Joe returns to his hometown to assist a defense lawyer in defending Juan Esparza (Frank Ramirez) who is charged with murdering a man, George Nelson, in the middle of a local labor dispute. The town toughs who work for local bigwig grower, Charlie Apellini (Anthony Caruso), have it in for Joe as the dead man was the brother of one of them, Harry Nelson (James Daris). Joe also visits his father (Victor Jory). As the plot moves along, Joe endures a couple of shotgun blasts while at his dad's place and a bomb exploding while he is with the sheriff (Perry Lopez). The bomb nearly kills Juan Esparza in his jail cell, but they all pretend he is dead to take the heat off. A couple of complications are Apellini's cheating wife (Francine York) and a boy (Fabian Gregory) who goes off the rails in defense of Juan. Harry, the brother of the dead man, is behind the violence, and it ends up in a face-off between him and Joe, as we knew it would. Joe wins the fight but then the boy shows up with a gun to kill the Harry Nelson and Joe has to talk some sense into him. Turns out the boy killed George Nelson for maltreating his sister. Joe gets the gun from the boy. The ending is bittersweet, but we are led to believe the kid will get off.
The acting is first rate. Marion Ross as the wife's sister has a nice scene. Victor Jory is an old pro, as is Caruso. The kid Fabian Gregory is good in a critical role. Perry Lopez is fine playing a small-town sheriff who is a Mannix ally for one of the few times in the series.
We get to hear some Armenian spoken and see a warmer relationship between Joe and his father. Of course, Joe is not paid again but he is rarely paid these days. He is not knocked out or shot so a big win for our guy. Good episode. Do see it.
The acting is first rate. Marion Ross as the wife's sister has a nice scene. Victor Jory is an old pro, as is Caruso. The kid Fabian Gregory is good in a critical role. Perry Lopez is fine playing a small-town sheriff who is a Mannix ally for one of the few times in the series.
We get to hear some Armenian spoken and see a warmer relationship between Joe and his father. Of course, Joe is not paid again but he is rarely paid these days. He is not knocked out or shot so a big win for our guy. Good episode. Do see it.