Manchild on the Street Thoughts
Junior is Starsky all those years ago. It's really an enlightening situation.
Davey gets to direct! And I actually enjoy his directing, so there's that going for it. I love the boys play basketball, seriously. Anytime you can make basketball into a full contact sport between those two, I'm all for it. Meanwhile, some random guy is jacking a car. You can tell it's a bad situation from the background music. Always pay attention to the background music because it gives you clues. Unfortunately, bad situation with the car is about to get a lot worse because the guy also threatens to rob a convenience store. Personally, if I was the owner, I would have said something when he put the opened soda back into the cooler, but it takes her a bit longer. All she's got as identification is a vague description of the guy and a description of the car. The car, which belongs to a poor, drunk guy. I do like his character, even if he's not all that legal himself.
Anyway, back to the basketball game. Junior drops some pills on the ground in the middle of the game and his father (Jackson) picks them up and shows them to Hutch when Starsky and Junior go inside for some pie and ice cream. It's a difficult situation. And made more difficult because Jackson knows he's gotta confront Junior, but it's bound to cause an uproar. And it does. Starsky goes after Junior and tries to talk to him, but he doesn't really get through. The kid is lost and he needs help, but nobody's been able to get through to him yet. Jackson has to go to work on night shift, so the situation is left to wait a while. Turns out, drunk guy who got his car stolen? Is Jackson's friend, his ride, Dewey. Again, I really like him. He's funny. He's also been spotted by a couple of rookies because his car matches the one used in the robbery. You get a drunk guy that doesn't wanna go to jail for it, a couple of rookies who think they're gonna make a big bust, and an innocent guy caught in the middle. You know it's not gonna end well.
The boys are leaving Jackson's place and get a call of the pursuit in progress. Sammie's caught a ride with them, so she's along for the ride. A really bad situation. Dewey's caught in the alley, the cops are trigger happy, and Jackson's in the middle of it all. He gets shot and Dewey's freaked out. (The shooting? There's a tad more to it on the DVD than there is on the television re-broadcasts). So, the boys arrive on the scene and Hutch takes down Dewey while Starsky goes to talk to Jackson with Sammie by his side. Jackson tells Starsky that he wasn't doing anything, that the cop was quick on the trigger, and Starsky knows it's true. Oh, man, you know this isn't gonna turn out well for the rookie. The boy just digs himself a hole that he can't come out from. They have an eyewitness that knows the rookie's lying (Pearl from 227) and that's when it goes from bad to worse. Rookie's got a racist tongue and Starsky hauls off and slaps him for it. The ambulance arrives and Hutch physically pulls Starsky away from the situation so that they can help load Jackson into the ambulance. I gotta say, that framing? Sometimes David gets it quite right. Hutch puts Dewey into the back of the Torino and Starsky orders the rookie to go report to Captain Dobey. (Okay, seriously, there's like chunks of scenes that I've never even seen before in this episode....the police car trying to get out of the alley, not in the re-broadcasts). Jackson's still in critical condition and there's no guarantees. Sadly, their wait and see situation doesn't turn out for the best because by the morning Sammie comes in to tell a sleeping Starsky that Jackson's dead. Well, she doesn't even have to say anything because he knows just by looking at her crying face. Starsky cradles her and Hutch comes in with coffee, being met with the news. Starsky comforts Hutch on the way out of the room and they split up, Hutch going to talk to the witnesses and Starsky taking Sammie home to tell Mrs. Walters the news.
Mrs. Walters is waiting for Jackson, making him breakfast and worrying about why he's so late. She can tell something's wrong and she thinks it's Junior, since he's out delivering papers, but no it's not Junior. She takes the news of Jackson's death really hard. So does Junior, who is just outside the door and overhears. Starsky runs out after him and finally catches up with the scared kid. Seriously, this is Starsky all those years ago. His Daddy's dead and he's suddenly the man of the family and all he wants to do is get back the life he had. Everything's crashed around him and he's just a scared kid who's not ready to handle it all. (Okay, and at this point I'm starting to get mad because I'm realizing how much they cut out of this episode for a re-broadcast run...the running bits and the pacing bits I can understand, but the black mother lines? That bit has never crossed my screen before).
