Oftentimes, two-part episodes feel like an hour and fifteen minutes of plot then a bunch of filler is added to pad out the time. That is not the case here. These two episodes needs and uses all the time allotted. As pointed out by Hafer, the plot is complicated with many twists and turns. Normally, I cover the plot in my reviews, but this would require a term paper so a few highlights. Plans to a laser is the McGuffin here and sets everything in motion. A Intertect man goes bad. Lew Wickersham is not the buttoned-down officer manager we have come to expect but is semi crazy and running in the red zone for the majority of this adventure. Lew and Joe having a knock down drag-out fight is not to be missed. Lew gets to escape from a makeshift jail cell. Lots of drugging going on. Most scenes include an argument or violence. There are a couple of nice touches with a smuggler who sings her part of a conversation while an opera record plays, and the use of the word "radio" contributes to the bad guy's downfall. The final shootout aboard a boat is well-done and Lew gets the bad guy.
This Mannix outing is unlike any of the others up to this point in the series. Part of that is Lew not being the anchor of rational thinking while Joe is usually the emotional one. Their roles are reversed here. Part of it is the violence is at a high rate and portrayed more realistically than we have seen before. Also, all the characters are on edge. Many axes are being grinded with several conflicting agendas in play. The whole affair is just grittier than normal. There are no moments of breeziness as we often see when Joe drops a bunch of one liners and smiles as he goes about solving a case.
The actors are all good. Dana Elcar as bad guy Fred Reston is excellent as he reacts with desperation as he sees his plan going down the drain. His death scene is well done. Beverly Garland is his wife Edna who is a reluctant co-conspirator who is in over her head. Roscoe Lee Browne is a company officer who takes a fall for the real culprits. He always brings a level of class to his portrayals. Is he ever bad? Michael Tolan is the inside the company bad guy. Antoinette Bower is the pretty face here, but she is more than that. Her break-up with Joe at the end of the episode is very well done. She always brings a level of sophistication and maturity to her parts that other actresses simply don't project. I think Diana Muldaur does the same. I would actually want to have either of those two as a girlfriend as opposed to most of the other women Joe runs across. Joseph Campanella must have loved cutting loose his Lew Wickersham character. Lots of scenery chewing but in a good way.
This is a complicated episode where you have to pay attention. Often, TV shows deliberately "dumb it down" for the audience but that doesn't happen here. Do see it.
This Mannix outing is unlike any of the others up to this point in the series. Part of that is Lew not being the anchor of rational thinking while Joe is usually the emotional one. Their roles are reversed here. Part of it is the violence is at a high rate and portrayed more realistically than we have seen before. Also, all the characters are on edge. Many axes are being grinded with several conflicting agendas in play. The whole affair is just grittier than normal. There are no moments of breeziness as we often see when Joe drops a bunch of one liners and smiles as he goes about solving a case.
The actors are all good. Dana Elcar as bad guy Fred Reston is excellent as he reacts with desperation as he sees his plan going down the drain. His death scene is well done. Beverly Garland is his wife Edna who is a reluctant co-conspirator who is in over her head. Roscoe Lee Browne is a company officer who takes a fall for the real culprits. He always brings a level of class to his portrayals. Is he ever bad? Michael Tolan is the inside the company bad guy. Antoinette Bower is the pretty face here, but she is more than that. Her break-up with Joe at the end of the episode is very well done. She always brings a level of sophistication and maturity to her parts that other actresses simply don't project. I think Diana Muldaur does the same. I would actually want to have either of those two as a girlfriend as opposed to most of the other women Joe runs across. Joseph Campanella must have loved cutting loose his Lew Wickersham character. Lots of scenery chewing but in a good way.
This is a complicated episode where you have to pay attention. Often, TV shows deliberately "dumb it down" for the audience but that doesn't happen here. Do see it.