Apparently, you can go home again
This is Joe's second trip home, and this time he is welcomed by the father from whom he was previously estranged at the start of Season 3's Return to Summer Grove. Mannix has returned at the invitation of a prominent Armenian defense attorney who is also a good friend. A beloved local labor leader, Juan Esparza, is accused of murder and the case against him looks grim. A 14-year -old boy, Jose Alonzo, hero worships Esparza and is also a surrogate son and vineyard helper to Joe's father. Jose's sister Maria had been brutally beaten and raped by the man whom Esparza was supposed to have murdered. Figure in the town's biggest grower and his hot-to-trot new wife and you've got a whole pool of suspects in a neighborhood where temperatures are running high. As usual, there's a lot to keep track of.
Before the first commercial, Joe has already confronted three angry young hoods who want him to go back to Los Angeles. In short order, he is shot at through the window of his father's house, nearly run down by two large tractors, and engages in prolonged hand-to hand combat with the dead man's brother. Plenty of action for those who like that. The small-town chief of police is on Mannix's side this time, though, and we are kept guessing till the end on the real murderer.
Victor Jory returns as Mannix, Sr and does very well. Look for a great bit by Marion Ross pre-Happy Days. The real charm of this episode is seeing Joe in his hometown - that picture on his father's mantel looks to be Mike Connors' own mother. Joe handles the brutal beating and rape of Jose's sister too casually for my taste, ("she's fine, Jose") but if you insist on modern sensibilities, you shouldn't watch 70's television. Instead of the usual anonymous hit men, we know who is trying to take Mannix out. This particular show is personal in many ways - it is rare to get any part of Joe's family backstory. This episode is part of the Mannix canon. Don't miss it.
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