This a rather unusual episode of Barnaby Jones, and one of the best. In this episode Barnaby works with a big high-tech security company who are conducting a pretty complex operation for a large company.
Some who wouldn't think highly of 70's TV might concede this is pretty creative material by the standards of that era. I'd go one better and say it's interesting by any standard. There's a lot of science in this episode, a lot of investigative ingenuity displayed. And there's a large cast of interesting characters and relationships among them. There's a very smart woman forensics specialist, unusual for that time. There's a character who specializes in customizing cars with high-tech devices (sorry, I forget the guy's name) with a vivacious southern drawl and slang to match. He had the best lines of dialogue. I couldn't wait to hear what he would say next.
I have one small criticism, and that it is in the form of a lost opportunity. Early in the episode, Barnaby and the woman forensics expert have an interesting rapport. This gal was smart. She seemed to really enjoy talking shop with Barnaby. But she was young and attractive enough for Jedediah.
Now I didn't especially want to see her and Barnaby get overtly romantically involved. It wouldn't have been in character for Barnaby. But I thought it would have been funny if she had seemed apathetic to JR, but continued to beam whenever she got to talk tech with Barnaby. Imagine how amusing it would be to see JR get all frustrated at that! But they went the predictable route and had JR plying his flirtatious charms on her and she seemed interested. That seemed to me to be a lost opportunity.
Now if you're thinking that Barnaby might seem like a fish out of water in this environment of younger, more high-tech investigators, actually it was made clear that his expertise complemented theirs. There was a nice exchange near the end where the head of this bunch essentially said they had all the sophisticated stuff, but that won't get you the good investigative instinct that only comes from experience and seasoned judgment like Barnaby's. Amen.
Some who wouldn't think highly of 70's TV might concede this is pretty creative material by the standards of that era. I'd go one better and say it's interesting by any standard. There's a lot of science in this episode, a lot of investigative ingenuity displayed. And there's a large cast of interesting characters and relationships among them. There's a very smart woman forensics specialist, unusual for that time. There's a character who specializes in customizing cars with high-tech devices (sorry, I forget the guy's name) with a vivacious southern drawl and slang to match. He had the best lines of dialogue. I couldn't wait to hear what he would say next.
I have one small criticism, and that it is in the form of a lost opportunity. Early in the episode, Barnaby and the woman forensics expert have an interesting rapport. This gal was smart. She seemed to really enjoy talking shop with Barnaby. But she was young and attractive enough for Jedediah.
Now I didn't especially want to see her and Barnaby get overtly romantically involved. It wouldn't have been in character for Barnaby. But I thought it would have been funny if she had seemed apathetic to JR, but continued to beam whenever she got to talk tech with Barnaby. Imagine how amusing it would be to see JR get all frustrated at that! But they went the predictable route and had JR plying his flirtatious charms on her and she seemed interested. That seemed to me to be a lost opportunity.
Now if you're thinking that Barnaby might seem like a fish out of water in this environment of younger, more high-tech investigators, actually it was made clear that his expertise complemented theirs. There was a nice exchange near the end where the head of this bunch essentially said they had all the sophisticated stuff, but that won't get you the good investigative instinct that only comes from experience and seasoned judgment like Barnaby's. Amen.