A spotlight on Julie episode and one that really allowed Peggy Lipton's talents to shine. Couple that with a script that could have been written for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE plus a cast boasting several of the era's best character actors and it equals a winning episode.
The plot finds New York-based narcotics detective Ray Abruzzi coming into the homestretch of a yearlong investigation of a heroin-smuggling cartel. His embedded informant is a ditzy, emotionally fragile young woman named Micki Moore, whose boyfriend is among the cartel's leaders. Micki is in Los Angeles as a courier, awaiting vital information from the cartel's secretive leader, codenamed J. B.
But those best laid plans go awry as Micki begins to crack under the pressure and begs Ray, the detective upon whom she's codependent, for a meeting, just to touch his hand. Reluctantly he agrees, and as she desperately runs to him across a street without looking both ways she's struck and killed by a car. Ray's house of cards is about to come crashing down if not for Captain Greer's noting Micki's uncanny resemblance to... Julie Barnes.
Tearing a page from Rollin and Paris' MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE playbooks, cut to a montage of scenes capturing Julie's grueling training sessions. From being fitted with a brunette wig and false teeth to memorizing the minutiae of Micki's miserable life while learning to drink tea and smoke cigarettes and talk with a high-pitched and nasally New Yawk accent. Julie plays the mobster's moll part well, one could almost say with aplomb, until she's of course discovered to be an imposter. To her credit, Julie fooled one dimwitted ex-boyfriend but couldn't quite pull it off with her current one.
Pete and Linc wonder and worry about Julie's absence. Greer is evasive in his answers so the men barge into his office demanding to know her whereabouts. Why couldn't Greer simply have said she's on a special assignment instead of being cloak n' dagger about it?
Pete is sidelined for much of the show, stuck with Willy's job of driving the truck. Linc gets to play Barney, running the tech in the fake telephone truck that is tracking Julie from a device planted in her lipstick. Linc even gets to play the phony telephone repairman part Jim Phelps would normally assume. Adding to the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE vibe are the rat-a-tat military drums on the soundtrack. Very effective.
Who is J. B.? I was expecting the mastermind behind this heroin smuggling and distribution ring to be some menacing heavy, certainly not Ray Walston, beloved as Uncle Martin and Mr. Hand. He plays debonair criminal J. B. with an air of sophisticated charm. Even after Julie is exposed as a suspected imposter, he's gentlemanly when administering the truth serum and questioning her.
It was curious that J. B. had the sodium pentothal kit readily available in his desk drawer, as if administering it was standard operating procedure.
The climax was tense. The bad guys are hustling a groggy Julie into a helicopter planning to drop her into the ocean when Pete brings the telephone repair truck squealing around the corner with split-seconds to spare. Good thing the pilot neglected to lock the doors of the helicopter or else Pete and Linc couldn't have clambered aboard and inside so easily. But Pete, was it really necessary to put the dapper and diminutive J. B. in a headlock? Police brutality!
The cast will prove a welcome and familiar one to fans of classic television and especially of STAR TREK. Michael Ansara was excellent as Ray, the dogged detective whose investigation was saved by Julie's willingness to risk her life. Ansara is familiar to Trek fans from "Day of the Dove," where he played Klingon commander Kang. Ansara usually played the baddie, so it was refreshing to see him in a good guy role. Ray's integrity and by-the-book investigation also balanced the scales from the previous episode where Nehemiah Persoff's Harry MacGeorge tarnished the badge of honest cops.
Rex Holman played Micki's boyfriend Eddie, seen only on the phone from back in New York. He was woefully underutilized here, especially compared to his memorable villainous turn in the series' sixth episode "A Time to Love, A Time to Cry." Ron Soble had an expansive role as Micki's old boyfriend who was chagrined at her reluctance to reminisce. Holman and Soble had just a couple years earlier played brothers Wyatt and Morgan Earp in the Old West episode of STAR TREK, "Spectre of the Gun." Alas, they share no scenes here.
Speaking of "A Time to Love, A Time to Cry," there are parallels to this episode. In both episodes Julie has a romantic interest in an older cop (played in the earlier one by another Trek vet, Robert Lansing). This episode shared that May-December romantic tension, albeit more subtly and sadly, as it was the woman Julie was impersonating that had captured the old detective's heart, not Julie herself.
Even with the drug ring busted, the show closed with its typical downbeat ending. Why was Julie in a sanitarium after suffering nothing more than a shot of truth serum? The wheelchair and blanket seemed excessive. Was Julie ever in danger of losing herself in the Micki role? I never feared it, but Pete did. Good to see Greer away from the office and in the middle of the action the last couple episodes.
