Eyewitness to Murder
From The Bionic Wiki
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| Production 40023 Original Airdate: 8 March 1974 | |||
 The Hoppers: twin assassins | |||
| Produced by Sam Strangis Donald R. Boyle | |||
| Written by William Driskill | |||
| Directed by Alf Kjellin | |||
| Guest Cast | |||
| Guest Star(s) Gary Lockwood as John Hopper and his twin William Schallert as Lorin Sandusky | |||
| Co-starring Ivor Barry as Mr. Hanley Regis J. Cordic as Host Leonard Stone as Lt. Tanner | |||
| With Allen Joseph as Dorsey Lew Palter as Cab Driver Donna Mantoan as Hotel Clerk Al Dunlap as Doorman Marilyn J. Hassett as Car Rental Girl | |||
| Uncredited Sal Ponti as Tom Windom | |||
| Broadcast Order | |||
| Season 1 | |||
| ← Previous | Next → | ||
| "Doomsday, and Counting" | "The Rescue of Athena One" | ||
| Related episodes | |||
| • prequel to "Steve Austin, Fugitive" | |||
Steve must prove that the man he witnessed killing another is really an assassin hired to kill a special prosecutor.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
Late one night Steve Austin witnesses the fatal shooting of a man. Using his Bionic vision he clearly identifies the sniper but is unable to catch him before he escapes. Later it is confirmed that the victim was a member of the legal team of leading lawyer Lorin Sandusky who is in the process of presenting evidence to the Grand jury of racketeer Victor Ritchie. The statute of limitations means that the charges against Mr. Ritchie will expire at 9:00 am in two days time and both the local police and Oscar Goldman of the OSI are concerned that a further attempt will be made to take Mr. Sandusky’s life before then. Steve is therefore assigned the task of protecting him.
The following day a preliminary hearing is scheduled to take place at 1:00 pm and as Mr. Sandusky and his entourage are entering the court house Steve spots the assassin from the night before and apprehends him before he is able to escape in a taxi. At the police station the killer is identified as John Hopper. However, Hopper has a watertight alibi - he was on a live TV show in Milwaukee at the same the fatal shot was fired. Knowing that he has identified the right man Steve closely follows Hopper and stakes out his hotel overnight. Early next morning – the day the Grand jury are due to deliver their verdict in the Ritchie case – Steve again closely follows Hopper from his hotel. However, he is unaware that Hopper has an identical twin brother and that he is in fact following the twin. Meanwhile the real Hopper, disguised as a police officer, conceals himself on a rooftop overlooking the court house and prepares to shoot Sandusky as he arrives. Steve continues to watch ‘Hopper’ closely but as he studies him with his Bionic eye he notices a distinguishing mark on his face. The full reality of what is happening suddenly dawns on Steve and he runs as fast as he can to the court house where he manages to attack and disarm Hopper just as he is about to pull the trigger. Hopper’s twin brother is also taken in by Steve at his hotel soon afterwards and Mr. Sandusky secures indictments from the Grand jury on all charges.
[edit] Deconstructed
[edit] Quotes
Steve: The day that I see a murder and don't do anything about it, then this million bucks worth of technology I'm carrying around in my eye isn't worth two cents.
Steve: Now tell me about Victor Richie.
Dorsey: Hey... (slight stutter) I don't have anything to do with him.
Steve: Come on, Dorsey, I don't want to play games. Now Oscar tells me you've been passing out information since you were in shorts pants.
Steve: You're so caught up in the loftier issues, you can't see the simple fact that I witnessed a murder.
Oscar: You are forgetting the fact that our investment in you is precisely for the... what did you say, the loftier issues? That's good. You are employed exclusively in situations that require your unique and special attention.
Oscar: First chance we get, we’ll have your bionic eye checked. Maybe the infrared is on the blink, Steve.
Steve: Oscar, I know what I saw.
Oscar: Listen, you're The Six Million Dollar Man, but you're not infallible.
Hopper: What are you?
Steve: Just a man who knows what he sees. Let's go.
Sandusky: How did you recognize him in the dark like that?
Steve: Well, I eat a lot of carrots (Oscar almost chokes on his champagne)
Steve: Oscar, eh, what if the guy I saw killed turned out to be a nobody, what would you really have done?
Oscar: Oh, here we go. I don't deal with nobodies, pal.
Steve: Well, then lets drink to all the nobodies Victor Richie stepped on all these years, huh?
Oscar: I'll drink to that.
[edit] Trivia
[edit] Character
- Steve's line, "But Oscar, I'm no detective; that's your bag", and Oscar's knowledge of a street-level informant may suggest that Oscar had a previous life as a police detective or other, more "ordinary" investigative agent. On the other hand, Oscar describes his informant as "what we in Intelligence used to call a stool pigeon" — language that is not inconsistent with the Kill Oscar (Part III) description of his former career in Naval Intelligence.
[edit] Story
- As he had done in "Wine, Women and War" — and would do again in "Taneha" — Steve explains away his ability to see in the dark to eating a lot of carrots.
[edit] Production
- Another episode to feature a genuine high speed running scene, albeit very brief, as Steve races to prevent Hopper's final act.
[edit] Real World
- The scenes at the end of the episode in which Steve follows Hopper's twin to the beach were filmed in Santa Monica, CA.
