Log 52: Good Cop, Handle With Care (Episode 3, Season 2)

Episode 29

You know, I don't think I did such a hot job on last week's episode, Log 153: Find Me a Needle. Which is a shame because it is such a good episode. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. I'm going to blame it on too much travel for work. This week I didn't have to do any traveling and I had a day off, so I am well-rested and ready to blog. Let's get to it!

Synopsis:

Two concerned citizens follow Malloy and Reed for several days. Are they observing the police at work or looking to make trouble?

The story:

Pete and Jim are in the patrol car when Reed spots a man down by a tree. They stop to the car and approach the man.

"Hey, friend."

I'm pretty sure this is Marco Lopez. He's a good actor, I would be giggling uncontrollably.

The man is non-responsive to the freckled-finger neck fondle, there must be something seriously wrong with him. While Reed is calling for an ambulance, a red Mustang pulls up behind the patrol car.

Two men get out of the Mustang, one with a camera, and begin asking questions and taking pictures. They want to know why the officers don't just leave the poor man alone.

"For one thing, he can't take of himself or his property," explains Pete.

These two guys think the man is drunk, Pete and Jim think he is ill or injured and in need of medical attention. The men then turn to the crowd that has gathered and begin asking what they think is wrong with the victim.

They don't get much of a response from the crowd, so they continue to spout their own opinions. They criticize the police for throwing a man with a disease, alcoholism, in jail. (These two idiots don't know anything. Jim called an ambulance, not a paddy wagon.)

At the station, Pete and Jim have been called to the Watch Commander's office where Lt. Moore is on the phone discussing the man they found earlier. He says, "overdose victim" just before hanging up. He then asks Pete and Jim about the two men from the Mustang. Pete tells him that the men were trying to start an incident, but didn't have the right crowd. Jim adds that they were also at another one of their calls.

Before they leave, Lt. Moore advises Malloy not to let these two interfere. Pete will have to use his judgement when dealing with these men.

Later, Pete and Jim are back on the street. Jim keeps looking out the rear window for the red Mustang.

"You're gonna get a sore neck, partner," warns Pete."They just bug me, that's all," explains Jim.
"You don't say," remarks Pete

Jim then asks Pete if the men in the Mustang bother him.

"Only the photographer, he still hasn't gotten my good profile."
(Pete has a bad profile?)

Can you really blame Jim for being slightly on-edge about the Mustang? Shouldn't both of these guys have an irrational fear of Mustangs by now? They already have that white over gold Mustang following them everywhere! And don't forget what happened to Pete's Mustang at the college. 

Anyway, they receive a radio dispatch to call the station and Pete finds the nearest call box. As they are leaving to go to their next call, Jim points out that their "friends" are parked nearby.

The Mustang is legally parked so Pete is going to leave them alone. Let's hope the two in the Mustang return the favor.

Their next call takes them to the Sanchez home, where they have to deliver some bad news to Mrs. Sanchez whose husband is in the Merchant Marines.

At first Mrs. Sanchez is defensive with the officers, she thinks they are going to arrest her for traffic violations. Then she thinks maybe they are there because of some obscene phone calls she has reported. Pete finally interrupts her and tells her the real reason they are there. (I think Mrs. Sanchez suspected all along, but didn't want to admit it.) Pete reluctantly begins, searching for the most compassionate way to tell her the news. He finally decides to plainly tell her what has happened.

"Mrs. Sanchez, we have to tell you something. I'm afraid it's bad news." 

"Mrs. Sanchez, I hope you'll forgive me. I tried to think of some other way, a better way to say this. But, I couldn't. 

We've been asked to notify you of the death of your husband."

A stoic Mrs. Sanchez asks if there could be some mistake, but Pete assures her there is not. As she shows them out the door, she breaks down. They turn to leave and Jim notices that they have company.

 

The Mustang Gang is back.

These two saw Mrs. Sanchez crying and want to know what Pete and Jim did to her.  (Don't these two know that the ladies always cry when Pete and Jim leave?) Jim hears police radio chatter coming from the Mustang and notices that they have a police radio of their own. Pete then asks them for their names. 

Ol' white jacket here is Mark A. Gurney, he accuses Pete of harassing them when he asks for their names.

"Nobody's harassing you and nobody's going to."

The photographer is Gerald T. Bowen.

Pete then asks what their "deal" is. Are they newspaper reporters? Mark answers that they are just a couple of concerned citizens who are interested in law enforcement. A point they prove by continuing to ask questions about 1-Adam-12's latest call. They still think Pete and Jim did something nefarious to Mrs. Sanchez. They begin walking to the house to ask her what went on inside. This infuriates Pete.

