"The F.B.I." The Fatal Showdown (TV Episode 1972) Poster

(TV Series)

(1972)

User Reviews

Review this title
2 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
9/10
Twists and turns
tforbes-231 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
"The Fatal Showdown" was about art heisting in New York and Atlanta, and it is as much a take of intrigue and plot twists. Early on, we see what appears to be a fatal shooting, but later on find out that the person has survived-and ultimately ruins it for his other cohorts in crime.

In response to a review of this title, it was Director J. Edgar Hoover who had demanded that the violence be toned down. In all fairness, most of what the actual FBI worked on were nonviolent cases.

Given that, the series had to rely more on being a quasi-anthology series that relied a bit on character studies and human dramas. This episode certainly has an interesting cast, starting with Patrick Wayne, the Duke's son. Joseph Campanella, Marlyn Mason and Wayne Maunder also show up. And speaking of Mr. Maunder, he appears as a character in Quentin Tarantino's movie "Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood." Both he and Luke Perry, who played Mr. Maunder, died after the movie's production was completed. And The FBI series itself was featured in the movie as well. Hence, this episode takes on a new, interesting (if small) significance!
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
The problem: viewers watching this series for past two seasons could/should not have been surprised
rbecker285 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Warning: SPOILER This episode just shows how utterly stupid it was for the producers to kowtow to whoever made the demand (likely, someone at the Bureau, not a producer) right about the end of 1969 that from then on, no character on the show was ever to die.

In this episode, we THINK someone has been killed, but to anyone who had noticed, it was no surprise whatsoever, and in fact was totally predictable, that he would turn out to be alive. Producers must not allow a show to be hamstrung by absolute rules like this on adventure/drama series. The episode might have gotten four more stars from me if the "surprise" had not been so predictable because of this. Indeed, the loss of real suspense because of this rule causes me to dock probably two stars off of every other episode as well for the last half of the series' run.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed