Now this is what I like to see. The guys are undercover together, working out why people are dying suspiciously at a mental hospital. Starsky plays the patient, Hutch is an orderly caring for patients. They pick up information from various sources and pull it together, together, to get the job done.
The plot is pretty good and keeps moving. The added element of a crazed patient who recognizes Starsky and Hutch as the cops who busted him is a good way to add more danger and drama. The story could go off the rails and get too crazy, but someone keeps tight control of it. I assume the director? Bless him.
The setting for this episode is perfect so PMG can be a little silly and not detract from the plot. Since he's impersonating a mental patient, he's allowed to act goofy. In some ways, he underplays it compared to what he could come up with.
The final scenes where both Starsky and Hutch are incapacitated for a bit are really suspenseful. Who's going to save them when they are both in trouble? Starsky gets an assist from a grouchy nurse, and I like his reaction of kissing her on the cheek. Definitely just what Starsky would do. Then Starsky saves Hutch and gets the bad guys (with a final assist from Hutch).
I also noted that they used the ability that PMG and DS had to get into each other's personal space to great advantage in this episode. It shows up at the right places throughout the scenes, and also near the end, when Starsky has to pull/carry Hutch to a safer place before he can leave him to chase the villain. That was an excellent scene, well-done by both, and not squandering something good. When they let it work, it's pure gold.
I actually even liked the final tag; it was quite sweet for them to come back and bring some joy and fun to the folks in the mental ward. This will definitely be an episode on my repeat list.
The plot is pretty good and keeps moving. The added element of a crazed patient who recognizes Starsky and Hutch as the cops who busted him is a good way to add more danger and drama. The story could go off the rails and get too crazy, but someone keeps tight control of it. I assume the director? Bless him.
The setting for this episode is perfect so PMG can be a little silly and not detract from the plot. Since he's impersonating a mental patient, he's allowed to act goofy. In some ways, he underplays it compared to what he could come up with.
The final scenes where both Starsky and Hutch are incapacitated for a bit are really suspenseful. Who's going to save them when they are both in trouble? Starsky gets an assist from a grouchy nurse, and I like his reaction of kissing her on the cheek. Definitely just what Starsky would do. Then Starsky saves Hutch and gets the bad guys (with a final assist from Hutch).
I also noted that they used the ability that PMG and DS had to get into each other's personal space to great advantage in this episode. It shows up at the right places throughout the scenes, and also near the end, when Starsky has to pull/carry Hutch to a safer place before he can leave him to chase the villain. That was an excellent scene, well-done by both, and not squandering something good. When they let it work, it's pure gold.
I actually even liked the final tag; it was quite sweet for them to come back and bring some joy and fun to the folks in the mental ward. This will definitely be an episode on my repeat list.