3 reviews
Mediocre episode dealing with air pollution
To Clear the Air begins as an elderly man with a respiratory condition dies while walking outside during a smog warning. Quincy (Jack Klugman) conducts the autopsy and finds high traces of sulfur in the lungs of the man which leads him to list the cause of death as air pollution. This frustrates Dr. Asten (John S. Ragin) who does not concur with the determination, but when a young asthmatic boy residing at the same convalescent care center as the elderly man also dies after going outside, this further validates Quincy's findings and the focus becomes on a nearby refinery plant that may be emitting deadly amounts of pollutants and covering it up with government inspectors.
I found this to be a fairly reasonable story which still has relevance today as we just saw something similar where a huge auto manufacturer was caught rigging the systems of their popular vehicles to appear to be emitting less pollutants than they were actually when tested by government inspectors. From this perspective it is a pretty decent and competent story, but the problem was I just didn't find it all that exciting and felt that it came off as rather dull. The conclusion was also pretty weak in that there is a courtroom confession that wraps everything up very conveniently which was very predictable and anti-climactic.
Overall this is a rather mediocre Season 7 episode which deals with a public health issue and a cover-up rather than a murder mystery, and while the issue of pollution as well as big business cover up continues to be relevant and important now, it just wasn't enough to make this a very good Quincy episode.
I found this to be a fairly reasonable story which still has relevance today as we just saw something similar where a huge auto manufacturer was caught rigging the systems of their popular vehicles to appear to be emitting less pollutants than they were actually when tested by government inspectors. From this perspective it is a pretty decent and competent story, but the problem was I just didn't find it all that exciting and felt that it came off as rather dull. The conclusion was also pretty weak in that there is a courtroom confession that wraps everything up very conveniently which was very predictable and anti-climactic.
Overall this is a rather mediocre Season 7 episode which deals with a public health issue and a cover-up rather than a murder mystery, and while the issue of pollution as well as big business cover up continues to be relevant and important now, it just wasn't enough to make this a very good Quincy episode.
- rayoflite24
- Dec 19, 2015
- Permalink
It brings up a good point but the villains in this one are too one-dimensional to make this a particularly good episode.
It's summer in Los Angeles and the pollution is even worse than usual. Until the weather breaks, breathing is very tough. But it's even tougher for some patients in a treatment center for patients with lung disorders. It seems that a nearby refinery is pushing out toxic levels of sulfur dioxide and it's killing these folks one by one. However, the people running the plant are evil....pure, unadulterated evil! They know their equipment designed to clean their emissions is broken and they are choking the nearby residents...but they simply don't care. And, to cover their villainy, they rig up the equipment to make it appear that they are in compliance with air pollution laws.
There is a serious problem with this show. While pollution in the late 1970s and early 80s was horrible and discussing this on "Quincy" is reasonable, the show does so in a cartoony fashion. That's because the polluters are one-dimensional fiends--sort of like "Captain Planet" villains! This muddies the message and makes a real problem seem frivolous. To be fair, my wife (an engineer) thought the story wasn't that bad--as she can remember incidents where her employers knowingly acted a lot like those in this show. I just wish the whole thing had been a little less black and white in portraying the polluters, as it would have made the story a bit more believable. It also didn't help that Quincy (literally) makes a soap box speech AND they introduce a cute kid (who you KNOW will soon die of pollution!)--all clichés that make this one tough viewing. It's a shame, as the show COULD have done a nice public service instead of coming off as a bit silly.
By the way, fortunately, the pollution problems in this country have improved tremendously--and plants are much cleaner and air is much cleaner today than in past decades. I remember as a kid growing up in the DC area all the pollution alerts and green-yellow air. Now, when I mention this to young folks, they are amazed since such air conditions are pretty much nonexistent in the States (thank goodness).
There is a serious problem with this show. While pollution in the late 1970s and early 80s was horrible and discussing this on "Quincy" is reasonable, the show does so in a cartoony fashion. That's because the polluters are one-dimensional fiends--sort of like "Captain Planet" villains! This muddies the message and makes a real problem seem frivolous. To be fair, my wife (an engineer) thought the story wasn't that bad--as she can remember incidents where her employers knowingly acted a lot like those in this show. I just wish the whole thing had been a little less black and white in portraying the polluters, as it would have made the story a bit more believable. It also didn't help that Quincy (literally) makes a soap box speech AND they introduce a cute kid (who you KNOW will soon die of pollution!)--all clichés that make this one tough viewing. It's a shame, as the show COULD have done a nice public service instead of coming off as a bit silly.
By the way, fortunately, the pollution problems in this country have improved tremendously--and plants are much cleaner and air is much cleaner today than in past decades. I remember as a kid growing up in the DC area all the pollution alerts and green-yellow air. Now, when I mention this to young folks, they are amazed since such air conditions are pretty much nonexistent in the States (thank goodness).
- planktonrules
- May 28, 2013
- Permalink
Moralistic Quincy episode that is still relevant.
- poolandrews
- Aug 14, 2008
- Permalink