Log 61: The Runaway (Episode 12, Season 1)

Episode 12

Walters and Brinkman are "riding the hottest car in the division", they are always at the right place at the right time to catch the biggest busts. Brinkman's "weird sense of humor" and the fact that "Walters isn't exactly known for his humility" makes their lucky streak a bitter pill for the other officers to swallow. 
After helping a sick runaway and responding to a prowler call, Malloy and Reed are ready to catch a high-profile arrest of their own. Will information from Tee Jay give them the break they've been looking for?

The last five episodes have begun with a scene inside the station, we're due for an episode that starts in the car. 

Walters and Brinkman are being dispatched to another "hot call", a 459  (burglary) at 3270 Washburn. Malloy decides to go to the address since they are only a few blocks away. Besides, there's no way Walters and "Brink" could be there yet. 

Sorry, Malloy. Walters and Brinkman were already there. They were ticketing illegally parked cars when they caught the thief coming out of the apartment building with his ill-gotten gains.

"He walked right into us."

"That's some police work."

"Some guys have it and some guys don't."

Walters is glad that Pete and Jim have shown up. Seems he and Brinkman didn't get to complete what they were doing when that burglar walked into their lives. So, he needs Malloy and Reed to finish the job they started.

This job.

Foster Brooks, in a mock turtleneck and sports jacket combination that is similar to what he wore in episode 10, is upset that he has received a parking ticket. 

He tries to get out of the ticket by showing Pete and Jim a "courtesy card" from Sgt. John Williams. Sorry, Foster,  that's only a business card. You will still have to pay that parking ticket.

After that incident Reed is annoyed because Walters and Brinkman got a "burglary suspect right in their lap" while he and Pete got an "irate citizen". No time to brood, though. They are called to 6341 Huntley Place to see a women reporting a juvenile problem.

This is the woman, she is upset about the four hippies living across the street. One of them is a young girl named Carol, who used to ask the woman to borrow things all the time. But Carol stopped coming over to her house about a week ago and one of the other hippies told the woman that Carol went home. She believes Carol is still living in the house because she saw her run outside 20 minutes ago looking "drunk or sick or something". The other hippie, Ray, then dragged Carol back inside.

"That's when I called you people!"
"We'll check it out right away. Thank you very much for reporting it."

Ding dong, Avon calling.

Long hair? Check. Love beads? Check. This guy must be one of the hippies that lady was talking about. He tells Pete and Jim that Carol "split about a week ago".  He is not too keen on letting them take a look around.
"What are you the gestapo? You just go around kicking people's doors down?"

Do you see anyone kicking that guy's door down? I just see a couple of very nice police officers. I would invite them in.
Whether that guy likes it or not, Pete and Jim are coming. They have reason to believe that Carol is there, possibly against her will.

He reluctantly lets them in the house. Reed goes to take a look around the rest of the house while Malloy talks to our gracious host, Raymond P. Evans. 

"My friends call me Ray. You can call me Raymond."

Look what Reed found in the back. Also, notice the brown walls. A sure sign of criminal activity in the Mark VII world.

 It's the girl they've been looking for, Carol Anderson. A 16-year-old runaway who has been sick with a fever for a week. Ray advised her not to go to the doctor. She has needle marks on her arm from shooting speed and Ray told her the doctor would turn her in to the police if he saw the marks.

Or as I like to call her, "The Luckiest Sick Runaway in the History of the World". That's Milner's hand on her forehead.

The being a sick, drug addicted runaway part sucks; but if you get touched by the hand of Milner that makes up for it. Am I right?

"Better call an ambulance, looks like an infectious hepatitis." Or,  Hepatitis A, as it is known today. She must have had the tell-tale yellow eyes that are a symptom of a disease. Either that or disease recognition through touch is one of Malloy's superhuman abilities. 

Umm, yeah, that sucks, Carol. You're a beautiful person, but I gotta split now.

Not so fast, Raymond. You're under arrest for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Later, in the patrol car, Reed finds it "hard to believe that anyone that young could get that messed". Malloy has seen it all before and knows that someone that young can get that messed up "when they work at it like that". Their conversation is interrupted when they receive a radio call to phone the watch commander, code 2.

Here's Reed closing the call box after talking to Mac. I was always fascinated with police call boxes when I was kid, I always wondered what the heck was in those things. It never crossed my mind that it was a telephone. It wasn't until I started watching Adam-12 that I found out what was in a call box. I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed that they only contained a phone. Do these still exist or have cell phones rendered them obsolete?

They were asked to call the watch commander, Mac, so he could tell them that Tee Jay wanted to see them. In case you forgot, Tee Jay is Malloy's informant.

Tee Jay tells Malloy and Reed that a big drug buy is going down tonight at 11:00 in the parking lot of the supermarket on Orange. Joey Burns, who drives a green '66 Mustang, will be buying a "little bit of everything".

Pete and Jim return to the station to give this information to Mac. Reed is not happy when Mac tells them to turn the details over to the dicks. Jim wanted a Walters and Brinkman-style bust.

Mac is only in the episode for about a minute. I had to include a cap of him, though, because of his beautiful blue eyes.  

