A-Team Episode 2×23
“Curtain Call”
- Location: Northern California, likely Stanislaus National Forest
- Tank: No
- Disguises: No
- Scam: A House to take shelter in
- Flight: No (technically)
- Fixation: No, unless you count slowly losing it due to blood loss
- Flips: 0
- Fee: NA
- Quote: “Have you ever wondered why the A-Team manages to slip past us? …They’re the best. They think as one. Feel as one. Act as one.” – Decker, having come a long way from his rather low opinion of the boys from earlier this season.
- Who is that?? George Wyner, Archie. Hint: “What’s the matter, Colonel Sanders? Chicken???“
And now we’re ready for the final battle–which turns out to be pretty anti-climactic. Hannibal delivers a rather mediocre one-liner, the team punches out the bad guys, and the ep closes in typical manner, with our heroes making for a quick escape as we hear Decker’s sirens approach.
But wait, what’s this? One bad guy isn’t quite completely punched-out, pulls a gun, and shoots Murdock! Shoots Murdock–with a gun! And it hits him! Wow, what an awful way to end an episode… And yet, the episode continues and–wait a minute, this isn’t a final act at all, it’s an opening act! We’ve seen bullet wounds a couple times on the show, but I believe this marks the first time we’ve seen someone actually get shot. This ep is shaping up to be something quite different indeed!
Or not, ’cause then it turns into a clip show. Ok, I can do a clip show. Let’s see, fire up the ol’ bulleted list-maker, and:
Remember that time when…
- B.A. gets a blood transfusion from Murdock—and hey it’s dr. Sullivan back (technically) for a third time!
- Really? You’re doing a clip show and you highlight the balloon chairs?
- They fly the montage-built ultralight
- They land the chopper at a gas station
- They Crash a Beechcraft Model-18
- B.A. gets a pre-flight burger knock-out
- Murdock gets chucked into the ocean
- They Scam some dynamite
- They bust Murdock out of the hospital with a tuberculosis scam*
- They first meet Decker
- The Van blows through a billboard then over a bridge that’s out
- B.A. goes catatonic when trapped on a plane
*It dawns on me that Face occasionally enjoys sewing a little extra chaos for no reason at all. He didn’t have to imply that the cafeteria staff needed full diagnoses and shots–the lie was already bought and he was headed out the door–but he did it anyway. Face, you’re downright incorrigible.
For a clip show, there’s actually a decent amount of plot. For starters, I love that Decker just assumes that the guys the A-Team was beating up were, in fact, bad guys. And speaking of Decker, even he gets the warbly “flash back to some good times with Murdock” visual effect. Both of those (not to mention our Quote) show he’s definitely growing a certain amount of respect (if not an outright soft spot) for our heroes–I mean honestly, how could he not? I also noticed he referred to The Van as “the A-Team Van.” Respect The Team, respect The Van.
Decker then makes an excellent play by placing a tracker on the first aid kit and allowing them to steal it–and the team makes an excellent counter-play by bandaging Murdock’s head, a move that simultaneously keeps Face in action and preserves Murdock’s cover. It’s really pretty remarkable that no one has any idea Murdock has been working with them after two full seasons now.
There was a point where Decker addresses Hannibal as Lieutenant Colonel–something about the way he said it made it sound like it was meant to be an insult–I’ve assumed all this time that Hannibal was a full colonel, but maybe Decker technically out-ranks him? Anyway, out-ranked or not, he’s certainly not out-witted. The last of Decker’s men gets shoved out the passenger door, Hannibal opens fire, taking out all the tires, and the team makes a quick get-away.
The show ends with a montage of good times between B.A. and Murdock, whom we’ve known all along are good friends when it matters.