A sobering episode, perhaps the most sexually charged, written by Robert Heverly, veteran writer for the FBI tv series. He also did a few episodes of MOD SQUAD, and this possibly could have been an outline for a story that was never filmed. It has that feel.
Cannon travels to a college town in Idaho (filmed on location) to save a young man from rape charges and rebellious locals out to kill him. The opening scene is graphic -- especially for 70s tv --as a girl, supposedly on a date, is about to be raped by two goons, one posing as a cop.
I agree with the last reviewer there are shades of HAWAII FIVE O, some deep psychological material in play. The acting here is excellent, the cast to be commended for doing a super job thanks to series director William Wiard.
Applause for Ruth Roman, who gives an outstanding performance, caught in the middle of this scandal on steroids. Ruth was quite popular on tv at the time, having co-starred in two top movies, THE BABY, a cult film, and GO ASK ALICE, playing a psychiatrist.
Also Jesse Vint guest stars, brother of Alan Vint,
who previously appeared in the blockbuster film, MACON COUNTY LINE. Watch that film, produced by Max Baer. Yes, that's Jimmy Lydon playing the district attorney. Lydon was a teenage movie star back in the day, known for playing HENRY ALDRICH. He was a good friend of Bill Conrad and worked with him as co-producer at Warner Brothers tv for years. Their biggest project together was 77 SUNSET STRIP, the final season, which I always thought had some dynamic episodes.
METV PLUS is now running the series on weekends.
Don't miss another GAG scene; some goons pour a ton of sugar into Cannon's coffee. He sips it and pours some more! Obviously lifted from the Three Stooges. The crew was always up to some jokes behind the scenes.
Tag this 10 STARS. SEASON 4 EPISODE 9 remastered color CBS box set. 6 dvd set. 2016.