Down at the station, that night, Hutch is typing up the witness' report so the she can sign it. This whole scene is all about race and lines that are drawn. The witness thinks Dobey should be standing up for his fallen brother and it does give you some interesting insight into Dobey himself because he's a black man and he's a cop and sometimes those two identities are in conflict.
Down at the pool hall, the robber who started all this mess (Maurice) is making his appearance and starts talking up Junior. Junior thinks that Maurice can help him solve some of his problems. Junior needs some money to leave town, but Maurice ain't in a situation to give. However, he may have a solution. The plan is for them to get Sammie's keys and steal from the pharmacy. Pills sell well on the streets.
Starsky's been comforting Mrs. Walters all day and he's finally departing late that night. Sammie's in her bedroom, asleep, and Junior's digging through her purse for the keys. He finally lifts them and sneaks out of the room. She hears somebody leaving and awakens, but doesn't seen anybody. Junior and Maurice go down to the hospital and dress up as an orderly and patient in order to break into the pharmacy. Sammie's called the boys and Starsky figures Juniors going for pills because he's all mixed up over Jackson's death and it's not the time for making good decisions. He'd be right. They almost get caught at first, but then they manage to sneak into the pharmacy and start loading up on goodies. Sammie wants to report the keys stolen as soon as they arrive at the hospital, but Starsky wants to save Junior from a fate he doesn't deserve. The boys try to slowly go into the pharmacy, but they're thrown by Maurice when he rams Junior and the wheelchair into the door. It's a showdown for Junior, which side can he choose. Will he go with Maurice or SH? Thankfully, he turns out to be the man that his Daddy always knew he could be.
Down at the police station, Dobey informs Junior that the hospital won't press charges against him. Maurice will be charged with the store robbery, but the cop is getting a mere slap on the wrist for the shooting. Starsky tells Junior that they're going to Jackson's funeral because they loved their friend and Starsky convinces Junior to join them. It's such a wonderful episode because of who Junior represents. That level of support that he and Hutch and Mrs. Walters and the others can give to Junior, Starsky didn't necessarily have that. It's just amazing to contemplate the similarities and differences that these two situations represent.
Davey gets to direct! And I actually enjoy his directing, so there's that going for it. I love the boys play basketball, seriously. Anytime you can make basketball into a full contact sport between those two, I'm all for it. Meanwhile, some random guy is jacking a car. You can tell it's a bad situation from the background music. Always pay attention to the background music because it gives you clues. Unfortunately, bad situation with the car is about to get a lot worse because the guy also threatens to rob a convenience store. Personally, if I was the owner, I would have said something when he put the opened soda back into the cooler, but it takes her a bit longer. All she's got as identification is a vague description of the guy and a description of the car. The car, which belongs to a poor, drunk guy. I do like his character, even if he's not all that legal himself.
Anyway, back to the basketball game. Junior drops some pills on the ground in the middle of the game and his father (Jackson) picks them up and shows them to Hutch when Starsky and Junior go inside for some pie and ice cream. It's a difficult situation. And made more difficult because Jackson knows he's gotta confront Junior, but it's bound to cause an uproar. And it does. Starsky goes after Junior and tries to talk to him, but he doesn't really get through. The kid is lost and he needs help, but nobody's been able to get through to him yet. Jackson has to go to work on night shift, so the situation is left to wait a while. Turns out, drunk guy who got his car stolen? Is Jackson's friend, his ride, Dewey. Again, I really like him. He's funny. He's also been spotted by a couple of rookies because his car matches the one used in the robbery. You get a drunk guy that doesn't wanna go to jail for it, a couple of rookies who think they're gonna make a big bust, and an innocent guy caught in the middle. You know it's not gonna end well.
