241. Survival

Final episode

Original air date: 28 April 1974
Rerun 18 August 1974

Sam Belson: ESCAPED FEDERAL PRISONER; ASSAULTING A FEDERAL OFFICER

The end of an era.

Inspector Lewis Erskine and SAC Chris Daniels pursue an escaped Federal prisoner, and end up in a gun battle with the prisoner. In the process, their Ford Bronco is rendered inoperable.

Inspector Erskine overcomes Sam Belson, but learns that SAC Daniels is injured. He fell off of a rock. The plot line revolves around Inspector Erskine’s struggle to get the gravely injured Daniels to safety, as well as get Belson back into custody. That proves difficult, as the sniper they nab has shot out the engine (and the radio). Oh, And the good inspector has to deal with a female camper whom he suspects is an accomplice of Belson, who in turns wants to escape when the opportunity arises. Interesting episode, but we would have rather preferred to see something a little grander in an urban setting.

Upon rewatching this episode, Chris Daniels remarks in Act II about the idea of dying so soon. The sad irony is that, four years later, Shelly Novack died on 27 May 1978 of a myocardial infarction, the first major cast member to pass away.

• Dabney Coleman, at left, makes his sixth and final appearance on the series. Mr. Coleman’s association with FBI-related films does not ending here, though. He stars in 1975’s Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan.
• Julie Gregg appeared as Penguin’s moll in the final First Season of Batman, which aired in spring 1966. By this time, she also had appeared as Sandra Corleone in The Godfather (1972), and The Godfather, Part 2 (1974). She died 7 November 2016.

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Credits

To come soon.