules. ...I call the shots. That means the FBI is out of this completely. I call the shots; understand?? Otherwise I tell you nothing." Wow, this guy's a jackhole.

McCall reminds him that a homicide has occurred here.

"I get my wife back with me, you can play detective all you damn please." He says that unless they agree that he runs things, he won't tell them what he was just told on the phone.

Hunter says, "Agreed." But he doesn't look happy about it.

McCall: "This guy is going to be a big pain in the you know what."

Hunter understands why the guy's hysterical. McCall doesn't like the idea of keeping the FBI out of it or following Hennessey's rules.

Hunter doesn't either, and says they'll have to make up their own rules as they go along. Whew; I thought for a second he was going to side with the jackhole.

Another time stamp. So it's going to be one of those.

Vaughn Number Whatever says 'Hunter' like Seinfeld says 'Newman.'

"We need a long distance tracker and a car."

Vaughn takes it "that you people have a yellow authorization form?"

"Give us a break," McCall says. "This is an emergency."

"You know, it's always an emergency with you two."

While Vaughn goes on about breaking procedure and getting flak for it, and...

Hunter just silently pulls out his ace in the hole.

Two tickets to Sunday's Raider game. 

"Cheerleader level," McCall adds.

Vaughn agrees.

Oh, great. The jackhole is here. "Here comes Mr. Congenial," McCall says.

They ask if he wrote down the serial numbers on the money, and he says they didn't have time.

He doesn't give a damn about the money, he says.

Time to put a wire on Mr. Hennessey.

Hennessey says they'll have to wire Clint. "I'll be riding with the two of you."

They're not excited, but eventually they say sure, fine, whatever.

McCall takes Clint to get him wired for sound.

Clint drives.

Hunter, McCall & Hennessey follow.

Maybe later these time stamps will convey a sense of urgency. But when they drive like 30 miles an hour, it's hard to get all tense over it.

Clint pulls up at a liquor store. He says, "I'm at the liquor store; I'm going to the phone" to no-one in particular, but that's because he's wired for sound, see, and they can hear him in Hunter's car.

McCall's recording the excitement. We hear a computer-disguised voice telling Clint which phone booth to go to next. The voice says to average 30mph and that he'll be there in 6 1/2 minutes.

"The voice is being electronically distorted," Hunter says. 

Hunter was hoping the kidnappers would be a bit stupid, but so far they're not.

At the next phone booth, the voice tells Clint to drive east on some road for 22+ miles, and that a phone at an oil pumping station will ring when he gets there. They have a something-something that covers 200 miles so if he's followed they'll know it. If he fails to meet these conditions Mrs. Hennessey is history, they say. He agrees.

The voice says that he is to get the money out of his car and use a car they've provided.

He does what they ask, and says he doesn't know how to transfer the tracking device. 

Hunter, on a walkie-talkie, tells Clint they've been outsmarted and for him to just get going.

Then there's some boring driving.

So bored.

Finally Clint arrives at the oil pumping station.

Hunter asks if he sees a phone and Clint says yes.

Hennessey tells Hunter he's getting too close and orders him to pull over.

"He's getting out of voice range!"

Hennessey tells Hunter to stick to the deal he made, and makes him pull over.

(Old school again, with a rotary phone.) The voice gives him more directions. They can sort of hear in Hunter's car but there's interference.

Clint takes off and they stay put.

Time stamps of cars sitting still do not make me that tense.

Clint radios and says he followed the instructions, put the suitcase where they said, and saw nobody, and he could see for miles.

McCall thinks they should go check it out since the kidnappers probably have made the pickup already.

Hennessey says no. He think they could be watching to see if there are cops... and he's sorry he let McCall & Hunter get involved in the first place.

She's thinking what I'm thinking. "Jackhole." Also, that she's glad to be sitting in the front seat where the lighting is prettier.

Hennessey sits and waits for the phone to ring.

McCall & Hunter sit and wait too.

Clint paces and waits, tapping his chauffeur cap annoyingly.

"Give it a break, Clint. Take a seat, please."

Clint sits but still fiddles with his hat. Hennessey: "Clint, you're drivin' me crazy! Go home, give one of your girlfriends a call!" Clint says he'd like to stay, that he cares what happens, but Hennessey says he's done a good job for him today, possibly even a dangerous one, and to give himself a break and go home. Clint leaves, saying he'll call later to check on things.

Gail sits and watches and waits.

Hennessey waits some more.

Well, this is a ramshackle shack we haven't seen before.

Hmmm, there's the kidnapper's ski mask.

...I spy with my little eye, the kidnapper's Harley-Davidson jacket! With the 'Harley-Davidson' blacked out so they don't get product placement!

Gasoline container!

Phone/timer/something-or-other setup!

Saltines!

Duct tape and rope and shoes!

And the pièce de résistance, our kidnap victim, Mrs. Hennessey!

Oh, there's Clint.

There's Clint making out with Mrs. Hennessey.

WTF THEY'RE BOTH THE BAD GUY I CAN'T EVEN.

"What about Hector?" she asks. (Hector was her gardener.) "He's not badly hurt, is he?"

He breaks the news that Hector's dead. "He came at me with a chainsaw! He wasn't supposed to be there!" Clint says.

She understands.

Clint covers everything in gasoline.

Kablooey.

Mr. Hennessey's still waiting by the phone.

Finally, the phone rings.

It's Mrs. Hennessey, that whore.

Guess who's happy to hear from her?

She says she's okay, they didn't hurt her. He says he'll come get her but she says the Highway Patrol will get her home quicker and she just wants to come home.

Hennessey asks Hunter & McCall to not question his wife tonight, to not even be there when she gets home. It's stuff like this that made us think he might be the bad guy earlier. He's so uncooperative, even when he's being nice, you know?

"With the provision that we get to talk to her first thing tomorrow morning."

They shake on it.

"You're not eating, McCall says. "Obviously something is eating you."  Hunter says that the kidnappers were smart, except for one mistake. McCall: "Yeah, they killed Hector Sandoval."

"They considered everything else, why not that?"

McCall was wondering the same thing; why didn't they snatch her on the gardener's day off?

"Well, we're gonna have to figure that out. ... That's why they pay us the big bucks."

McCall tells Hunter to eat. He says he's not hungry. She says he's losing weight. He says he doesn't want to eat.

She says, "Your clothes are hanging; eat!"

He eats.

Oh My God, how can it still be Day One?

When they don't have a grate or wrought iron fence to shoot through, they make do with what they have. In this case, it's these candles.

Okay, I will sum up this sad scene. McCall asks the gardener's widow if Hector was supposed to be working, and she says he wasn't; it was his day off, but he went to work because the next day was her birthday and he wanted to spend it with her. He didn't call and tell anyone because he knew what work had to be done.

Thank Pete. It's finally Day Two.

Hennessey won't let them speak to his wife alone because he's a jackhole. 

She says she wants to help and "let's just get it over with."

Hunter asks about the kidnapper.

She says he was large, kind of heavy, and she never really saw his face. He had a gravelly voice. 

He kept her in one room and when he let her out to use the bathroom or feed her, he'd put a sleep mask on her. (So she says, because we know she's lying.)

Any distinctive sounds that might help them identify where she was being held?

Just cars, she says.

When Hunter asks again about being kept in one room, Hennessey is a jackhole.

"Mr. Hennessey, this is a homicide investigation in which your wife is a key witness. SHUT UP."

At the end of the day, he blindfolded her and put her in his car, drove about an hour and stopped. 

He shoved her out of the car and told her to wait two minutes to take off the blindfold.

"That's IT! You are making my wife use too many facial expressions."

McCall asks if Hector Sanchez was supposed to be there.

Mrs. Hennessey says no, it was his day off. She asked Gail but she didn't know anything either.

Day Two of my writing this recap. 

They think it's two sets of prints: Clint's and the kidnapper's.

Mulder, do you expect me to believe that this grown woman, who lives in Los Angeles, and works as someone's assistant, doesn't have a car? (Trust me, I live in Los Angeles and have been an assistant. This would not fly.)

Gail approaches Clint's apartment.

That older lady looks familiar to me...

Um, it's too late to make me like Clint by showing him sweating and lifting weights in his shabby apartment.

He answers the door with a beer in hand. Because everyone works out while drinking. Is that weird, or is it just me?

