"In my job, I meet a lot of losers. I carry a badge."
Not exactly one of my personal favorite Dragnet 1969 episodes, but there is still a lot of attention to detail, especially when it concerns the history of the races in California. The episode focuses on Friday and Gannon assisting the Special Investigative Unit, receiving information from informant, "Black Ten" (Lawrence Levin), a sketchy undercover type who gives police details with financial exchange upon delivery. A jade ring, diamonds, and a fancy dog collar were stolen from a wealthy widow's home, and it seems that the victim's dog kennel had someone inside using her address (and knowing she was going out of town to San Francisco), with knowledge of where folks hide their expensive jewelry, to burglarize her. Black Ten gives Friday and Gannon information on Al Baylor (Anthony Eisley), even drawing them a sketch of the jade ring, describing it, not asking for anything in return, cluing in the detectives that he has a special interest in this crook being arrested. A swinger's club, a hostess in cahoots with Baylor (a bartender there), and a pretty, fresh-out-of-the-academy undercover recruit looking to get experience in the field (Stephanie Shayne) all factor in to the results of the investigation. Gannon uncomfortable with Friday asking him if Shayne's cop fits the bill of the three things he needs for the role of "date" to the club-pretty, young, and looking nice out of uniform-is amusing. A piranha fish tank even finds its way into the uncovering of taken jewelry...Al boasts that if Friday and Gannon had searched it by hand, the fish would have torn it apart to the bone. Louise Lorimer, as the victim, gets a lesson in how thieves operate, feeling like no matter what she tried to do to hide her precious items, it almost impossible to keep them safe unless she takes precautions such as a safe and a safeguard on her glass door.
Review of S.I.U.: The Ring
