EPISODE GUIDE
'Dead And Easy Money'
Season 2, Episode 4
CREDITS
Written
by Stephen J. Cannell
Directed by Michael Preece
Created by Stephen J. Cannell
Produced by Lorenzo Lamas
Theme by Mike Post
Starring:
Lorenzo Lamas as Reno Raines
Branscombe Richmond as Bobby Sixkiller
Kathleen Kinmont as Cheyenne Philips
Stephen J. Cannell as Dutch Dixon
Cyndi Pass as Denise Denison (?)
Forry Smith
Tim Wrightman
Mike Jolly
Eric Poppick
Ron Johnson as Sgt. Woody Bickford
Mark Gadbois as Lonnie Sappio
Bernard Baldan as Sergeant
Mark Taylor as Mace
George Fisher as Cop #1
Kirk Kinder as Cop #2
Charmine Charles as Officer
Barbara Savage as Reporter
First
broadcast in America on 4/10/1993
PLOT
It
is night time. Two men trampoline over an electric fence and
sabotage a police van, their motives unclear. It is the next day.
This same couple attack the same van as it breaks down. They take
the van away leaving the policemen behind.
It is another day (or possibly the same one - who knows) and one
of these men is playing volleyball on the beach. Reno looks on
(as do, funnily enough, many women in scanty bikinis.) As Reno
notices the man lose his temper with another player, he checks
again his wanted notice - the man's name is John Sharp, and
Reno's going in.
Reno follows the man and his entourage to the nearby bar. There
he is served by Avalon Jones, an 'actress' (i.e. beauty queen)
who is slumming as a waitress, possibly saving up for a new
brain. Fortunately for Reno, she knows the group, and is invited
to a beach party with them the same evening. Reno is invited
along, but even before arriving, he runs into Sharp, who is
jealous of Avalon's attentions. A tension builds.
Later at the party, Reno speaks to Avalon again, discovering her
real name to be Mildred Hemsecker, a name she deemed unworthy as
an actress. Reno moves away to find Sharp hidden under a dingy
assaulting a young woman. The two fight, but Reno is, of course,
the better man. He takes Sharp in. However, on escorting Sharp to
his car, Reno is attacked by an unseen assailant. As he falls
into unconciousness, we see it is Avalon who has struck him from
behind.
As Reno awakes, he finds himself hand-cuffed to a motel bed.
Avalon is examining his belongings, but she stops as he comes
around and begins to interrogate him. Using her computer skills
and the information on Reno's Harley, she deduces that he is Reno
Raines, rather than Vince Black. Frustrated, Reno instructs her
to call Sixkiller Enterprises. She does so, asking for a $12,000
reward. Of course, her real name is not Avalon, and she doesn't
have the IQ of a small insect, but Reno is not treated to the
details.
Cheyenne makes the rendezvous to hand over the money. There she
recognises Reno's captor as Denise Denison (a very 'Renegade'
name!). She hands over the money and then rescues Reno, taking
him back to Bobby. There, Chey and Bobby fill Reno in on Denise.
She is a bounty hunter, and practically undefeatable. In fact,
only one man ever got the best of him - Kyle Stapio. Years ago he
evaded her capture and chained her to a dead-end sign in only her
underwear. A photograph made media headlines, and she has been
after him ever since.
We cut across town to John Sharp as he meets... (wait for it)...
Kyle Stapio. Kyle asks John whether 'the boxes' have been
destroyed, and is upset to find that they haven't been. Very
mysterious.
Due to some detective work at a leasing agency, Bobby and Chey
discover that Sharp has rented a boat house, and they decide to
investigate. Their interest in the case has risen sharply as they
grapple with unanswered questions. Why is Denise here? Why did
she take Reno out instead of Sharp? They do discover that she has
beaten them to the knowledge of Sharp's boathouse, so they
proceed as soon as possible.
When they arrive, they find Sharp and Stapio ready for them.
Chey, Bobby and Reno are taken prisoner, and Sharp is left to
deal with them. Only the arrival of Denise prevents bloodshed -
she takes Sharp down and releases the three captors. The four
come to an uneasy truce - rewards will be split two ways between
Denise and Sixkiller Enterprises, and they will work as a team.
Denise reveals that the boxes in the captured police van are full
of evidence to convict Stapio's brother. Without the evidence,
there is no case. They decide to stay with Sharp until morning
and then go to court and see what happens. During the night,
Denise and Reno grow closer and share a brief kiss.
The next morning, Bobby and Chey take Sharp in, whilst Denise and
Reno go to court. There, Denise phones the police, summoning them
to collect Reno. She then tells Reno what she has done - her only
purpose was to get rid of him, thus re-establishing her control
of the case. Reno flees as the police arrive. At his rendezvous
with Bobby and Chey, he confesses all. Luckily, Chey, who has
been deeply distrustful of Denise from the word go, has planted a
tracking device on her car. They trace her.
Stapio's brother, meanwhile, has been released due to a total
lack of evidence against him. As he leaves the court, Denise
follows him. However, Stapio is ready, and he ambushes her. This
time, there'll be no humiliation - only death. He drives her to
the seafront and prepares to kill her. At the last moment, Reno,
Bobby and Chey arrive. They defeat Stapio and his assorted
henchmen, but the police arrive, and everyone present is taken
in. Reno is recognized!
As Bobby, Chey and Denise leave the station, it looks as though
the end is in line for Reno. Fortunately, Denise feels bad for
landing him in trouble, so she hacks into the station computers
and jumbles Reno's identity and charge. As Dixon and Woody arrive
to take Reno away, Reno is released, a free man. Dixon is left
fuming with rage at an empty cell as Reno, once more, rides into
the sunset.
CLASSIC
QUOTES
"That
guy sitting in the corner - he's something isn't he!" - Reno
to Avalon (Densise). Rather makes it sound like he digs him!
"Didn't
your Mommy ever teach you what 'No' means?" - Reno to Sharp
in mid-assualt, proving that even attempted rape can be answered
with a witty comment.
"You
sound like you stopped at the University to get the air in your
head changed." - Reno, the charmer, comments on Avalon's
transformation into Denise.
"I
got away, but it was like he was trying to take me in, or
something." - Sharp to Stapio on his encounter with Reno,
proving what a perceptive man he is.
"You're
just too smooth and bitchin' aren't you, Denise." - not that
Chey's jealous. Oh no.
"She's
as fast as a lark and as prickly as a porcupine." - Bobby
summing up Denise to Reno.
"Why
does she go for you and not Sharp?" - asks Bobby of Reno.
The answer, of course, is that Denise wanted Sharp to get to
Stapio. Now, obviously Bobby didn't know that, but surely the
fact that Sharp was worth $10,000 and Reno was worth $12,000 was
answer enough.
"You
know honey, you're wearing real thin." - not that Chey's
jealous. Oh no.
"Come
on. I'm not that easily recognisable." - Reno to Denise,
proving that two years on the run scrambles a man's brain.
NOTES
If
Sharp and his partner trampolined over the electric fence to get
at the police vehicle at night, how did they get back over again
in order to leave?
Denise
may be a fine bounty hunter, but her adoptation of disguise is
pure Sixkiller. Avalon the waitress is, like, the most
unbelieveable, like, character to ever, like, be on Renegade. For
sure.
Bobby
and Chey drive a 'RENEGADE' jeep. Very clever.
Despite
'not being easily recognisable', surely it's pretty stupid for
Reno to walk into a court like that.
Changing
Reno's record in the police station is very clever, but surely
someone would have noticed Reno come in. After all, the arrival
of a notorious wanted 'cop-killer' in a small town police station
would surely be of some interest to all.
OSCAR
WINNING MOMENT
Denise
as Avalon. What an actress. For sure.
REVIEW
"Very,
very bad!! Probably one of the worst episodes I've ever watched.
It's only plus was to include Dixon and Woody." 1.5
/ 5
"Any
episode in which you relish the appearance of Woody Bickford on
the grounds that he's a sensible character is surely cause for
concern. Enough to make your brain melt if watched without the commercials."
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