Clint seems perplexed as to why Gail would drop by. It's obvious she's never been here before.

But he gives her a beer anyway.

Gail says Clint and Laura really pulled it off. Gail knew about the contract Mr. Hennessey had Laura sign....

And that Clint and Laura "staged that whole four million dollar caper."

"And I'm impressed," she says.

"Yeah, I'm really impressed." And the camera's moving in on Clint this whole time and you're like, stop talking, Gail...

IT IS DAY THREE. IT IS 8:29 A.M.

"Don't tell me; you slept great and now you're raring to go," McCall says to Hunter. He had two hours of sleep, he tells, her and yes, he's raring to go. McCall says she didn't sleep well at all so they have to maintain a low volume. (Um, that sounds more like a hangover than a lack of sleep, but okay.)

Right around 3am, Hunter says, he had an insight. He thinks it was an inside job.

McCall was thinking the same thing. This episode has a lot of Hunter coming up with a theory, and McCall saying, "I was thinking the same thing" or "I was wondering that myself." Is she holding back to let Hunter think he's the first to think of stuff? What's that about?

Hunter thinks a professional kidnapper wouldnt have let Laura live, since she witnessed Hector's murder.

"You think Laura Hennessey was in on it?"

"There's a good chance."

McCall's starting to wake up.

As always, there is the putting-on-of-the-coat.

It's like he knows it drives me crazy.

And it's like she is wearing the most boring oatmeal-colored suit so she has to shake things up with an animal print belt. I guess it does help... a little.

Oh, and while I was snarking about their clothes, Hunter says that Hennessey's wife's back so it can't be him. McCall suggests it could be Clint. Hunter says perhaps, but he wants to start with Gail, because he thinks that electronically distorted voice sounded like a woman. 

It's 9:10am. You know what that means. FOUNTAIN TIME, BABY!

Hunter says they stopped by Gail's apartment and she wasn't there and they thought she might be here.

"Why are you suddenly interested in Gail?" Hennessey wants to know.

Gail was supposed to be there at 8am but didn't show.

"We think the kidnapping was an inside job," Hunter says.

Hennessey agrees. "I give up four million dollars on Monday, and on Tuesday her social secretary disappears." Laura can't believe it's Gail. "She was also my best friend." She thinks something's happened to Gail. Um, why are you talking about Gail in the past tense, Laura?

McCall asks if Gail has family.

Nope, she was divorced, no kids. None of them have seen her since 6pm last night.

"When I saw her last, she seemed okay. She was very cheerful."

They ask for a photo of Gail and say they'll be on their way.

About five hours has passed. 

Hunter's pissy that Clint doesn't have a record. "He drives a car for a living, for crying out loud."

McCall says the judge won't give them a search warrant for Clint's apartment. Also, Gail's photo is on the front page of the paper. (Trust me; someone in L.A. who has been missing less than 24 hours would not make the front page of the paper.)

There is wackiness going on over at RayRonDonBob's desk.

Sometimes I think I should make a category for "that point where McCall is so adorable that even though I'm straight I totally have a girlcrush on her."

You live in a house with half-naked statues but everything you wear covers your neck. Okay, then.

Here comes Clint in a hurry.

Laura rushes out asking where Gail is.

"She had it all figured out; she came to me last night with all these demands..."

(Giggle as you imagine her saying "UHH. MAH. GAHD!" in an '80s Valley Girl accent.)

"Your best friend was about to throw us to the wolves if I didn't give her a third of the money; I had no choice."

"You had a choice and you made the wrong one, didn't you?"

"...Nobody was supposed to get hurt! ... Roger would lose me and four million dollars but he'd get over it ... now two people are dead!"

Clint doesn't like that she's blaming him. "I was protecting the both of us!"

"You know I wanted it to go just the way we planned, don't you?"

"Yes... we started this together; we'll finish it together."

Kirschbaum, the guy on the right, is telling RayRonDonBob that he's got a hostage hidden away, and if his demands aren't met, she's gonna die!

"Mr. Kirschbaum, you can't kill a Ferrari!" "You tell that landlord I want my security deposit back, all $200 of it, or she dies!"

Heeeee! This is definitely Mrs. Sturak, the mean babysitter from "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead."

"Being a concerned citizen, I thought you oughta know, I seen her last night. Paying her cab fare, and then she went into the building next to mine. I saw her clear as day."

McCall asks for the address.

"Any reward?"

"No." Heehee, his FACE. So funny.

Clint arrives home to find...

...Hunter and McCall waiting for him.

McCall starts reciting the Miranda Rights to Clint.

Hunter says Clint lied, that he saw Gail last night at his apartment.

Clint denies it, says Gail's never been there.

"You're under arrest," Hunter says, grabbing at Clint. Clint breaks his hold.

"Oh, you wanna fight? I hope you do." So Dirty Harry just there.

"It's not a good idea." The way she says this is so funny. It's at 36:49 on the DVD. Go watch and giggle.

"You have no right to arrest me. No right!" He starts talking about Michael Snow and how he'll have Clint out so fast they won't know what hit them. (I love that Mike Snow is the only criminal lawyer in all of L.A., according to this show.)

Dispatch has Carlos calling from the morgue and they patch him through.

Carlos says he's got a body, female, pulled out of Santa Monica Bay, matching the description of the woman Hunter was asking about. (Um, is it a good idea to talk about this in front of your suspect?)

Hunter says he has to drop McCall and a prisoner off at the precinct and he'll be right there.

For once, we don't see all the driving and they cut straight to the morgue. BRAVO, I say.

Yup, that's Gail.

(This body does NOT look like it was found in the water. But people get shot on this show without bleeding, so I suppose that's nitpicky of me.)

Hunter calls McCall.

"Whatever you do, do not let them release Clint." Oops, it's already happened.

"I should be there in ten minutes, meet me out back."

"Strange man." Like Carlos is one to talk.

Clint's back.

"They found Gail's body, the cops are gonna be here any second, we gotta get out of here NOW."

"Didn't you hear what I said? There's four million bucks waiting for us out there, we gotta get out of the country, now!"

"Take it and go," she tells him.

"The plan goes wrong, and you want out?"

She's saying no, that she'll meet him, she loves him, blah blah...

"No you won't... you're gonna spill it to the cops."

"How could I do that? she says. "I'd go to prison too." Clint thinks Laura's going to play the victim and throw him under the bus, basically.

"You know I love you, I wouldn't do that to you!"

"You loved me once, but you couldn't take the heat, could you?"

Clint's getting all grabby, and not in a good way.

He chases her up another flight of stairs so that the following stunt will be more spectacular.

Clint seems a bit surprised at this turn of events, even though he was the one who did it.

The phone rings. Do you think Clint will answer it?

Nope. Clint makes a run for it.

In his Plymouth Volaré.

So I guess Hunter and McCall knew what Clint would do, because they rush to the scene with their siren on.

"She's alive." Whaaat? That fall didn't kill her?

McCall calls for an ambulance and a couple of black-and-whites, Code 3.

This cut to Charlie checking his blood pressure is comedy gold.

McCall says they just left the Hennessey house, that Mrs. Hennessey may be the latest victim; she's alive but just barely.

"You left the scene of a possible homicide??"

"It's called hot pursuit, Captain." She says they think they know where Clint is and that he won't be there for long.

Hunter thinks Clint buried the money.

Yup, Clint buried the money.

Seriously at how long it's taking them to get there.

You can pretty much see what's going on, right? Car chase.

Chasing.

Still chasing.

Clint might be just a little stressed at this point. Or maybe he's just hot. But that's a lot of sweat.

That's right, Clint. THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU.

Clint's like, um, guess I better duck if I'm being shot at.

More chasing.

It's a hit! You've sunk Clint's battleship!

Clint's about to go for his gun but Hunter says he'll kill him if he does.

Hunter throws McCall the keys...

...And she catches them.

And, there's a dirty suitcase full of dirty money.

I'm going to let you look at these pretty screencaps then sum up the ridiculousness at the end.

Hunter's so pissed his jaw's out of whack.

Oh good, it didn't stay that way.

Yeah, so this is what made Hunter make that face: Hennessey says that his wife is going to recover nicely because she was brought in so quickly after her fall, and that he owes them more than he can ever repay. Sounds good so far, right?

