EPISODE GUIDE
'No Good Deed'
Series 2, Episode 5
CREDITS
Written by Richard C. Okie
Directed by Russel Olberg
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
Scott Kraft as Randy Dupree
Karen Moncrieff
Kari Whitman
Carlos Carrasco
Don Keith Opper
Shirley Saunders as Judge
Oskar Granquist as Bouncer
Ken Perkins as Rick
Mark Anthony as Restaurant Manager
David Montalbano as Officer Baker
Lauren Trensel as Girlfriend
First broadcast in America on
11/10/1993
PLOT
It
is late at night and a man approaches a bar. The bar is closing,
and he claims his girlfriend is inside, but he is clearly up to
no good. Once inside, the man goes into the lavatory and draws
out his shotgun. The bouncer on the door finally realises he has
been duped, but it is too late. The man draws his gun and kills
him, and the barman, before taking the money and running.
The next morning, the police are in a frenzy. The crime has been
committed by The Closer, Randy Dupree - a serial murderer and
robber who always robs at closing time - the last to go in and
the last to come out. However, he is at large.
Reno, meanwhile, is finding time once more to wallow in wis woes
at his lifestyle. He meets a woman in a launderette, and two
flirt. Reno promises a date before he realises that the woman is
a policewoman. Disillusioned, he is awakened again to the sorry
life he leads.
However, he has little time for self pity, as Sixkiller
Enterprises take the Dupree case. Bobby has chased the man before
and relishes the chance to bring him in for good. He and Reno go
to a street informer who tells them where to find Dupree' woman.
He claims it is all he knows, but it's good enough for Reno.
Randy goes to the house of the woman, Casey. She hasn't seen him
for a while, and she is clearly unhappy to see him now, but he
makes himself at home, demanding food and affection. Then he
leaves, but Reno follows. Reno follows Dupree to a restaurant
where he is inevitably going to commit his crimes again. As Reno
waits outside for the right time, he is found by two policeman.
Finding a suspiscious looking man loitering outside a restaurant
at closing time brings the men to suspect Reno as the villain.
They try to bring him in, but in the knowledge the The Closer is
about to strike, Reno takes them both out and runs inside. He is
too late - the deed is done. One man is dead, and a young woman
critical. Reno pursues Dupree, but he is gone.
Reno tracks Casey again the next day. She is unwilling to talk
until Reno points out that, to Dupree, she is a dangerous loose
end, and The Closer leaves no loose ends. She tells Reno that
Dupree has gone to an ammo store to buy for his gun. Reno tracks
him. He gets away, but Reno pursues, and this time brings him in.
Dupree is arrested, but the police acknowledge that they will
have to let him go as there is no solid case against him - Jean,
the prosecutor tells Bobby that they have no witnesses - the
woman at the resteraunt died in hospital. Unfortunately, Bobby
tells her that he knew about the waitress, despite the fact that
she was top secret. She realises that Bobby must have had another
witness, and even links it to the 'long hair' wanted for assault
on two police officers.
Reno tracks down Casey and persuades her to testify in court
against Dupree in an attempt to hold him. She is reluctant, but
she agrees. At the hearing, however, she is too intimadated by
Dupree's presence to hold to her convictions. She provides him
with an alibi. Seething, Jean announces in court that Bobby has
another witness. Bobby refuses to divulge who, and is held in
contempt of court. Dupree is set free and Bobby is taken into
custody.
Reno realises drastic action is called for, and he meets with
Jean. He tells her who he is and makes her an offer - he will
bring in Dupree and testify against him if she can arrange a
vastly reduced penalty for his own alleged crimes. She is
sceptical, but eventually agrees.
The next morning, Bobby returns home and tells Reno that all has
been arranged - Reno will be convicted to eighteen months on a
manslaughter charge and two years probation. This is good enough
for Reno, as it will, after all, give him his life back at the
end of the ordeal.
Reno goes after Dupree again, but all does not go well. He
ambushes Reno and reveals that he has contacts in jail who are
enemies of Reno. Announcing with relish that prison inmates will
be less than kind to Reno since they know he is an ex-cop and a
bounty hunter, he gags and ties Reno and dumps him on the steps
of the police station with a copy of his wanted poster.
Jean smuggles Reno out of jail, forcing him to hit her in order
to make his 'escape' look convincing. He then goes after Dupree
again, and this time confronts him in a grocery store that he is
attempting to rob. In the resulting gunfight, Dupree is shot
dead.
Reno returns to Jean having done some serious thinking. He has
realised that there was no deal. She had no interest in him, she
just wanted Dupree dead, as she knew she could never convict him.
His easy escape from the prison leads him to conclude that the
courts and the police force were also involved. She neither
accepts or denies these accusations, simply calling the police
for Reno's arrest and telling him to flee. He does.
That's
it. Sound abrupt? Well, it is.
CLASSIC
QUOTES:
"That
dryer will burn your underwear to a crisp... if you wear
underwear that is..."
"Stick around, you might find out."
- Reno flirts with a cop. If only he knew.
"I'd
be happy for a casual friendship, but it never seems to
happen."
"You've got Bobby."
- Is Chey being deliberately shifty here? It seems fairly obvious
that a friendship with Bobby isn't exactly what he had in mind...
"I
love coconuts. You can eat them, drink milk out of them..."
- Reno, explaining to Chey why he should move to Bali.
Unfortunately, Bobby interupts this fascinating list, as it
leaves us wondering what the third use of a coconut is (answers
on a postcard!).
"We're
not looking for his old lady."
"If you'd seen her, you might be."
- Bobby's informer to Reno.
"Why
did you have to kill them?"
"So I wouldn't get caught."
- Dupree teaches Chasey the elementary building blocks of a
criminal career.
"I'm
sick and tired of... being... sick and tired." - Reno shows
his supreme imagination.
NOTES:
If
The Closer is such a big league villain and he has again arrived
on the scene, would it not have been prudent of the police to
circulate some kind of warning and description to the nearby
clubs, bars, restaurants and shops? This would have proved
beneficial in the second attack, at least.
Reno
is persuaded to hit Jean in the face to make it look like he
broke free. Next time he meets Jean (the next day) her face is
unmarked.
In
actual fact, there are very few points in this episodes plot to
pull it apart by. It does hang together fairly well. It should be
noted however, that the ending is confusing and weak, and comes
as something as an anti climax to an otherwise well constructed
episode.
OSCAR
WINNING MOMENT:
The
shoot out in the general store at the episode's end is quite well
put togther, and a good bit of action in the show. Particularly
impressive is the way Reno pushes a trolley across Dupree's line
of vision and then holds him up from behind.
REVIEW:
"This
episode starts badly then gets much better. It builds up for a
great ending. Unfortunately, this ending never happens. The
ending that does occur is rubbish. Good, if you don't watch the
beginning or the end." 2.9 / 5
"Well,
the beginning is unremarkable rather than bad (I would say), but
the end really is scraping the barrel. It's confusing and odd,
and it happens far too quickly. Other than that, this is typical
solid fare."
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