Lindsey Wagner returns as Sara Butler, the bikini store owner Rockford met earlier in season one in the episode "Backlash of the Hunter". This time, an employee of hers, Aura Lee has been found dead of a heroin overdose. Sara believes Aura Lee was murdered and hires Jim Rockford to prove it.
There's a lot of good stuff in this episode. We get the first of five appearances on the "Files" of Robert Webber, who always made a great foil for Garner. We have another rare appearance of Jim's printing press. And "Lost in Space" star Billy Mumy makes his second appearance on the show as a hippy painter. Oddly enough, his other appearance was in "Backlash of the Hunter" as Sara Butler's brother. Even though Lindsey Wagner's back, this time the two are not related. Melissa Greene plays Aura Lee and apparently this was her last professional appearance, after a short career in shows like "Kolchak: the Night Stalker" and (ironically) "The Six Million Dollar Man".
Somehow though this episode never really takes off. Jackie Cooper's direction seems particularly plodding and slow, which brings the whole episode down. The mystery isn't that great, and its pretty obvious who the killer is. There's also a pretty bad scene in which Rockford tries to pass himself off as a cop--using his real name and dressed in a big sweater, looking for all the world like anything BUT a cop. Kinda dumb for someone as savvy as Jim Rockford. It's a mistake they would not make later in the series. In many ways this episode is a lot more "Mannix" than it is "Rockford".
There's a lot of good stuff in this episode. We get the first of five appearances on the "Files" of Robert Webber, who always made a great foil for Garner. We have another rare appearance of Jim's printing press. And "Lost in Space" star Billy Mumy makes his second appearance on the show as a hippy painter. Oddly enough, his other appearance was in "Backlash of the Hunter" as Sara Butler's brother. Even though Lindsey Wagner's back, this time the two are not related. Melissa Greene plays Aura Lee and apparently this was her last professional appearance, after a short career in shows like "Kolchak: the Night Stalker" and (ironically) "The Six Million Dollar Man".
Somehow though this episode never really takes off. Jackie Cooper's direction seems particularly plodding and slow, which brings the whole episode down. The mystery isn't that great, and its pretty obvious who the killer is. There's also a pretty bad scene in which Rockford tries to pass himself off as a cop--using his real name and dressed in a big sweater, looking for all the world like anything BUT a cop. Kinda dumb for someone as savvy as Jim Rockford. It's a mistake they would not make later in the series. In many ways this episode is a lot more "Mannix" than it is "Rockford".