He goes on to say that he's not going to let them speak to Laura. Any talking will now be done through their lawyer. He's not going to let her spend one second behind bars if there's anything he or his money can do about it.

Hunter reminds him that his wife's an accessory to murder, before and afte the fact. "She didn't kill anybody," Hennessey says, like the whole thing's no big deal. She'll testify against Clint, Hennessey says; she was damaged more emotionally than physically because people she cared about were killed. "She blames herself." Uh, damn right she should blame herself. (Oh, and Clint's lawyer will crucify her if she testifies, and all her dirty secrets will come out. Does Hennessey think she can pick and choose which questions to answer in court? HAHAHAHA.)

Hennessey says this whole thing is really HIS fault. At this point McCall rolls her eyes and Hunter says, "Are you serious??"

Hennessey says he and Laura were together six years before they got married, and she loved him then. When he asked her to marry him, he made the biggest mistake of his life by making her sign a prenup saying she'd get nothing if she left him. "The day she signed that contract is the day she stopped loving me." He just tore up the contract, and when he left her room just now she was laughing and crying at the same time.

Okay, this guy? IS AN IDIOT. And that's how the episode ends.

Who’s That Guest Star?  Vincent Baggetta of many soap and other TV roles; Mary Margaret Humes (Dawson’s mom on Dawson’s Creek); Kip Gilman -- then known as Kenneth Gilman (Nurses, Trapper John, lots of TV including Hunter episode 3.09, "The Contract"); Al Ruscio (lots of TV including Life Goes On, & movies including Showgirls); Tony Giorgio (The Godfather, Foxy Brown, Magnum Force, also he'll be back later in season 1 as Hunter's Uncle Dom).  John Amos (Good Times, Mary Tyler Moore, The District, etc) is their new boss, Captain Dolan; and James Whitmore Jr is back as Terwilliger.

L-R: Vincent Baggetta (Michael Vincent), Kip Gilman (Billy Vincent), and Al Ruscio (Carmine Santorro).

Mary-Margaret Humes as Sandy Newton (hereafter she will be known as "Dawson's Mom")

Tony Giorgio as John Vincent

John Amos as Captain Dolan

Where Can I Fast-Forward Through a Car Chase?  I’m shocked to say there were no car chases in this episode.

But as usual, they're stuck with a car where the doors don't work.

Who Does Hunter Shoot, and Do They Die?  Hunter gives his trigger finger a rest this week.

...But not by choice. They were just too late to shoot someone.

Do Hunter and/or McCall Have Sex, and Does Their Partner Live Through The Episode?  No sex for our heroes.

It makes McCall so sad.

No collars. No feathers. No sex toys at all.

What Are They Wearing?  Hunter: The usual sport coat/button-down shirt/tie/slacks thing. ..... McCall:  1. Skirt suit, possibly linen, in a muted rust color with a light peach-colored blouse and slingbacks.

2. Pretty blue dress with a biased peplum, matchy blue necklace. Later with a matching blue sweater over the dress.

3. Rust-colored jacket over a black skirt and a rust/black sweatery top.

4. Dark rusty-reddish blouse over black skirt with low-heeled pumps.

It might as well be "The X-Files" if they're gonna shoot it this dark.  

5. Royal blue/teal blouse under a black jacket, earrings to match.

...I'm pretty sure McCall has shoulder pads in every single outfit this week. It was the '80s. It was just what we did.

Wow, This Is Old School:  A microcassette recorder at 16:33. Phone booths at 35:22.  At 38:05 a nurse wears one of those old-school nurse’s caps. The light blue phone at 40:45.

Do nurses really wear those caps anymore, besides in their graduation photo from nursing school? Meanwhile, McCall's in outfit #4. Dawson's mom has got a fashionable '80s belt.

Microcassette!

Throwing in this tomato-colored trimline phone. Sweet.

What’s For Lunch?  McCall eats peanuts at a bar. In another scene Hunter eats a peach.

"Anybody got a peanut?"  (Sorry, I quote "Princess Bride" at random.)

Hunter's feeling just peachy.

