The crooks were smarter than average here, but still did the same dumb thing that the bad guys did on 85% of the shows in this series.
Two men scheme to plant explosives in an empty field near the scene of a place they want to rob-jewelry store, grocery store, whatever. Moments after their bomb goes off, they enter the business and commit your basic armed robbery, then escape while everyone around is focused on the mysterious explosion.
It works so well the first time, they decide to pull off two more similar crimes in the next three days in this same mostly-rural area before heading for some place farther away. The first two times they get away cleanly as planned. But now our man, Dan is prepared. He'll have "every available unit" (one of his favorite phrases) moving in on the site of the next explosion to see if they can seal off the area to prevent, I guess, any vehicle with two men inside from going through.
When the crooks only go a couple of miles from their third robbery before hearing sirens, they head for the hills-those desolate mountainous hills where Dan & Co. Usually go to track down their criminals because they always have enough cars to seal off the entire area and move in on the bad guys.
This time, the bad guy literally shoots the wire blocking a fire road from regular traffic, before his partner drives through, then he puts the wire back into the little holder and they drive through to just sit on the lonely roadside and listen as sirens roar all around them.
Dan finds that same fire road and examines it closely enough to see that the wire was only loosely placed back. He never noticed the tire tracks going through that I thought would be the doom of the bad guys. Many minutes later, the bad guys decide to make a run for it, but stop when there is a patrol car in front and one behind them.
This leads to the frequent wrap-up where the two bad guys jump out of their car, start shooting at the cops hiding behind their doors, and as soon as his partner is shot, the other bad guy throws his hands up and surrenders.
I am giving them credit for a clever idea, although it seems to me that robbing a small jewelry store, where you tie up the clerk and are gone in a few minutes gives you enough time to get away without everyone in the neighborhood rushing out to see about the explosion in the field. Doing it a second time the next day-OK. But they were really looking for trouble with the third try in this small community.
If you want to get away after a robbery, the best idea is to return to your home/office/hotel room/ or go to some public place where you'll blend in with many others. Instead, these men in suits go up to rugged mountain roads and are spotted just standing by a car doing nothing-sticking out like a soar thumb. We've seen better escape ideas by many of the crooks in this series, as well as others.
I guess Dan had used up his department's budget on helicopters because they surely could have found these crooks more easily had he summoned one into use. What really stood out to me was how all the police cars constantly blared their sirens while they were driving around on those empty fire roads with no traffic or houses or any sign of humanity around, as if they wanted to make sure the bad guys knew the cops were closing in on them. They served to warn the bad guys where the cops were, doing them a favor.
Frankly, after the second heist, I would think all the merchants in the area would be forewarned about a possible hold-up if they ever hear some sort of explosion in the near future. The TV and radio coverage, plus newspapers would have made most citizens on the lookout as well, looking out for the "Dynamite Robbers" or whatever they may have been called. I believe the phrase to describe the bad guys' error is: "They went to the well once too often." Overall, a 7-another decent show, but nothing special here other than Nels Oleson from "Little House" being one of the two crooks.
Two men scheme to plant explosives in an empty field near the scene of a place they want to rob-jewelry store, grocery store, whatever. Moments after their bomb goes off, they enter the business and commit your basic armed robbery, then escape while everyone around is focused on the mysterious explosion.
It works so well the first time, they decide to pull off two more similar crimes in the next three days in this same mostly-rural area before heading for some place farther away. The first two times they get away cleanly as planned. But now our man, Dan is prepared. He'll have "every available unit" (one of his favorite phrases) moving in on the site of the next explosion to see if they can seal off the area to prevent, I guess, any vehicle with two men inside from going through.
When the crooks only go a couple of miles from their third robbery before hearing sirens, they head for the hills-those desolate mountainous hills where Dan & Co. Usually go to track down their criminals because they always have enough cars to seal off the entire area and move in on the bad guys.
This time, the bad guy literally shoots the wire blocking a fire road from regular traffic, before his partner drives through, then he puts the wire back into the little holder and they drive through to just sit on the lonely roadside and listen as sirens roar all around them.
Dan finds that same fire road and examines it closely enough to see that the wire was only loosely placed back. He never noticed the tire tracks going through that I thought would be the doom of the bad guys. Many minutes later, the bad guys decide to make a run for it, but stop when there is a patrol car in front and one behind them.
This leads to the frequent wrap-up where the two bad guys jump out of their car, start shooting at the cops hiding behind their doors, and as soon as his partner is shot, the other bad guy throws his hands up and surrenders.
I am giving them credit for a clever idea, although it seems to me that robbing a small jewelry store, where you tie up the clerk and are gone in a few minutes gives you enough time to get away without everyone in the neighborhood rushing out to see about the explosion in the field. Doing it a second time the next day-OK. But they were really looking for trouble with the third try in this small community.
If you want to get away after a robbery, the best idea is to return to your home/office/hotel room/ or go to some public place where you'll blend in with many others. Instead, these men in suits go up to rugged mountain roads and are spotted just standing by a car doing nothing-sticking out like a soar thumb. We've seen better escape ideas by many of the crooks in this series, as well as others.
I guess Dan had used up his department's budget on helicopters because they surely could have found these crooks more easily had he summoned one into use. What really stood out to me was how all the police cars constantly blared their sirens while they were driving around on those empty fire roads with no traffic or houses or any sign of humanity around, as if they wanted to make sure the bad guys knew the cops were closing in on them. They served to warn the bad guys where the cops were, doing them a favor.
Frankly, after the second heist, I would think all the merchants in the area would be forewarned about a possible hold-up if they ever hear some sort of explosion in the near future. The TV and radio coverage, plus newspapers would have made most citizens on the lookout as well, looking out for the "Dynamite Robbers" or whatever they may have been called. I believe the phrase to describe the bad guys' error is: "They went to the well once too often." Overall, a 7-another decent show, but nothing special here other than Nels Oleson from "Little House" being one of the two crooks.