"You leave the woman alone! Her husband just died. He was out of town, we had to tell her."

Gurney is surprised that the police are allowed to deliver bad news like the death of a spouse, he thinks they lack tact and sensitivity. Pete reminds him to be sensitive to Mrs. Sanchez's needs and respect her privacy. 

Before they leave, Pete tells Gurney and Bowen that it is their privilege to follow the police around, but it is against the law for them to interfere with the execution of their job.

Gurney has to get in one final dig and asks Pete, "How'd ya tell her? 'Hey lady, your husband just kicked off?'".

Pete just glares at Gurney in response to his query.

 

Gurney and Bowen get into their...Mustang? Per Mark VII policy, there is silver tape covering the model name. (OK, I don't know if it was actual policy, but they did it all the time.)

These guys are starting to burn Jim up (and me, too). 

Pete tells him to take it easy, Gurney and Bowen are just a lot of talk

We next see Reed and Malloy arresting a suspect. Gurney and Bowen show up just as they are putting him in the patrol car. They take a picture of the officers with the man and ask some questions, Malloy does his best to ignore them.

The prisoner, Henderson, is sitting in the back of the car with Jim. Everything seems fine at first, then he starts yelling some gibberish about knives and blood.

I'm high on pills and alcohol, I'm probably gonna freak out. Just thought I should warn you.

Jim, is that guy freaking out?

He's freaking out, Pete! Stop the car!

Pete helps Jim subdue Henderson. In the struggle he hits his nose on the back of the front seat and starts bleeding. They take him to Central Receiving Hospital for medical attention.

And guess who has followed them?

The next scene takes place days later, Henderson has filed a complaint of excessive force against Pete and Jim. Mac is taking statements from all involved and it's now Jim's turn to give his statement. 

Mac sits him down and shows him the newspaper with the pictures that Gurney and Bowen have taken. (Hey, Pete was wearing his hat when he put Henderson in the car! Scroll up and check out the screen cap.)

I would just like to point out that the hand holding the paper touched my shoulder. Twice.

Although there are statements to the contrary, Jim denies that he was unnecessarily belligerent towards Henderson. He states that he was irritated, but only with Gurney and Bowen because they had been "deliberately  provocative". At the end of his statement he asks Mac what happens next. Mac answers that Internal Affairs will make a decision to clear, set down, or fire him and Pete after they review Mac's and the captain's recommendations.

"It doesn't seem fair," laments Jim.

"Sure, it's fair," answers Pete in the next scene. Jim does not agree, he feels that Bowen and Gurney are abusing a legitimate grievance procedure. The police knock themselves out to do a good job and this is the thanks they get.

Pete suggests that they stencil "good cops handle with care" on the back of their uniforms.

Jim then notices that the Mustang gang are following a few blocks behind them, he wonders what they want. Pete advises his young partner to calm down and not let those two bother him.

"You let 'em get you mad enough, you'll give 'em what they're looking for. You'll make a mistake and then that'll go in the record, too. What bothers me is the mistake you make might cost me my neck."

OK, it's now time for another story about the "Time That I Met Kent McCord".  (If you think you are going to get sick of hearing these stories, you're going to have to find another Adam-12 blog to read.) During the Q&A panel Kent told us how he and Marty were assigned to ride with LAPD officers as part of their training for Adam-12.  Kent was on a call with an officer where a suspect was being verbally abusive to the cop.  Kent wanted to knock the guy out, but the cop told him that you can't let the abuse get to you. The officer told him that it was best to let it roll off you "like water off a duck's ass". (Kent made it abundantly clear that he was only repeating the profanity the officer used, not using such language of his own volition.) Pete is acting exactly as a senior officer should by not letting Gurney and Bowen bother him.

A radio dispatch reporting a 211 that just occurred at the liquor store comes over the radio. The call is not assigned to 1-Adam-12, but Pete thinks they can cut the suspects off on their way to the freeway.

This is Jim's hand writing down the information on the 211. What's that sleeve cuff doing on his arm? They're wearing their class C, short-sleeved uniforms in this episode. Are you trying to tell me that Mark VII productions saved money by using the same stock footage over and over, even if it didn't match up with the surrounding scenes?

Another dispatch describing the suspects and their vehicle is broadcast. Jim is busy looking the out the back window for a red Mustang instead of helping his partner look for the suspect's vehicle.

"Are you with me or aren't ya?" asks Pete.