Where In L.A.?  At 11:15, Hunter finds a parking stub from “a lot at the corner of Saticoy & Reseda.” (I go to the Denny’s there sometimes, because I'm a night owl and no other sitdown places are open in the middle of the night. There is currently no pay parking lot.) The scene with the window-washer scaffold (supposedly a hospital) was filmed at the old Holiday Inn on Franklin and Highland in Hollywood; it's now the Loew's Hollywood Hotel. There’s a funeral at Evergreen Memorial Park & Crematory downtown (204 N Evergreen Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90033‎). A lot of scenes take place down at the docks so let’s assume something like San Pedro or Long Beach.

Formerly the Holiday Inn, now the Renaissance Hotel on Highland.

Evergreen Cemetery in Downtown Los Angeles

It's an X-File:  Al Ruscio (Carmine) played the Fourth Elder in The X-Files episodes “Two Fathers”/“One Son.” James Whitmore Jr. (Terwilliger) directed the XF episode “Fearful Symmetry.” Tony Longo (Dave) was in the XF episode “The Goldberg Variation.”

James Whitmore Jr. (Terwilliger) has directed many hours of television. Hard to believe, isn't it?

Any Scenes Worth Watching?  At 27:12, the sleazy hotel scene is funny.  At 14:16, Carmine – a mob friend of Hunter’s family -- tells Hunter, “It was our loss when you chose the wrong side of the law.” He said it straight but I thought it was sorta funny.

You'll see this stock shot over and over on "Hunter" whenever they go to a sleazy motel.

Is There Banter?  At 6:14 or so, Hunter goes mildly Dirty Harry on a fellow cop (or medical examiner) about the deceased mobster John Vincent, and McCall gives him a smack and says, “Works for you, huh?”

"When I was a kid, John Vincent used to put me on his knee and give me Christmas presents."

It Works For Hunter:  At 5:29 and 44:54.

Bonus:  At 17:50 they enter Sandy’s apartment without a warrant.

Bonus photos:

Lurking.

McCall's pretty smile.

Hunter fights a guy. In a pile of fish.

Not sure what she's saying here but I like to imagine it's "Someday, Hunter, I'm gonna pop you right in the nose."

(They get a little sad when they don't get to shoot someone.)

"That's a lot of tuna."

Things aren't going so well for our heroes here.

...So McCall elbows this guy and breaks free...

And then comes the fight in a pile-o-fish.

Is it just me, or do you also love it when they get to whip out their badges?

Dawson's mom is like, "Look, I can be badass!"

And Hunter is all, "Look, I still have an awesome badge, and you will never be as badass as me in a million years." And McCall's thinking, "I'm so badass I'm not even gonna show you my badge. Just trust me, Dawson's Mom. My badge looks a lot like his."

"Let's all pile into the crapmobile!" (Sometimes I paraphrase. That might not have been exactly what they said.)

Hunter sometimes quirks an eyebrow.

McCall uses cop code, or silent communication or something, to make sure Hunter knows she could use some help over at the hospital...

So he does that screechy car-turnaround thing that we all love...

...Running in with his gun drawn...

...To find Kip Gilman's got Dawson's mom at gunpoint. 

McCall hits an alarm, to distract Kip Gilman long enough so that...

...Hunter can throw him out a window and read him his rights while he dangles precariously over Highland Ave.

Bernie is appalled that Hunter would accept a gift from a criminal, and now he must investigate it...

Serves Bernie right.

Jason Bernard as Chief Kenny Lanark

Ray Girardin as Manny Roth

Paul Willson as Marvin Shriver

Sam J. Jones as Lance Lane

Joe Santos (left) as Det. Ortega; Gary Crosby as Smitty (right)

Gloria Gifford as Hunter's lawyer Gail

Where Can I Fast-Forward Through a Car Chase?  There are a couple of short scenes where they follow people, but nothing worth the fast-forward button.

Do Hunter and/or McCall Have Sex, and Does Their Partner Live Through The Episode?  No sex. Sadface.

Look how sad they are about the no sex thing.

What Are They Wearing?  Hunter: Two versions of button-down shirt & tie with sport coat and slacks.

McCall: 1. Lavender blouse with shoulder pads, a dark skirt and pumps:

2. Teal blouse over a greyish-teal skirt and thick grey belt, light grey pumps.

McCall in outfit #2, as our heroes get chewed out by Capt. Cain.

