User Reviews

Two crooks, a married couple rob two bank messengers on the same day. Like lots of criminals in this series, their third attempt in the same day is what does them in.

The way they do it is quite peculiar. The man sits in his motorcycle, with a sidecar, right outside the bank. His wife stands on the sidewalk, waiting for the courier who she can identify on sight, somehow. Just as he emerges from the bank with an attaché case chained to his wrist, she walks along and pretends to hurt her ankle. Being gallant, the courier opens his car door and helps her in. He goes around and is about to drive her to a hospital and she pulls out a pistol and says, "I'll tell you where to go. They take off, with hubby on the cycle trailing some distance behind.

They quickly get to one of those isolated rural locations so often used in this series-like in about 95% of the episodes. She has the man stop, and she gets out, telling him to take off now if he wants to live. Then her hubby picks her up in the motorcycle. She explains that she couldn't get the case off his wrist so she let him get away. I have to say I don't understand-you kill the other couriers when you robbed them, but because you couldn't take this man's money, you don't kill him? He can still identify you.

Anyhow, the couple returns to their motel, planning on leaving their easily identifiable motorcycle behind and take their ordinary auto. They don't know the Dan Mathews is not too far behind. They get into a typical Highway Patrol shoot out, with one person being wounded in the shoulder by Ken, and his wife (you knew who was wounded) promptly surrendering in a quick climax to both the episode and the series.

Of course it made no sense to have such a noticeable vehicle at the scene. The courier who wasn't killed told Dan how he noticed a cycle at the bank and later behind them on the highway. It made even less sense when the way the crime was executed, the bad guy could have just been waiting for them along the highway. He didn't need to be trailing them all the way or ever go near the bank.

It also made no sense that after the failed robbery, they had to stand around and debate their actions in the motel room, while packing their suitcase. Why they didn't have it already in the car is a mystery to me. Standing around debating when they were afraid the cops were closing in on them was downright stupid. Overall, I just can't give this one more than a 6, and think that's a tad generous.

Once again Dan orders that every man woman and child be told to be on the lookout for a motorcycle with a sidecar. As usual he gets a detailed tip about the location of the motorcycle. Not only that but the tipster just happened to see the two people get out and the direction they walked. The motorcycle was abandoned on the side of a street at the back of a motel with a tall hedge between it and the motel where the manager spotted the suspects from the opposite end of the building. So he just happened to be watching at the right moment, and even more miraculous was his ability to see the motorcycle at the opposite end of the building behind a hedge which completely obscured it.

This is typical of the ridiculous plots of this horrendous series. It's only appeal are the great old cars and the nostalgia value which explains the high user ratings. In reality, it is a terrible police show with a star, Broderick Crawford who can't act. His performance is wooden and uninspired.

I agree with another reviewer that this was the perfect episode to end the series, but for a different reason. The implausible way this crime was solved is typical of the entire series and serves as the capstone of one of the worst police shows of its day.