Jim answers that he's "right here" with Pete. He soon spots a car that is the same make and model as the suspects', but the license plate does match the partial given in the dispatch. Pete thinks that digits given over the radio could have been mistakenly reported by a witness. They chase the brown Ford onto the Universal backlot where the pursuit ends. The suspects try to escape on foot, but Pete and Jim stop them.

Pete reports that they have the suspects in custody.

As Jim frisks the first suspect, the red Mustang pulls into the scene.

Bowen begins taking pictures and Gurney starts asking questions. Since it was reported that one of the suspects is armed, Pete knows the situation could turn deadly. He tells Jim to cover the suspects while he talks to Bowen and Gurney.

Pete tells Bowen and Gurney to get lost.

The middle prisoner turns and fires the gun that the dispatch reported he was known to carry. Jim fires and hits the suspect.

A bystander across the street is hit by the suspect's shot.

Now Gurney is apologetic.
 "This is bad, I mean we had no idea," he explains.
"You do now, don't ya?" counters Pete.

I don't want to play Monday morning quarterback here, but it seems like Pete may have screwed up. They knew from the description that one of the suspects  carried a pistol and they did not find it on the first suspect. Shouldn't Pete have let Jim search the other suspects until the weapon was found? Bowen and Gurney weren't physically interfering with the arrest, they were just taking pictures and shouting questions. Was it so urgent for Pete to stop the search of the prisoners?

We next see Pete and Jim back in Mac's office waiting for homicide to show up and question them about the shooting. 

Mac lets them know that the bystander just died. Reed hopes Bowen and Gurney are happy. Mac informs him that they are not overjoyed by the man's death, they were at the hospital when it happened. 
He goes on to tell Jim and Pete that an application for complaint against Bowen and Gurney has been filed. Reed wants to know what they'll be charged with. Mac can't answer his question, the city attorney decides what the charges will be, the police only provide the facts.

Reed dramatically sighs in frustration.

"What's the matter, Reed?" 

"I don't know, it just seems like such a shame. A man is dead and it shouldn't have happened. I'd hate to be Bowen or Gurney."

"Yeah, too bad they're both so young."
"Why do say that?" asks Reed.
"They're sure gonna have a lot of time to think about it."

The End.

My evaluation:

At first I thought this episode was about a citizen's right to observe the police and how they could do so as long as they did not interfere with their duties. I took it on it's face value and didn't look any deeper. Then as I was writing about the last scene, I began to wonder why Pete, Jim, and Mac were so concerned about Bowen and Gurney and I realized that the underlying theme of this episode is respect.

The cops are obligated to respect a citizen's right to observe their work. They ask in return that a concerned citizen like Bowen or Gurney respect the job that they have to perform. All citizens should respect each other's rights and privacy, as Pete asked Bowen and Gurney to do for Mrs. Sanchez.

Pete has shown consideration for Bowen and Gurney throughout the story. But, at the end of the episode, the Mustang Gang finally views police work with a deference. And Jim learns that Bowen and Gurney are human beings capable of sympathy.

Additionally, this episode kept my attention because (as the kids say) it gave me lots of "feels". Meaning that I experienced a lot of emotions while watching this episode. I was annoyed and angered every time Bowen and Gurney showed up at a call. I was anxious for poor Pete as he searched for the right words to tell Mrs. Sanchez about the death of her husband. I was worried about Jim and Pete when Henderson started wigging out.

I am going to rate this episode among the best. Which used to mean a rating of "Malloy". But, I have a new rating system based on the life events of Jim Reed! So, this episode has earned the new rating of:

Do you agree? See you next time! KMA-367

Log 153: Find Me a Needle (Episode 2, Season 2)

Episode 28

Synopsis: 

Pete and Jim work to uncover the identity of the "Mulholland Mauler", a serial killer who has murdered five victims.  They also investigate the disappearance of  a young woman who may be the Mauler's latest victim. 

The Story:

Prior to roll call the officers mill about the assembly room. Reed and Malloy know this will not be a routine roll call when they see that the watch commander is accompanied by Sgt. Miller from detectives.

"Sergeant Miller," observes Reed.
"Something must be up," adds Malloy.

Mac begins the assembly by reading the crimes of the night. He announces that the sixth victim of the Mulholland Mauler has come out of her coma and is going to be alright. Sgt. Miller has just come from the hospital where he has interviewed the victim. 

Miller describes victim #6 as a 19-year-old caucasian female who was picked up by the Mauler while hitchhiking. Once she was inside the Mauler's car, he put a knife to her throat, shoved her to the floor of his car, then threw a blanket over her head. 