3. Orange blousy sweater over tan pleated pants, tan flats, gold earrings, gold chain necklace.

McCall's got some shoulder pads here too...

Wow, This Is Old School:  Santos is smoking indoors in the squad room; an old-fashioned date book at 10:48 and a different old-fashioned phone book at 11:20, not to mention a French-style rotary phone at 11:27. Hunter uses a 35mm SLR camera.

You can no longer smoke indoors in a public building in Los Angeles.

When's the last time you saw one of these?

Hunter checks out a date book where things were just ... written down with a pen or pencil!

And he looks pretty happy to be using this French-style rotary phone.

What’s For Lunch?  Hunter eats an apple in his first scene. Chili dogs later, but they don't get to eat them because that guy sneaking up behind Hunter steals the purse Hunter previously stole, and our heroes have to abandon their lunch to give chase.

Where In L.A.?  They say they’re going to 25277 Wilshire, but the numbers on Wilshire don’t go that high. Going to Manny's office, they're downtown near Los Angeles Street (in a shot we see in the opening credits). The police station is really a building on Mateo Street just south of 6th Street in Boyle Heights. When McCall chases the purse thief, she runs out of Fagel's, a little diner/burger place that used to be at 3055 La Cienega Boulevard just north of Blackwelder Street in Culver City. (It's now a BBQ joint.)

You're humming the theme music now, aren't you?

(Not really a police station. This is on Mateo Street in Boyle Heights.)

The former Fagel's in Culver City.

It's an X-File:  Paul Willson was also in the X-Files episode “The Unnatural.”

Who Does Hunter Shoot, and Do They Die?  He shoots Lance’s tires and the car crashes and blows up, killing Lance. McCall shoots Manny’s gun out of his hand and Manny barely seems to need a Band-Aid.

Lance Lane, we hardly knew ye. 

McCall is an ace shot and shoots that gun right out of Manny's hand.

Any Scenes Worth Watching?  At 16:47 McCall takes off her pumps before chasing after a guy, which is pretty smart if you ask me. At 17:35 she puts on an accent. At 19:38 they decide who gets to be whom in good cop/bad cop; keep going to 23:21 for the whole good cop/bad cop scene. At 27:40-29:06 our heroes confront the police commissioner. At 37:51-39:53 there’s a nice scene with Hunter and his lawyer Gail.

McCall demonstrating her gum-snapping-hairdresser accent for Hunter and then doing it for effect at a law office where they're trying to get information.

Is There Banter?  A little bit but nothing of note.

Just a teeny bit of random banter, see?

It Works For Hunter: 33:18, 34:12, 43:19, 46:39

Illegal search/seizure:  Hunter takes the victim’s purse out of her car and doesn’t use gloves or bag it or anything, instead taking it with him to another location and searching through it. (To be fair, they rarely if ever used gloves on "Hunter," and that's just me being nuts because I had to watch the entire O.J. Simpson trial for my work in the '90s, so police procedure is a thing with me. I have to ignore a lot of that while watching TV and movies, especially from the days before DNA and that sort of thing, just like I try to ignore boom shadows and light reflectors in the shot from being a TV Production major in college...)

Oops:  At 16:45, McCall jumps over a table and runs after a guy and we see she’s wearing tennis shoes instead of the pumps she’s supposed to be wearing. Moments later she takes off her pumps to chase the guy outside, and Hunter hands her the pumps when the chase is done. So those tennies were no doubt the stuntwoman's shoes. (You can see it pretty clearly even just watching it normally without being a screencapping-crazy person like I am.)

McCall's wearing pumps in this scene. Supposedly.

See? Hunter hands them to her after she chases down the purse thief.

Oops Infinity:  Legend has it that actor Ray Girardin somehow managed to be shot twice in one day (with blanks) while working on this episode! Once in the head by Wiliam Windom and once in the ass by Stepfanie Kramer. He was taken to the hospital after the first time, came back and was shot again! Why he stayed in acting after that is a mystery, but he seems to be okay.  (Thanks to syntax6 for that info.)

No, really. Please don't shoot me. (McCall's being 'bad cop' here.)

Bonus screencaps!