Lucky for us, Sgt. Jerry Miller is in this episode! Lucky for Reed and Malloy, Sgt. Miller wants them to help with the drug buy stake-out.

The stake-out will begin at 10:15 p.m., which gives Reed and Malloy over four hours to fill. Reed asks what they will do until then.

"What we always do. Cruise, handle radio calls, the whole bit." Reed isn't happy with that answer, he's worried they'll get tied up with something at 10:15.

At 8:00 p.m., they decide to eat at Biff's. When they pull into the parking lot, they notice Walters and Brinkman are already there. Pete and Jim join them as they are finishing their meal. Brinkman refuses dessert, his wife says he is getting fat. Walters, on the other hand, orders some apple pie with ice cream. He says he's been eating like a horse lately, must be all the running he's been doing.

"You mean you actually chase people?"
"You mean when they see it's you, they don't just stop and give up?"

Walters doesn't seem to understand that Pete is being sarcastic. Which could mean that either Walters is ignoring Pete's facetious comments or he thinks that Pete's surprise is genuine. Which would mean that Walters thinks that Malloy believes Walters is some kind of super-cop who doesn't have to chase suspects.

Enough about what Walters thinks. Let's talk about facts. It's a fact that the dishes used in this scene at Biff's are used in other Mark VII productions.

I'm talking about these lovely green and white, leaf-patterned dishes.

Here's Pete using one of the cups in episode 1.

Here's a fantastic close-up of the cup, saucer, and a large, freckled mitt. You can almost count the freckles in this shot.

Here are the plates, cups, and saucers being used at Station 51 on Emergency!.

Here are Johnny and Roy with a cup and saucer from the set. 

After Pete and Jim finish their delicious meal of hot turkey sandwiches and coffee (gross), they are called to 1616 Greenly Place to find a prowler. 

This is the scene at 1616 Greenly Place. These two boys are home alone with their dog, Shaggy. They tell Malloy and Reed that a prowler tried to come in the house through a living room window while they were in the den playing with Shaggy. 

They go on to tell the officers that they believe the prowler knocked over this bookshelf in an effort to find a wall safe.

Hmmm, what's this? Was someone playing ball in the house?

"That's not ours."
Let me point out that the older brother, Rick, is played by Jimmy Mathers; younger brother of Jerry Mathers a.k.a. "The Beaver". Gary, the younger brother is a precocious five-year-old who is in the third grade.

Malloy tells them they will have to take the ball and get prints off of it so they can catch "those no-good robbers". He also tells the boys that they will have to come with them to the police station in order to make their report.

Once the brothers hear that they will have to go to the police station, they change their tune. Suddenly, the baseball does belong to them and there may not have been prowler trying to get into the house. Since they are no longer needed, Reed and Malloy head out the door.

Uh, Pete. Look at those faces, we should help them with the shelf.

Aren't they the best cops ever? Although, I think these boys will still be in trouble when their parents come home.

Soon after they leave Rick and Gary's house, it's time for the stake-out. Pete and Jim arrive at the location at 10:15. They wait.

"Do you think Burns'll show? Should we call Miller again?"

"Why? We got nothin' to tell him."

They wait until 11:40, then Sgt. Miller calls it off because it looks like Burns is going to be a no-show. Reed is understandably disappointed. 

"Well, we might as well head for the barn. It was a real nothing night."

Once they are back at the "barn", Pete and Jim meet up with Mac to tell him about their night. As they are telling Mac about Joey Burns' and his green Mustang, the daring duo of Walters and Brinkman enter the coffee room.

"What's this about a green Mustang?" asks Walters. (Notice Mac's personalized coffee mug!)

Walters tells Mac and Malloy how he and Brinkman pulled over a Joey Burns in a green Mustang  for an illegal left turn six or seven blocks away from Orange.
"Boy did he take off", exclaims Walters.

It looks like Walters and Brinkman's luck has changed. This time instead of catching the bad guy, they let him go!

Walters, of course, acts like a professional law enforcement officer and immediately apologizes for his mishandling of the situation.
In case you couldn't tell, the previous sentence was in "sarcasm font". Here's what really happened, Walters blames Brinkman for not calling dispatch during the traffic stop and finding out more about the driver. The episode then closes with these two fighting like an old, married couple and the other officers enjoying their little show. 

Walters: "Why didn't you call in on the radio and find out about him? You saw he was nervous." 

Brinkman: "You're the senior officer"
Walters: "I was writing the ticket! I can't do everything!"

Brinkman: "Who carries the pens for the ticket book?"

Walters: "You do!"
Just look at the other cops laughing at these two!

THE END

My feelings about this episode are kind of ambivalent. I don't hate it, but it's not one that I can't wait to watch again. I feel as if the episode is supposed to be about Walters and Brinkman being arrogant jerks and bragging about their exploits, but I don't feel that aspect is illustrated enough throughout the story. I do like parts of this episode, especially the scene at Biff's and the prowler call with the two little boys. But I can take or leave the rest of it. So, I have rated this episode:

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments. 
See you next time! KMA-367