Decent episode that is helped immensely by O'Herlihy's excellent performance as the twisted head of a Neo-Nazi group. He definitely should have won an Emmy for this one. The story has Tod and Buz being courted by the F.B.I. to infiltrate the group to find out where they are hiding some major explosives and what they plan on doing with them.
The episode has a very shocking scene where Tod takes part in a gang beating of Buz! However the story does have a lot of weaknesses. One is the group's absurd plans of blowing up a crowd of would be followers and then using the ensuing trial as a pulpit to promote their agenda. Even if the O'Herlihy character is written in as a nut-case it is hard to believe that his followers would be so stupid as to go along with the plan and not see how utterly ridiculous it is.
The script is also too quick to write off hate groups as simply the lunatic fringe without digging into the more deeper complexities that causes it. It also doesn't acknowledge how much hate groups have permeated the American society and are more a part of the American fabric than we may like to think.
There is also a scene where Tod and Buz are shown a film of one of the Neo-Nazi groups meetings that was secretly captured by an undercover agent. The film that they watch has a lot cutaways of reaction shots of the members, which technically would not be possible if it was really taped by just one person. Otherwise it is a pretty good episode with good supporting performances by Ramsey and Sutton as O'Herlihy's henchman.
Grade: B+
The episode has a very shocking scene where Tod takes part in a gang beating of Buz! However the story does have a lot of weaknesses. One is the group's absurd plans of blowing up a crowd of would be followers and then using the ensuing trial as a pulpit to promote their agenda. Even if the O'Herlihy character is written in as a nut-case it is hard to believe that his followers would be so stupid as to go along with the plan and not see how utterly ridiculous it is.
The script is also too quick to write off hate groups as simply the lunatic fringe without digging into the more deeper complexities that causes it. It also doesn't acknowledge how much hate groups have permeated the American society and are more a part of the American fabric than we may like to think.
There is also a scene where Tod and Buz are shown a film of one of the Neo-Nazi groups meetings that was secretly captured by an undercover agent. The film that they watch has a lot cutaways of reaction shots of the members, which technically would not be possible if it was really taped by just one person. Otherwise it is a pretty good episode with good supporting performances by Ramsey and Sutton as O'Herlihy's henchman.
Grade: B+