Blackmail, blue films, corrupt police officers, Kung Fu kicks, driving at break-neck speed - this one's got the lot! What more could you want from a Charlie's Angels episode!
And, of course, all three of the Angels - Sabrina, Kelly and Jill - look great throughout too.
There's even a romance, with one of the Angels, Jill (Farah Fawcett) this time, falling for a man who turns out to be one of the bad guys - this is a running theme throughout all the Charlie's Angels series - these stunningly beautiful women, who are also smart, stylish, and funny, always seem to have such bad luck with men - that, of course, was a big part of the appeal - I'm sure Charlie's Angels would not have been so popular if they had all been happily married, in stable relationships.
I enjoyed this episode, as I did all the first series (watching it for the first time during the 2020 Covid lockdown), and I can imagine how fresh Charlie's Angels must have felt when it first aired in 1976.
I enjoyed the sub-plot; Bosley visiting Mrs Evers (played by Doris Dorn), a partner in the film company, at somesort of golf practice drive, and Sabrina visiting Mr Goldman, another invester in the company, at his tropical fish store - they're both good scenes, well-acted, and add to the plot and mystery, in my opinion.
There's a bit of bizarre surrealism in this one, as one of the films the Angels have to watch, to look for clues, features a band of bearded Fidel Castro lookalikes in green army fatigues. The revolutionaries just happen to be leaving the studio at the same time as the Angels, so Sabrina confronts their leader, and this is my favourite scene - it's like a Monty Python sketch; Kate Jackson's facial expressions are superb, speaking with her eyes - she would have made a very good comedy actress.
Talking of Kate Jackson, I mocked her clothes in a previous episode called The Seance, but here she"s back to her stylish best in a silver silk blouse with white skirt, and dhe multi-coloured jersey (mainly red, orange, light brown) she wears in the final scenes is very chic, and would still look cool today.
Another surreal scene that would not be out of place in an early Woody Allan comedy, is when the actors and actress from 'Little Bo Beep' walk past the girls in the studio. This leads to a suspicious Kelly (Jaclyn Smith) following the director of this film, and approaching him at a hamburger stand in a park. Kelly puts on her strongest simple Southern girl accent, and tells him she'd be willing to do anything to get into acting, prepared to participate in one of his 'freeform' films.
Jill (Farah Fawcett) has a dinner date with the district attorney Paul Baylor (Alan Feinstein) who, at this point, we don't realise is in cahoots with corrupt police officers. After the meal Jill drives home, and is immediately shot at in underground garage car park, so it's an episode where the work is equally spread out between the three Angels and Bosley, and I honestly thought the plot was quite complex and gripping, worthy of a serious whodunnit crime story, and I was genuinely surprised by how it ended.
And, of course, all three of the Angels - Sabrina, Kelly and Jill - look great throughout too.
There's even a romance, with one of the Angels, Jill (Farah Fawcett) this time, falling for a man who turns out to be one of the bad guys - this is a running theme throughout all the Charlie's Angels series - these stunningly beautiful women, who are also smart, stylish, and funny, always seem to have such bad luck with men - that, of course, was a big part of the appeal - I'm sure Charlie's Angels would not have been so popular if they had all been happily married, in stable relationships.
I enjoyed this episode, as I did all the first series (watching it for the first time during the 2020 Covid lockdown), and I can imagine how fresh Charlie's Angels must have felt when it first aired in 1976.
I enjoyed the sub-plot; Bosley visiting Mrs Evers (played by Doris Dorn), a partner in the film company, at somesort of golf practice drive, and Sabrina visiting Mr Goldman, another invester in the company, at his tropical fish store - they're both good scenes, well-acted, and add to the plot and mystery, in my opinion.
There's a bit of bizarre surrealism in this one, as one of the films the Angels have to watch, to look for clues, features a band of bearded Fidel Castro lookalikes in green army fatigues. The revolutionaries just happen to be leaving the studio at the same time as the Angels, so Sabrina confronts their leader, and this is my favourite scene - it's like a Monty Python sketch; Kate Jackson's facial expressions are superb, speaking with her eyes - she would have made a very good comedy actress.
Talking of Kate Jackson, I mocked her clothes in a previous episode called The Seance, but here she"s back to her stylish best in a silver silk blouse with white skirt, and dhe multi-coloured jersey (mainly red, orange, light brown) she wears in the final scenes is very chic, and would still look cool today.
Another surreal scene that would not be out of place in an early Woody Allan comedy, is when the actors and actress from 'Little Bo Beep' walk past the girls in the studio. This leads to a suspicious Kelly (Jaclyn Smith) following the director of this film, and approaching him at a hamburger stand in a park. Kelly puts on her strongest simple Southern girl accent, and tells him she'd be willing to do anything to get into acting, prepared to participate in one of his 'freeform' films.
Jill (Farah Fawcett) has a dinner date with the district attorney Paul Baylor (Alan Feinstein) who, at this point, we don't realise is in cahoots with corrupt police officers. After the meal Jill drives home, and is immediately shot at in underground garage car park, so it's an episode where the work is equally spread out between the three Angels and Bosley, and I honestly thought the plot was quite complex and gripping, worthy of a serious whodunnit crime story, and I was genuinely surprised by how it ended.
