Original air date: 28 October 1973
Michael Staley, an unhinged Korean War veteran in Minneapolis, is determined to show he is important. His former sergeant in the service is imprisoned and recently killed a guard trying to escape. Staley plants a bomb in a Minneapolis high rise building and sends an anonymous note to the FBI demanding his former sergeant be freed. Erskine and Daniels lead the bureau’s efforts to find the bomb before it’s too late. In the process, Inspector Erskine has to deal with an angry federal inmate and question his drunken ex-wife, while the bad guy has a run-in with someone whom he owes $500 (and whom he pushes over ).
Mario Roccuzzo makes his second appearance in the series. His first was in the 30 January 1966 episode “Quantico.” He gives a nervy performance as the downtrodden, nerdish Michael Staley. Have to say that the villain (born 1940) seems a little too young to be Korean War vets, though Victor French (1934-1989) is in that age range. That said, early in the episode, his character and Inspector Lewis Erskine have a very heated exchange that is fun to watch. Also watch for an older woman (Mrs. Staley, the mom) in a wheelchair who echoes Estelle Winwood’s character in the pilot episode!
This is an excellent episode written by famed screenwriter Jackson Gillis (1916-2010), who penned episodes of Adventures of Superman, Perry Mason and Lost in Space. This episode was the only one he wrote for The FBI. Watch for a reference to both Superman and The Green Hornet! The Minneapolis setting is interesting, in that a hit show of that time, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, was set there. It also was the hometown of the late Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane in the Adventures of Superman.
- Erin Moran makes another appearance on The FBI. She soon would star in the ABC series Happy Days, and died of complications from throat cancer in Indiana on 22 April 2017.
- Boston-born Mario Roccuzzo started his acting career in 1960, and is still with us, as of August 2019.
Credits:
Directed by: Don Medford
Written by: Jackson Gillis
Production Code: 196512
Performer | Role
- Mario Roccuzzo | Michael Staley
- Victor French | Michael Riles
- Bobbi Jordan | Irene Riles Morton
- Richard O’Brien | Captain Jenkins
- Scott Walker | Morrie Prager
- Erin Moran | Prager daughter
- William Bryant | Ned Morton
- Joseph Perry | Workman
- Ann Driscoll | Mrs. Staley
- and: Jeannine Brown, William Martel, Ben Marino, Marvin Dean Stewart, Garrison True, Dick De Coit, John Kroger, Richard Merrifield, Sandy Ward, Edward T. Blessington, Ed Deemer, Robert Bridges and Dick Delmar (as Richard Delmar)