Mac continues the story, telling the officers that the Mauler then took her to Mulholland where he raped her and beat her to unconsciousness. Finally, he threw her down a ravine where she was found by two kids.

Pete and Jim listen intently to the description of the attack.

The victim has also provided a description of the Mauler and his car. He is a male caucasian, 5' 9", 165 pounds, with black hair who drives a 1962 dark green, four-door Plymouth. The men are instructed to investigate every car meeting that description, even if it is "upside-down in somebody's back yard".
All units whose area includes Mulholland Drive, including 1-Adam-12, are told to stay in that area during their watch, other cars will handle radio calls.

Pete and Jim will be spending their night on Lover's Lane.
(No, not like that. They'll be looking for the killer.)

Early in their shift, Pete and Jim spot a young, female hitchhiker. Pete parks the car to talk to her. The teenaged hitcher, Mary Gallagher, would rather thumb a ride than take the bus.

(Mary's classic outfit would not look out of place in 2015. Thankfully, her practice of hitchhiking would seem out of place today.)

She explains that catching a ride with a stranger is a more exciting than public transportation. Exciting or not, it's still against the law and Jim writes her a ticket. Mary is worried that her parents will kill her when they learn of the ticket. Pete reminds her of the true dangers that hitchhiking can bring.

"Is that all your worried about? What about the guy who picks you up? How do you know what's in his mind? You know, once you get in his car, he owns you. A knife or a gun, you do exactly what he says, all the way. And when he's finished, you might be too. Think about it."

As the clock approaches 10 pm, their night in the hills has been mostly quiet. Jim comments that they've seen only seven cars, two rabbits, a raccoon, and a dog. As soon as he tallies all they've observed, the count changes to eight cars; the eighth being a green, four-door, '62 Plymouth. Following the instructions from roll call, they stop the Plymouth.

After Malloy frisks the driver and inspects his license and registration, he asks to look in the trunk. The driver apathetically agrees to allow Pete access to the trunk.

"Look in the trunk, pick the car up and shake it. What do I care?"

As Jim keeps watch over the car's owner, the senior officer opens the trunk. Pete is alarmed by what he finds inside.

The driver explains that he uses the knife when he goes fishing and asks if there is a law against that.

"If what you're fishing for is young and female, the answer is 'yes'," responds Pete.

Since he is driving the same car as the Mauler and possesses items similar to those used in the latest attack, this fisherman is cuffed and driven back to the station.

In the detective's room Reed, Malloy, Miller, and MacDonald compare the knives recovered from the two suspects arrested on this night.

In addition to the suspect that 1-Adam-12 has brought in, Officer Brent has also arrested a suspect with the "right knife, right blanket, and right car". Malloy and Reed are confident that their suspect is the Mauler.

After their stop at the station, Pete and Jim return to their patrol on lover's lane. They approach a couple of teenagers necking in a parked car. Pete surprises the young lovers when he knocks on the rear of the car.

"How scared would you be if we weren't policemen, just a couple of big guys in the dark?"

Reed and an unusually sedate Malloy try to make the couple understand that they should pay more attention to their surroundings and less heed to their hormones. In the heat of passion they may not hear a killer approaching. 

"Cars have brakes, son, sometimes they fail. Same thing happens to people," cautions Reed.

"Nobody's against love, we're not. But a parked car up here is hardly the place."

They finally tell the amorous teens to move along and find a less dangerous location for their liaison.

Next, they happen upon a white Camaro with a flat tire. The driver is nowhere in sight, but Pete discovers a clue about the owner's identity when he peers inside the vehicle.

High-heeled shoes are found on the front seat. Pete surmises that the female owner wore these shoes to work and changed into flats on her way home.

Pete also discovers that the car has not been driven for quite awhile.

Reed runs the plates and reports that the owner is Dolores Grove. Pete hopes that Dolores has walked to the garage at the bottom of the hill, they head there to investigate. 

When they arrive at the repair shop, Dolores is not there. Instead, they find a friend of hers who Dolores was supposed to drive to a party in Oxnard over two hours ago. The girlfriend got tired of waiting and tried to drive her own unreliable vehicle to the party. When it broke down, she ended up at this garage.

She tells Pete and Jim that Dolores couldn't have gone to the party on her own, she didn't have the directions to get there. They tell the redhead about their discovery of Dolores' disabled vehicle and ask if she would have walked for help. Her friend finds the idea of Dolores walking laughable.

