The Bionic Criminal
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[edit] Summary
Barney Hiller, a race driver, is reactivated as the second bionic man over Steve's protests. Oscar explains that it is a test to see if bionics can be turned back up to full strength, on the premise of having a number of bionic men who live normal lives but are all "tuned up" when required in a time of emergency.
Steve has reason to doubt Barney's mental stability, and soon his fears are justified. When car owner Tom Shatley takes Barney out of the big race, Barney, in a fit of rage, uses his bionic strength against his sponsor, whom he believes he has killed. When his wife is kidnapped shortly thereafter, Barney has no choice but to use his powers for a series of crimes.
[edit] Related Episodes
[edit] Production
Season 3, Episode 9
- Production Number: 43012
- Airdate: November 9, 1975
- Produced by:
- Story by: Peter Alan Fields
- Teleplay by: Richard Carr
- Directed by: Leslie Martinson
[edit] Guest Stars
- Monte Markham - Barney Hiller
- Maggie Sullivan - Carla Peterson Hiller
- John Milford - Tom Shatley
- Donald Moffat - Lester Burstyn
[edit] Quotes
[edit] Trivia
- Alan Oppenheimer once again appears on this episode as Dr. Rudy Wells two months after Martin E. Brooks made his debut on The Return of the Bionic Woman. This one-off return was necessitated by the use of flashback footage from The Seven Million Dollar Man featuring Oppenheimer that would not have matched a new actor playing the role.
- Barney's last name changes to "Hiller" in this episode, contradicting the fact that he was named "Barney Miller" in The Seven Million Dollar Man. This is due to the debut and rise to popularity of a sitcom entitled Barney Miller, which premiered in January 1975, two months after the broadcast of "The Seven Million Dollar Man".
[edit] Gallery
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[edit] Nitpicks
- In the flashbacks to "The Seven Million Dollar Man" bionic sounds are added to the arm wrestling between Steve and Barney. When the original episode aired, it pioneered a greater use of these sounds, which had only appeared intermittently and without consistent application to that date. Afterwards, it became consistent to the point where it had to be used or it would be missed. This removes a central aspect of the original scene, which plays on the mystery of whether or not Barney is bionic, revealed when he wins. The sounds remove all doubt, although in the context of the flashback in this episode, Barney's bionic nature was no longer a mystery.
- The episode The Seven Million Dollar Man establishes a distinct new musical theme by Oliver Nelson, which would prove popular for "tracking", ie reuse on other episodes. It is ironic therefore that, in the episode where the Seven Million theme might be deemed appropriate, that it is unused here.
- In a scene late in the program, Steve and Barney are wrestling, and roll down 20 yards or so of a parking ramp. This is highly improbable to say the least. It appears as though they are just having a good time.
- As is often the case, there are demonstrations of bionic strength in this episode that fall on the missing "bionic back." The scene where Barney turns an armored car with an iron pipe for a lever begs us to forget that Barney's bionic arms are attached to a normal torso. This is a running nit, as it recurs whenever Steve lifts a car, for example.
[edit] Scenes Deleted In Syndication
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