I qualified episode 21 of S&H as "terrible." This is nowhere near that bad. Which is a relief, considering some of the awful 70/80/90s series finales I've been watching over the last couple of years.
Even given Paul Michael Glaser's clear directorial ambitions, I'm still very surprised that he would choose to direct the finale rather than properly star in it. Starsky spends most of the time comatose in his hospital bed, leaving David Soul to carry the whole thing with some help from from Antonio Fargas and Bernie Hamilton.
The case of the week is disappointingly light. The opening scene with the criminal organisation is reminiscent of a Bond film, making it seem that this will be a huge, action-packed send-off. But it all ends up with the same little old baddie from episodes 19 and 20 of this same season. I mean, if you want to bring back a vengeance-seeking Blofeld for the series finale, you should at least go back a few seasons, not merely two episodes. There's no sentimentality or resonance to it.
But still, the interaction between Hutch, Huggy, Dobey and Starsky (when he eventually wakes up) do remind me why I've loved the show and these characters so much (Huggy's scenes even make him somewhat seem like Starsky's temporary replacement rather than his usual "word on the street" guy.) And the final scene is stupidly funny and moving at the same time. The end of yet another era. Thanks for the memories, guys.
Even given Paul Michael Glaser's clear directorial ambitions, I'm still very surprised that he would choose to direct the finale rather than properly star in it. Starsky spends most of the time comatose in his hospital bed, leaving David Soul to carry the whole thing with some help from from Antonio Fargas and Bernie Hamilton.
The case of the week is disappointingly light. The opening scene with the criminal organisation is reminiscent of a Bond film, making it seem that this will be a huge, action-packed send-off. But it all ends up with the same little old baddie from episodes 19 and 20 of this same season. I mean, if you want to bring back a vengeance-seeking Blofeld for the series finale, you should at least go back a few seasons, not merely two episodes. There's no sentimentality or resonance to it.
But still, the interaction between Hutch, Huggy, Dobey and Starsky (when he eventually wakes up) do remind me why I've loved the show and these characters so much (Huggy's scenes even make him somewhat seem like Starsky's temporary replacement rather than his usual "word on the street" guy.) And the final scene is stupidly funny and moving at the same time. The end of yet another era. Thanks for the memories, guys.