The plot has been covered by others so I will just state that it is tensed and fast paced. Bill Bixby could direct about anything and make it worth watching. A very underrated director.
The acting matches the direction. Has William Windom ever been bad? I can't recall a single time and he has been in everything so had plenty of opportunities to screw it up. He is a little more of a physical, threatening bad guy here than his usual bad guy who is often a "king pin" type bad guy who tells his underlings to kill people. James Hampton, forever F Troop's Dobbs, has a nice turn as a bad guy with a screw loose. Of course, John Ritter makes this all work. It's easy to forget he did many drama roles before making it big in comedy. He and Hampton would be together in "Sling blade" twenty years later. Paul Picerni gives his usual solid support. Too bad his brother Charlie wasn't in this outing so Joe could beat him up one last time.
I think Art Malcolm pulled through. Of course, if his contract was up and Ward Wood wanted more money.... maybe not. As another reviewer pointed out, some of the recent episodes have been very good so the show seemed to be getting a second wind and it would have been nice to see if that would have carried over into a ninth year. Alas, it was not to be. At least Joe went out with one last episode in which he gets knocked out and doesn't get paid again.
Do see this outing and the entire Mannix series. Also, catch Mike Connors as Mannix in an episode of Diagnosis Murder twenty-one years later. The Mannix character still works after all that time. Well worth the hour.
The acting matches the direction. Has William Windom ever been bad? I can't recall a single time and he has been in everything so had plenty of opportunities to screw it up. He is a little more of a physical, threatening bad guy here than his usual bad guy who is often a "king pin" type bad guy who tells his underlings to kill people. James Hampton, forever F Troop's Dobbs, has a nice turn as a bad guy with a screw loose. Of course, John Ritter makes this all work. It's easy to forget he did many drama roles before making it big in comedy. He and Hampton would be together in "Sling blade" twenty years later. Paul Picerni gives his usual solid support. Too bad his brother Charlie wasn't in this outing so Joe could beat him up one last time.
I think Art Malcolm pulled through. Of course, if his contract was up and Ward Wood wanted more money.... maybe not. As another reviewer pointed out, some of the recent episodes have been very good so the show seemed to be getting a second wind and it would have been nice to see if that would have carried over into a ninth year. Alas, it was not to be. At least Joe went out with one last episode in which he gets knocked out and doesn't get paid again.
Do see this outing and the entire Mannix series. Also, catch Mike Connors as Mannix in an episode of Diagnosis Murder twenty-one years later. The Mannix character still works after all that time. Well worth the hour.