The boys are leaving Jackson's place and get a call of the pursuit in progress. Sammie's caught a ride with them, so she's along for the ride. A really bad situation. Dewey's caught in the alley, the cops are trigger happy, and Jackson's in the middle of it all. He gets shot and Dewey's freaked out. (The shooting? There's a tad more to it on the DVD than there is on the television re-broadcasts). So, the boys arrive on the scene and Hutch takes down Dewey while Starsky goes to talk to Jackson with Sammie by his side. Jackson tells Starsky that he wasn't doing anything, that the cop was quick on the trigger, and Starsky knows it's true. Oh, man, you know this isn't gonna turn out well for the rookie. The boy just digs himself a hole that he can't come out from. They have an eyewitness that knows the rookie's lying (Pearl from 227) and that's when it goes from bad to worse. Rookie's got a racist tongue and Starsky hauls off and slaps him for it. The ambulance arrives and Hutch physically pulls Starsky away from the situation so that they can help load Jackson into the ambulance. I gotta say, that framing? Sometimes David gets it quite right. Hutch puts Dewey into the back of the Torino and Starsky orders the rookie to go report to Captain Dobey. (Okay, seriously, there's like chunks of scenes that I've never even seen before in this episode....the police car trying to get out of the alley, not in the re-broadcasts). Jackson's still in critical condition and there's no guarantees. Sadly, their wait and see situation doesn't turn out for the best because by the morning Sammie comes in to tell a sleeping Starsky that Jackson's dead. Well, she doesn't even have to say anything because he knows just by looking at her crying face. Starsky cradles her and Hutch comes in with coffee, being met with the news. Starsky comforts Hutch on the way out of the room and they split up, Hutch going to talk to the witnesses and Starsky taking Sammie home to tell Mrs. Walters the news.
Mrs. Walters is waiting for Jackson, making him breakfast and worrying about why he's so late. She can tell something's wrong and she thinks it's Junior, since he's out delivering papers, but no it's not Junior. She takes the news of Jackson's death really hard. So does Junior, who is just outside the door and overhears. Starsky runs out after him and finally catches up with the scared kid. Seriously, this is Starsky all those years ago. His Daddy's dead and he's suddenly the man of the family and all he wants to do is get back the life he had. Everything's crashed around him and he's just a scared kid who's not ready to handle it all. (Okay, and at this point I'm starting to get mad because I'm realizing how much they cut out of this episode for a re-broadcast run...the running bits and the pacing bits I can understand, but the black mother lines? That bit has never crossed my screen before).
Down at the station, that night, Hutch is typing up the witness' report so the she can sign it. This whole scene is all about race and lines that are drawn. The witness thinks Dobey should be standing up for his fallen brother and it does give you some interesting insight into Dobey himself because he's a black man and he's a cop and sometimes those two identities are in conflict.
Down at the pool hall, the robber who started all this mess (Maurice) is making his appearance and starts talking up Junior. Junior thinks that Maurice can help him solve some of his problems. Junior needs some money to leave town, but Maurice ain't in a situation to give. However, he may have a solution. The plan is for them to get Sammie's keys and steal from the pharmacy. Pills sell well on the streets.
Starsky's been comforting Mrs. Walters all day and he's finally departing late that night. Sammie's in her bedroom, asleep, and Junior's digging through her purse for the keys. He finally lifts them and sneaks out of the room. She hears somebody leaving and awakens, but doesn't seen anybody. Junior and Maurice go down to the hospital and dress up as an orderly and patient in order to break into the pharmacy. Sammie's called the boys and Starsky figures Juniors going for pills because he's all mixed up over Jackson's death and it's not the time for making good decisions. He'd be right. They almost get caught at first, but then they manage to sneak into the pharmacy and start loading up on goodies. Sammie wants to report the keys stolen as soon as they arrive at the hospital, but Starsky wants to save Junior from a fate he doesn't deserve. The boys try to slowly go into the pharmacy, but they're thrown by Maurice when he rams Junior and the wheelchair into the door. It's a showdown for Junior, which side can he choose. Will he go with Maurice or SH? Thankfully, he turns out to be the man that his Daddy always knew he could be.
Down at the police station, Dobey informs Junior that the hospital won't press charges against him. Maurice will be charged with the store robbery, but the cop is getting a mere slap on the wrist for the shooting. Starsky tells Junior that they're going to Jackson's funeral because they loved their friend and Starsky convinces Junior to join them. It's such a wonderful episode because of who Junior represents. That level of support that he and Hutch and Mrs. Walters and the others can give to Junior, Starsky didn't necessarily have that. It's just amazing to contemplate the similarities and differences that these two situations represent.