User Reviews

Malloy and his friends at "The Longhorn" restaurant are held hostage by two escaped convicts. To make matters worse Malloy is shot in the shoulder and in shock, things are not good for the Adam 12 guys. We get to see additional police assets come into play here in the form of the SWAT team, so Jack Webb's groundbreaking show's continue to educate the public. I noticed and liked the way that during the closing credits the story still progressed, this handled a scene as long as an epilogue from a Quinn/Martin show, it makes great use of the limited time frame the show had. Adam 12 lasted several years and was a successful TV show, this year it averaged outside the top 30, but luckily it was renewed and would start a good run close to the top 10 next year. Nothing really all that memorable here, but it delivered a much needed action episode to give the audience some variety. 7 of 10 episode, 10 of 10 series.

(*Sergeant MacDonald quote*) - 'What happened, Reed?"

Escaped convicts, Bernie Ryan and Vince Warren are robbing Duke's "Longhorn" restaurant where they are holding 3 hostages.

Officer Malloy unexpectedly walks in on them and gets shot (but not fatally).

A SWAT team arrives and Ryan tries to bargain with the police by trading the hostages for his and his partner's freedom.

A really terrific episode that offers the viewing audience a nice, unexpected surprise straight at the top of the episode. Malloy & Reed take "7" (lunch) at their latest favorite food joint, Duke's Longhorn Bar & Grill. While Reed goes to get himself a newspaper, Malloy heads into Duke's where he gets himself a bullet.

It's a very shocking moment. We've seen Malloy & Reed eat at this little restaurant in a previous episode. It was nice and quiet. Nice people working there, nice quiet patrons. Nothing bad happened. It would be interesting to be able to find out if the show's writers and production had purposely set this joint up as a nice quiet place with the thought in mind of shocking the viewing audience in a near-future episode by having Malloy innocently wandering in only to be immediately shot by a wild-eyed criminal.

While one of the two bad guys robbing Duke's is indeed a bit wild-eyed, the show surprises us by having the second criminal come across as being capable of using his brain. This guy, Bernie Ryan, is the "leader" of the two. They've just escaped prison and happened into Duke's to grab some cash.

The Ryan character is played by actor Ken Lynch. He's another long-time character actor who appeared on countless TV shows in the 50's, 60's and 70's. He was a terrific actor capable of playing every sort of character, from vicious cop to thoughtful criminal. Here, his character is quite complex. He obviously has a brain in his head and knows how to use it. He can threaten Malloy with his life, then later have a deep, meaningful conversation with him. When an elderly hostage tells him that he - Ryan - is a very stupid man, Ryan is able to take the insult, informing the old man that he's been provided with the revelation of his "stupidity" on prior occassions. A very interesting character. Both in how he is written and certainly in how he is portrayed.

Special mention for Martin Milner. His Malloy character comes across as quite subdued in dealing with the situation at hand. However, not for a moment do we believe that his brain isn't calculating every possible move he could make. This, at the same time as calculating every possible move the two criminals could make. It's all there in Milner's "acting" eyes. Brilliant.

Oh, there's just one more thing. When the end credits for this episode roll, they do so over one last scene. This takes place in a hospital room where Malloy is recovering from that gun shot wound. Duke, from the bar & grill is there and Reed walks in, joining them. It's a nice wrap-up with no sound other than the theme music. A very nice touch.