The plot has been covered by other reviewers so a few comments. You know John Vernon is a bad guy using the "guest star rule". That rule states John Vernon is one of those guest stars who is always a bad guy. (Jason Evers and Clu Gulager also fall into that subset.) Vernon will be bad in his next two Mannix appearances also so will be three for three in the badness category. Mannix is known for its plot twists so should have an outing where Vernon was not the bad guy. The one twist I didn't see coming was the husband (Jan Murray) being a good guy in the end. Well done.
As others have stated, the action around the house is convoluted. Fist fights, rifle grabs and various plans going astray add up to the bad guys almost turning into the gang that couldn't shoot straight. Joe has a rifle on several occasions and never once uses it. It is a rifle, Joe! Shoot the damn thing!
When you think about it, the sister Janet Kirby (Julie Gregg) did Joe dirty. She knowingly lures him into trap to get the bad guys to react. She gives him a check that she knows is worthless. She leaves him to fight it out by himself at the airport. Let's say the bad guys don't show up and Joe goes back to LA and gives the cops the package. They open it and find blank paper and Joe looks like a fool. Then the check bounces and Joe comes under suspicion for that. Joe is a little more forgiving of her than I would have been.
A couple of Mannix tropes on display here. Once again, men with rifles can't hit the broad side of a barn. It is explained early in the story as nobody is supposed to get hurt but that doesn't account for all the bad shooting. Joe is still the best pistol shot in the world. This outing might have the most fist fights of any Mannix episodes so plenty of action.
The acting is fine, but nobody stands out. Julie Gregg is pretty and Vernon can do villain standing on his head. The henchmen are suitably dimwitted. Why wasn't Charlie Picerni one of them?
An intriguing premise with a weak follow-through makes this a mediocre episode. Joe takes some punches and not sure he got paid. He should definitely bill the sister. How many Mannix episodes have "Shadow" in the title? I'm not interested enough to count them, but it seems like several. You can see this or not. Either way will be okay.
As others have stated, the action around the house is convoluted. Fist fights, rifle grabs and various plans going astray add up to the bad guys almost turning into the gang that couldn't shoot straight. Joe has a rifle on several occasions and never once uses it. It is a rifle, Joe! Shoot the damn thing!
When you think about it, the sister Janet Kirby (Julie Gregg) did Joe dirty. She knowingly lures him into trap to get the bad guys to react. She gives him a check that she knows is worthless. She leaves him to fight it out by himself at the airport. Let's say the bad guys don't show up and Joe goes back to LA and gives the cops the package. They open it and find blank paper and Joe looks like a fool. Then the check bounces and Joe comes under suspicion for that. Joe is a little more forgiving of her than I would have been.
A couple of Mannix tropes on display here. Once again, men with rifles can't hit the broad side of a barn. It is explained early in the story as nobody is supposed to get hurt but that doesn't account for all the bad shooting. Joe is still the best pistol shot in the world. This outing might have the most fist fights of any Mannix episodes so plenty of action.
The acting is fine, but nobody stands out. Julie Gregg is pretty and Vernon can do villain standing on his head. The henchmen are suitably dimwitted. Why wasn't Charlie Picerni one of them?
An intriguing premise with a weak follow-through makes this a mediocre episode. Joe takes some punches and not sure he got paid. He should definitely bill the sister. How many Mannix episodes have "Shadow" in the title? I'm not interested enough to count them, but it seems like several. You can see this or not. Either way will be okay.