MIKE HAMMER: DEAD PIDGEON
What, No Jury? ********
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
A possibly-crooked cop Hammer never liked is killed (a real change from it being one of Mike's "best and oldest friends") and HE's framed for the murder! After an increasing number of episodes in which Larry Barrington was slowly getting more mellowed-out, he's back to his old tricks again, OBSESSED with nailing Hammer to a wall, no matter what it takes. Pat Chambers is angry, more than usual-- at Mike for not staying off the streets while HE tries to clear him, at a group of crooked cops for assaulting Mike outside a bar, and at Barrington, for letting his personal feeling totally cloud his judgment.
And in the midst of this is the dead man's sort-of widow (they were never officially married), who was once Mike's EX... and who seems to want him back in her life again-- among other things.
Elaine Wilkes plays Mike's defense lawyer Nancy, looking far too young to have actually graduated both college AND law school (in fact, the actress was only 21 when she appeared in this episode-- having been in SIXTEEN CANDLES 2 years before). Robin Curtis (the 2nd "Saavik", from STAR TREK 3 and 4) plays Peggy Ryan, another cop who's being blackmailed by the real killer. And Randi Brooks (THE LAST PRECINCT) plays Sheila Forbes, one really HHHHHOT number who winds up appearing in the sexiest scene ever filmed for this TV series!!! (When I saw this, in the 8-9 PM time slot on a Saturday night, I knew "Family Viewing Hour" was dead and gone.)
Fred Freiberger, infamous as the producer of STAR TREK's 3rd season (and SPACE: 1999's 2nd) wrote this, and even wide awake, I still couldn't quite make sense of the ending. Why is it so hard to keep track of the logic on this show's mysteries sometimes? The most memorable thing was the climax-- a direct SWIPE from Mickey Spillane's "I, THE JURY". Only without the "How could you?" and "It was EASY."
One thing that baffles me about the 3rd season-- apart from the really STUPID name-change to "THE NEW MIKE HAMMER"-- is how, while the show got MUCH more serious and intense and stylish, the theme song became more upbeat and frivolous. If anything, the slower, moodier version from seasons 1-2 would have been a much better fit here, and vice-versa.
