One of my favorite TV shows as a teenager

medic249a2

I loved this show when I was in high school. Hunter was a kick-ass, take-no-prisoners kind of cop, even in the first 3 seasons where only a few suspects were actually killed when confronted by Hunter & McCall. In the last few seasons more and more of the suspects Hunter tried to arrest for murder pulled weapons on him and ended up dead. That made it a little tiresome although I never tired of seeing Hunter confront criminals.

The idiotic, bleeding-heart approach to law enforcement - especially the 'warning-shot' policy issued by Hunter's captain (Michael Cavanaugh) in the pilot episode - really annoyed me in the first two seasons. John Amos was somewhat likable as Hunter's captain save for his hatred of Hunter's methods and what seemed to be his personal mission to get rid of Hunter. The character of Sgt. Terwillegar (James Whitmore, Jr) was as dumb as they come; a blustering buffoon who appeared more suited to teaching at a university than as a homicide detective. Commander Cain (Arthur Rosenberg) was even more loathsome; he was a man who was a politician first and a policeman second. Captain Devane (the late Charles Hallahan) was probably the most likable of all of their superiors, though he was a strictly by-the-book cop. Some of Hunter's earlier superiors reminded me of Dirty Harry's superior, Captain Briggs (Bradford Dillman of 'The Enforcer & 'Sudden Impact') who was on a single-minded crusade to get rid of Harry.

Most of the stories centered around Hunter & McCall's cases - usually homicides; one episode that made my skin crawl was one that appeared in Season 2 where McCall is raped by the son or a foreign diplomat, who then insists his psychopathic son is a saint and shields his son from answering for his criminal behavior behind diplomatic immunity. That particular one made me sick. I am hoping that Seasons 3 & 4 will be released on DVD - these were the ones that I thought were the best times for the show. Captain Devane was in charge, Hunter & McCall were strictly working homicides, and there was no subplot about the nefarious plans of Hunter's superiors to can him - except in a couple of episodes featuring Cmdr. Cain (Rosenberg).

Bring on Seasons 3 & 4!!

score 8/10

medic249a2 30 December 2005

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1251404/