"Dolores Grove wouldn't walk a half mile if her life depended on it."

Hitchhike, yes. Walk, never. Reed and Malloy exchange worried glances, Dolores' life may depend on choosing walking over hitchhiking tonight.

Pete and Jim return to the station shortly after 1am. Sgt. Miller reports that Oxnard PD checked out the party, Dolores Grove never showed up. The composite sketch of the Mulholland Mauler based on Victim #6's description is now complete. Unfortunately, it doesn't bear an overwhelming resemblance to either suspect. There is also a scratch or scar on the face of the composite sketch subject that neither suspect possesses. Malloy thinks this eliminates both men.

 Sgt. Miller explains that is not necessarily true. If Victim #5 scratched the Mauler, that  scratch would have still been visible to Victim #6. By now the scratch would be completely healed. 
Miller feels that both suspects are "hot" until Dolores Grove can be located. Unfortunately, finding Dolores Grove will be as a difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

"Maybe we can find this needle, if we start with the guy that dropped it," theorizes Malloy.

Nick, the guy that Pete and Jim brought in, has agreed to cooperate. Miller asks him if he would like to take a ride back to the area of his car. The suspect agrees to go with them.

Back on Mulholland, they first take Nick back to his car and ask him what he was doing in this lonely area. He explains that he likes to see the lights come on in the valley.

Pete asks if Nick comes up here alone. Nick does not answer.

They then drive Nick to Dolores' car. When Sgt. Miller asks him if he knows who owns the car, Nick becomes enraged and snaps at the detective.

"I don't know!" shouts Nick.

More cracks begin to show in Nick's veneer when Miller asks if he would have given Dolores a ride. Nick answers, "I might." The detective then asks him if she was pretty. Nick just chuckles.

Their next stop is the ravine where Victim #6 was found. The officers ask Nick if #7 is down there, too.

 They ask him if the knife was in his hand. 

They ask Nick if the blanket was over her head.

Nick claims ignorance to their queries. As the tension builds, Nick decides that he wants to go back to the station. He doesn't want to talk anymore, nobody cares what happens to him.

"I'll agree with that. But right now, we're trying to find a missing woman before it's too late. We're pretty sure you can help us, Nick."

Malloy then challenges Nick to tell them one thing to prove his innocence. When he can't provide an answer, Malloy asks him if #7 is also around here. 

A defeated Nick nods in response.

They all get back in the car and drive until Nick tells them to stop. Reed and Malloy exit the car to look for Dolores, leaving Sgt. Miller in the backseat with Nick. 

Malloy finds a stray woman's shoe in the brush and yells to Miller, "Call an ambulance!". 

They soon find Dolores.

When Nick hears Pete's shout of "We found her!" he tries to justify his actions to a horrified Sgt. Miller.

"When they start to scream, there's nothing else to do."

In the ravine, Pete holds the terrified and injured Dolores. He tries to comfort her as she frantically tells him, "He tried to kill me".

In the closing scene Nick, Sgt. Miller, Malloy, and Reed watch the ambulance containing Dolores drive away. As Malloy cuffs him, Nick recounts the first time he killed a victim. He felt so awful, he tried to kill himself afterwards. Eventually, he stopped feeling bad about it. Nick thinks his lack of long-term remorse proves he's crazy.

"Doesn't it?"

 The End.

My evaluation:

This tense, almost-noir thriller is a complete contrast from last week's fun romp in the park. Adam-12 is never the same show twice and that is one of the reasons that I love it. The light-hearted, fun episodes are balanced by the darkly dramatic ones.

Nowadays it seems that we are treated to serial killer investigations every week on television. This episode, and the Dragnet 1966 pilot movie, feel like the genesis of the genre. Today's detective shows usually downplay the role of the uniformed officer in this type of case while elevating the importance of the crime lab. Here, the serial killer is found through good, old-fashioned police work. 

Most of the heavy police work here is done by Malloy and Miller with Reed observing his superiors at work. Usually, I'll "ding" an episode if I feel that it is too Malloy-heavy. But, since Reed is a rookie cop on his first serial killer investigation I feel that the portrayal of his role in the investigation is fair. I think any rookie would take a back seat to the more experience officers on this type of case.

I was thoroughly entertained by this story and the performances. Especially Milner's. Pete's interaction with every citizen in this story is different. He is firmly father-like with the young hitchhiker; confidently in-control with Nick; understanding with the teenaged lovers; and lovingly comforting with the injured Dolores. I give Log 153: Find Me a Needle the rating of:

Do you agree? See you next time! KMA-367