The way Mannix gets this case is a bit unusual. Peggy has a boyfriend (Yaphet Kotto) and he seems to be hiding something, as he ran off when he was performing in a jazz club. It turns out that this is because a guy in the audience recognizes him--and the guy in the audience is a cop (Anthony Zerbe). It turns out that the boyfriend is a wanted man--as he ran away from a road gang in the South. He had been convicted of several crimes--including a hit and run killing. However, he swears he didn't do it and Mannix decides to head South to investigate.
The investigation portion is interesting. After all, it IS the South, the boyfriend is black and Mannix is an outsider--so Mannix ASSUMES the cops are out to railroad his client and Mannix is downright nasty towards the police. However, in an interesting twist, the cops are just doing their job and they are NOT stupid, inbred racists. Can SOMEONE get to the bottom of all this and determine WHO actually committed this nasty crime? As I mentioned above, the Southern cops were not jerks nor racists. I appreciated this as it flies in the face of the easy stereotype the show could have taken--and in the process Mannix learns a bit about humility! Worth seeing.
The investigation portion is interesting. After all, it IS the South, the boyfriend is black and Mannix is an outsider--so Mannix ASSUMES the cops are out to railroad his client and Mannix is downright nasty towards the police. However, in an interesting twist, the cops are just doing their job and they are NOT stupid, inbred racists. Can SOMEONE get to the bottom of all this and determine WHO actually committed this nasty crime? As I mentioned above, the Southern cops were not jerks nor racists. I appreciated this as it flies in the face of the easy stereotype the show could have taken--and in the process Mannix learns a bit about humility! Worth seeing.