This is primarily a Dennis Becker episode. When narcotics is shorthanded, Dennis volunteers to help out to make a little overtime money to help pay his property tax bill (it doubled--in a obvious reference to prop. #13!). But he gets suspended when someone plants some smack in his car. He asks Jim to help him get out from under.
Joe Santos does a pretty good job of being overwrought in this episode, though his reaction to the surprise party seems a little too extreme, since he doesn't know at that point he's being investigated by internal affairs. Otherwise, he does some great work in this episode, particularly when he's reading a crooked cop his rights at the end of the episode. He does a great job of showing his inner conflict, while still doing his job.
Stuart Margolin as Angel is recruited to help dig up information that might help clear Becker and we are treated to him reprising the stand up comedy material that he once tried in prison. It's a good moment.
Pat Finley is always welcome as Dennis' wife Peggy and this time is no different. Having Peggy humanizes Dennis and makes him even more 3-dimensional. Jack Carter does a decent job as a comic who acts as a stooge for a club owner and James Sikking shows off the skills that would make him a big part of "Hill Street Blues" as a internal affairs investigator. After allowing the IA cops to push Dennis around, Lt. Chapman (James Luisi) finally stands up for Becker and insists on restricting him to his home rather than locking him up.
The great casting of Jack Kelly as Kasajian is blunted by his lack of scenes with James Garner. The two Maverick brothers have only one scene together and there's little opportunity for them to have much of a moment. While he makes a fine bad guy, I wonder if Kelly was a last minute replacement for someone else. If the role was written for him in mind, you'd think he and Garner would have had a nice moment or two (there's not even a big final moment when Kasajian is busted!).
Kelly would make one more appearance in "Beamer's Last Case" at the start of season four, but if anything, he had even less to do in that one. It's too bad they didn't get to work together in an episode that could have played off their "Maverick" background, though they did appear again together as Bret and Bart in "The New Maverick" and "Bret Maverick".
So as is, the Maverick reunion is just a small part of what is a pretty good episode exploring the Dennis character and the Jim-Dennis relationship.
Joe Santos does a pretty good job of being overwrought in this episode, though his reaction to the surprise party seems a little too extreme, since he doesn't know at that point he's being investigated by internal affairs. Otherwise, he does some great work in this episode, particularly when he's reading a crooked cop his rights at the end of the episode. He does a great job of showing his inner conflict, while still doing his job.
Stuart Margolin as Angel is recruited to help dig up information that might help clear Becker and we are treated to him reprising the stand up comedy material that he once tried in prison. It's a good moment.
Pat Finley is always welcome as Dennis' wife Peggy and this time is no different. Having Peggy humanizes Dennis and makes him even more 3-dimensional. Jack Carter does a decent job as a comic who acts as a stooge for a club owner and James Sikking shows off the skills that would make him a big part of "Hill Street Blues" as a internal affairs investigator. After allowing the IA cops to push Dennis around, Lt. Chapman (James Luisi) finally stands up for Becker and insists on restricting him to his home rather than locking him up.
The great casting of Jack Kelly as Kasajian is blunted by his lack of scenes with James Garner. The two Maverick brothers have only one scene together and there's little opportunity for them to have much of a moment. While he makes a fine bad guy, I wonder if Kelly was a last minute replacement for someone else. If the role was written for him in mind, you'd think he and Garner would have had a nice moment or two (there's not even a big final moment when Kasajian is busted!).
Kelly would make one more appearance in "Beamer's Last Case" at the start of season four, but if anything, he had even less to do in that one. It's too bad they didn't get to work together in an episode that could have played off their "Maverick" background, though they did appear again together as Bret and Bart in "The New Maverick" and "Bret Maverick".
So as is, the Maverick reunion is just a small part of what is a pretty good episode exploring the Dennis character and the Jim-Dennis relationship.
