A-Team Episode 3×15
“The Big Squeeze”
- Location: Near Los Angeles, California
- Tank: No
- Disguises: Sean O’Shea III, Restauranteer (Hannibal is always a 3rd…)
- Scam: No
- Flight: No
- Fixation: BBDWOGH (or BBDWGOH–the line was flubbed in one mention) Union Representative (that’d be the Union of Bell Boys, Dish Washers, and Other General Help).
- Flips: No, but this ep was so great, I’m going to give it a Yes.
- Fee: Free
- Quote: “In the words o’ me dear, departed father: ‘bring on the suckers'” – Hannibal (and his dear, departed father)
- Bonus Quote: “I love it when a corpse comes apart.” – Hannibal, when his plan for a corpse to come apart comes together and he loves it.
- Who is that?? Both Al Ruscio and Joseph Sirola seemed familiar, but I can’t place either one. Do two half who-is-thats count as a whole?
Pretty classic loan shark/strong arm plot here, with a bit of extorsion layered on top, just for fun. The bad guys are once again going after a restaurant our heroes frequent, so this one’s on the house. The plan is a simple one: take out a loan from the loan shark, then take him down. The execution, on the other hand… This is the show we love at its purest. So much fun!
Hannibal borrows his funds, and opens up a bar and restaurant, The Naked Lady. He then borrows the set from one of his latest B-movies, assembles it in a warehouse, and waits for the fun to start.
Round 1: Bad guy gets chucked out the door bodily by B.A.–in front of every last one of the people he’s been harassing.
Round 2: Hannibal gets sniped in front of his own front door. In the most extended fake-death scene we’ve ever had in the show, he dies on his doorstep, and manages to stay dead clear through his funeral, where he lays in state, waiting for the bad guy to show up. The scene is brilliant, capped off with Murdock on the church organ playing a minor-key version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” before we get a cheerful, and predictable (but no less enjoyable) “Hi there–I’m back!” from Hannibal. Bad guy is put in the casket, and driven off in the Hearse as the henchmen watch, confused.
Round 3: is really just a continuation of Round 2, but Round 2 is just so good, it deserves to be two rounds. The henchmen put things together, and I couldn’t help but think the last time bad guys chased the A-Team in a Hearse, it didn’t end so well for them. Our heroes lose’em, get bad guy to rat on his boss, then dump him off at his boss’s house–with a note explaining as much to the boss.
Round 4: is delivered very quickly. The bad guys arrive in force at the restaurant–right in the middle of a meal our heroes hosted in honor of L.A.’s finest. They’re promptly chased out.
Round 5: Heaping insult upon insult, Hannibal delivers the jukeboxes forced upon all his clients (I use the term loosely since they’ve been doing all of this for free) back to the bad guy. Or at least into the water next to bad guy’s boat.
Round 6: By now, we’re essentially in a state of war–the bad guys finally get on top of things, capture a few hostages, and put the screws to our heroes. Who of course get it all on tape (tape is 80’s for micro SD card). The Van busts through a wall (remember, the walls were fake the entire time anyway), and…
Round 7: Even Hannibal’s trusty M-60 “Baby” makes an appearance so I’m calling it another round. Our heroes make their usual exit, leaving the bad guys in the hands of the clients. It all makes the 11 o’clock news (11 o’clock news is 80’s for Twitter).
This ep is actually a tretise on how to be a proper bad guy–there’s a lot of “wisdom” here given to us by both the head bad guy and one of the minor henchmen who consistently tries to be thoughtful and rational. Unfortunately for them, the one in the middle is the one calling the shots on the ground, and he’s more what we’ve come to expect from our villains. Hannibal and the team makes short work of him, humiliating him time after time. Even Hannibal knows more about being a bad guy than this guy does–“Mister Lane is an idiot; he squeezes too hard.”
So yeah, this ep was a ton of fun! Easily one of our favorites. There was no unique plot point or anything–as A-Team episodes go, it was actually pretty formula, but the execution was top form–one liners left and right, and a slew of wonderful moments of bad guys being put in their place. This is the A-Team we love! Always a step ahead, just owning the entire situation and doing it with style.