A-Team Episode 1×04
“Pros & Cons”
- Location: Strikersville, Florida
- Tank: Balloon Chairs (they were built under montage so I’m giving them a pass…)
- Disguises: John Smith’s agent, Hair Stylist
- Scam: Admittance into prison as a Doctor
- Flight: No
- Fixation: Trash Bags
- Flips: 0
- Fee: $0
- Quote: “I hate violence. I just.. hate it.” – Hannibal, just before violencing a bad guy
- Bonus Quote: “I WANT SOME TRAAAAAAAASH BAGS!” – Murdock, pretty much the whole time
- Who is that?? Elsa Raven, prison psychologist. Hint: “Save the clock tower!”
This episode had my first major “Who is that??” moment. I couldn’t place the prison psychologist, but I instantly knew I recognized her from somewhere. A quick trip to IMDB reveals her to be the lady in Back to the Future raising money for the clock tower. That role was only a couple years after this episode aired.
The team has to break into a prison to stop a corrupt warden from running death matches with his prisoners. What better way to break in than to get arrested? And what better way to get arrested than to drive a car through the wall of the police station. This ep had some odd moments. B.A. Plays a deaf/mute in this ep and he does a pretty convincing job. Hannibal’s sign language isn’t as convincing but I don’t think it’s meant to be. What threw me off was how the plan isn’t revealed to the audience beforehand–the team is arrested after their stunt and B.A. just starts making these odd hand gestures. It’s not until after the commercial break that the plan becomes clear.
This is one of the few times Murdock’s schtick was actually relevant to the plot–his obsession with trash bags culminates in using them to create hot-air balloon lawn chairs to escape the prison. Now, I’m a fan of the A-Team and that means I’m cool with a lot of nonsensical stuff… but even I had a hard time with that one. There’s just no way a dozen trash bag balloons could lift a man (and a lawn chair) over a wall.
Face’s scams can often be pretty silly, but I loved how he played it off when he was caught in the lie. Rather than panic, fight, or run, he doubles-down and conjures up an explanation right there on the spot. Well played, Face.