The series is edging away from its countercultural beginnings, and demonstrating its strength lay in the charisma and camaraderie of the four leads.
The plot finds New York-based narcotics detective Ray Abruzzi coming into the homestretch of a yearlong investigation of a heroin-smuggling cartel. His embedded informant is a ditzy, emotionally fragile young woman named Micki Moore, whose boyfriend is among the cartel's leaders. Micki is in Los Angeles as a courier, awaiting vital information from the cartel's secretive leader, codenamed J. B.
But those best laid plans go awry as Micki begins to crack under the pressure and begs Ray, the detective upon whom she's codependent, for a meeting, just to touch his hand. Reluctantly he agrees, and as she desperately runs to him across a street without looking both ways she's struck and killed by a car. Ray's house of cards is about to come crashing down if not for Captain Greer's noting Micki's uncanny resemblance to... Julie Barnes.
Tearing a page from Rollin and Paris' MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE playbooks, cut to a montage of scenes capturing Julie's grueling training sessions. From being fitted with a brunette wig and false teeth to memorizing the minutiae of Micki's miserable life while learning to drink tea and smoke cigarettes and talk with a high-pitched and nasally New Yawk accent. Julie plays the mobster's moll part well, one could almost say with aplomb, until she's of course discovered to be an imposter. To her credit, Julie fooled one dimwitted ex-boyfriend but couldn't quite pull it off with her current one.
Pete and Linc wonder and worry about Julie's absence. Greer is evasive in his answers so the men barge into his office demanding to know her whereabouts. Why couldn't Greer simply have said she's on a special assignment instead of being cloak n' dagger about it?
Pete is sidelined for much of the show, stuck with Willy's job of driving the truck. Linc gets to play Barney, running the tech in the fake telephone truck that is tracking Julie from a device planted in her lipstick. Linc even gets to play the phony telephone repairman part Jim Phelps would normally assume. Adding to the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE vibe are the rat-a-tat military drums on the soundtrack. Very effective.
Who is J. B.? I was expecting the mastermind behind this heroin smuggling and distribution ring to be some menacing heavy, certainly not Ray Walston, beloved as Uncle Martin and Mr. Hand. He plays debonair criminal J. B. with an air of sophisticated charm. Even after Julie is exposed as a suspected imposter, he's gentlemanly when administering the truth serum and questioning her.
It was curious that J. B. had the sodium pentothal kit readily available in his desk drawer, as if administering it was standard operating procedure.
The climax was tense. The bad guys are hustling a groggy Julie into a helicopter planning to drop her into the ocean when Pete brings the telephone repair truck squealing around the corner with split-seconds to spare. Good thing the pilot neglected to lock the doors of the helicopter or else Pete and Linc couldn't have clambered aboard and inside so easily. But Pete, was it really necessary to put the dapper and diminutive J. B. in a headlock? Police brutality!
The cast will prove a welcome and familiar one to fans of classic television and especially of STAR TREK. Michael Ansara was excellent as Ray, the dogged detective whose investigation was saved by Julie's willingness to risk her life. Ansara is familiar to Trek fans from "Day of the Dove," where he played Klingon commander Kang. Ansara usually played the baddie, so it was refreshing to see him in a good guy role. Ray's integrity and by-the-book investigation also balanced the scales from the previous episode where Nehemiah Persoff's Harry MacGeorge tarnished the badge of honest cops.
Rex Holman played Micki's boyfriend Eddie, seen only on the phone from back in New York. He was woefully underutilized here, especially compared to his memorable villainous turn in the series' sixth episode "A Time to Love, A Time to Cry." Ron Soble had an expansive role as Micki's old boyfriend who was chagrined at her reluctance to reminisce. Holman and Soble had just a couple years earlier played brothers Wyatt and Morgan Earp in the Old West episode of STAR TREK, "Spectre of the Gun." Alas, they share no scenes here.
Speaking of "A Time to Love, A Time to Cry," there are parallels to this episode. In both episodes Julie has a romantic interest in an older cop (played in the earlier one by another Trek vet, Robert Lansing). This episode shared that May-December romantic tension, albeit more subtly and sadly, as it was the woman Julie was impersonating that had captured the old detective's heart, not Julie herself.
Even with the drug ring busted, the show closed with its typical downbeat ending. Why was Julie in a sanitarium after suffering nothing more than a shot of truth serum? The wheelchair and blanket seemed excessive. Was Julie ever in danger of losing herself in the Micki role? I never feared it, but Pete did. Good to see Greer away from the office and in the middle of the action the last couple episodes.
The series is edging away from its countercultural beginnings, and demonstrating its strength lay in the charisma and camaraderie of the four leads.
