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|---|---|---|---|
| Production 41229 Original Airdate: April 27, 1975 | |||
 Callahan's debut.
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| Produced by Lionel E. Siegel Joe L. Cramer | |||
| Teleplay by Mark Frost Richard Carr | |||
| Story by Wilton Denmark William Gordon James Doherty | |||
| Directed by Russ Mayberry | |||
| Guest Cast | |||
| Guest Star(s) Gary Lockwood as John Hopper's twin brother Bernie Hamilton as Lieutenant Dobbs | |||
| Co-starring Andy Romano as Charlie Taylor Jennifer Darling as Peggy Callahan | |||
| With Amzie Strickland as Little Old Lady Marco Lopez as Officer Portez Reb Brown as Officer Atkins Jesse Nichoils as OSI Guard L. Majors as Store Clerk | |||
| Broadcast Order | |||
| Season 2 | |||
| ← Previous | Next → | ||
| "Outrage in Balinderry" | "The Return of the Bionic Woman" | ||
| Related episodes Sequel to "Eyewitness to Murder" | |||
"Steve Austin, Fugitive" is the final episode of The Six Million Dollar Man: Season 2 Significant for introducing the character of Peggy Callahan, Oscar's longest-serving secretary, and one of the few OSI secretaries who know about bionics, it's also a sequel episode to The Six Million Dollar Man: Season 1: "Eyewitness to Murder."
Summary[]
Steve Austin is framed for the murder of fellow OSI employee, Charlie Taylor. With the help of Oscar Goldman's new secretary, Peggy Callahan, Steve evades police long enough to uncover the identity of the true killer: Hopper, the twin brother of a man Steve sent to prison.
Deconstructed[]
Quotes[]
Callahan: Oh dear, you're the Colonel Austin?
Steve: I'm the only one I know.
Callahan: Oh golly.
Steve: I was drugged.
Lieutenant Dobbs: Who drugged you?
Steve: A man in a mask.
Dobbs: This masked man, did he ride a white horse?
Oscar: Let me speak to Miss Johnson.
Steve: Oh, Miss Johnson is now Miss Callahan.
Oscar: Oh yes, yes, yes Miss Callahan. I change my secretary every three months, I can't remember my own security orders.
Callahan: He wants me to help you in any way I can.
Steve: Good. first off, you can start by giving me your home address and telephone number.
Callahan: Oh, is that the routine here?
Steve: Don't get the wrong idea, I just might have to get in touch with you after you leave here tonight.
Steve: Keep the faith, Callahan.
Callahan: How did you get in? My door is very, very locked.
Steve: Window.
Steve: What's your security clearance?
Callahan: I'm a three.
Steve: You're about to be jumped to a six.
Store Clerk: Well, by golly, it appears to me you're building nothing short of a robot.
Callahan: That's right, how did you know?
Lieutenant Dobbs: Do you really expect me to swallow that? That there's an exact duplicate of Colonel Austin's hand with his fingerprints on it?
Oscar: That's right.
Dobbs: And that someone stole and used it to put Austin's prints on the murder weapon?
Oscar: Exactly.
Oscar: All right, Lazarus, rise.
Hopper: I would really have preferred to have seen him spend the rest of his life behind bars, but, I don't know, to be shot by the police as a fugitive, well... I'm not complaining.
Steve: Well, Oscar, Callahan here is a six now. She qualifies to have a long leisurely lunch like the rest of us sixes.
Oscar: Now look Pal, I've got a ton of work around here.
Steve: Well, then do it Oscar. Nobody asked you to lunch.
Steve: By the way Callahan, do you have a first name?
Callahan: Yes.
Trivia[]
Narrative[]
- This episode establishes Oscar's practice of changing secretaries every three months. However, this obviously does not occur with Callahan, who remains a regular presence for the next several years likely due to her elevated security level.
- This episode shares similarities with the The Six Million Dollar Man: Season 1 finale episode, "Run, Steve, Run." That episode also featured a returning villain as well as flashbacks and Steve's request for a computer check on people he put in prison.
- Steve asks for a computer search on all the men he's sent to prison in the past two years. This is consistent with the airdate of the pilot movie.
- Rudy Wells is mentioned, but does not appear. According to the The Bionic Book, Rudy was "snuffed" in an early script draft (perhaps instead of Charlie Taylor).
- Steve once again shows his prowess at self-repair when he does impromptu surgery on his leg. He repaired his arm in "The Cross-Country Kidnap."
Cast[]
- Look for the scene in which Callahan buys electronic supplies in the parts shop. The actor playing the shopkeeper is credited "L. Majors" -- and appears to be Lee Majors in heavy makeup, a wig and false teeth.
- Besides portraying Peggy Callahan in The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, Jennifer Darling also guest-starred in episodes of two other live action shows featuring superhumans, The Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman.
- An accomplished voice actor, Darling was in an episode of the animated series Bionic Six, this time playing a nemesis of bionic heroes named "Madame O."
- Darling would later reunite with Lee Majors in 1983 for an episode of The Fall Guy.
- Another star from a live action super-hero show appears in this episode. Officer Atkins is played by Reb Brown, who starred as "Captain America" in two made-for-TV movies that aired on CBS in 1979.
Crew[]
- This episode marks the return of Russ Mayberry to the bionic franchise; previously he directed the James Bond-like Pilot Telefilms, Wine, Women and War and The Solid Gold Kidnapping.
Bionics[]
- Steve is shot in the leg but is still able to move and bionically jump. "The Cross-Country Kidnap" established that if shot in the arm he is rendered immobile.
- Oscar shows Lieutenant Dobbs the duplicate hand that Hopper used to frame Steve, but lies about its purpose, saying that it's used in space technology experiments. Presumably, it's real function is as replacement skin covering for Steve's Bionic hand, perhaps one of many such spare parts.
Gaffes[]
- Steve states that Hopper's twin was never caught. This contradicts Steve's effortless capture of him in the hotel at the end of "Eyewitness to Murder." Moreover, the escaped twin is supposed to have a pronounced mole on his left cheek, a fundamental plot element of "Eyewitness to Murder," but no such blemish appears on his face in this episode.
- While in the police car, Steve uses his Bionics to pull apart the handcuffs but no damage to his left hand is depicted.
Nitpicks[]
- While repairing his leg, Steve says he did not feel pain when shot but he did feel the effects. However, he does grunt when he falls to the ground after being shot. Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman were inconsistent in depicting pain from wounded bionic limbs.
- When Callahan visits Hopper and claims to be a reporter, he gives her a bogus description of the man he saw visiting Charlie Taylor when he could have described Steve Austin to support his frame-up, even if he suspected her of not being a reporter.
- It's not clear how the bulldozer/tractor remained balanced on its two rear wheels after Steve fought off Hopper's attack.
- The guard at OSI appears to be a regular police officer instead of an agent or a military MP.
Gallery[]
