I just started watching the first season on Hulu. I've seen maybe a dozen episodes so far. I am not watching them in order. A few of these I've already given perfect scores.
Yesterday I watched "Cop in a Cage" and had to give it a 10. I loved the whole concept of a squeaky clean ex-con harassing Kojak but not quite getting away with it. And the part at the end where Kojak does the dance with his niece in the street was marvelous.
"Siege of Terror," the very first episode, earned a 10 as well. The high speed chase at the beginning was great and the scenes with the hostages were intense. Harvey Keitel was amazing in that episode.
"Dead on His Feet" was a 10, largely because of Harry Guardino's acting. The plot seemed a bit predictable, but Guardino and Savalas elevated the material at every turn, and I could not give it a lower score.
"Last Rites for a Dead Priest," with Jackie Cooper posing as a man of the cloth but in reality masterminding a heist was very well written and played. The climactic finale was very "noir" and atmospheric, and I loved how Cooper was ironically giving last rites to a member of his gang while trying to find out where the goods had been stashed. Excellent all the way.
The one with a young John Ritter, "Deliver Us Some Evil," was probably a 9.5 but I gave it a 10 anyway. I liked the innocence Ritter projected while getting deeper into a life of crime. It was strangely ironic the way he played it. The scenes where Kojak was in the helicopter and they followed the van to the warehouse were highly engaging.
I gave a 9 to the one where Tina Louise guest-starred as a heroin-addicted prostitute-- "Die Before They Wake." She deserved an Emmy for that. And I liked the twist with Jess Walton's character, who seemed to be back on drugs but maybe was not.
I'm sure I will have others to add as I go along. I haven't rated anything less than an 8. The show seems to be consistent in its quality, and it will be interesting to see if the later episodes are still as good as these early ones from the first season.
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soffee83
9 years ago
The show seems to be consistent in its quality, and it will be interesting to see if the later episodes are still as good as these early ones from the first season.
It has a few "not so great" ones scattered throughout, but there isn't any real shark jumping. The two Summer of 69's are even in that last season and they seem to show up in a lot of people's favorites list.
Take Care
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jarrodmcdonald-1
9 years ago
Thanks soffee. Since my earlier post, I have watched all the episodes in seasons 1, 2 & 3 that are on Hulu. There wasn't anything I rated below an 8, though one or two might have been 7.5's but I rounded them up. I gave a lot of the episodes perfect 10 scores or else 9.
I tend to like the episodes that seem to start in one direction, then there's a twist and we suddenly go in another direction half-way into the story. The one about the ex-con who deactivated bombs, 'The Goodluck Bomber' from season 2, really stands out to me. Eli Wallach's death in the season 3 opener, 'A Question of Answers' was something I didn't see coming. Eugene Roche's first appearance in season 2 was very good, too-- where he plays a character who seems one way at the beginning but gradually starts to take the law into his own hands and the plot quickly does a 180.
Probably my least favorite episode so far is 'Two Four Six for Two Hundred' at the end of season 2. I found it all very belabored and the meaning of the title was revealed so late into the story, I just didn't care at that point.
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soffee83
9 years ago
jarrodmcdonald-
Acts of Desperate Men might be my favorite, but I like the one where Roche is a cop too. I like Good Luck Bomber as well, especially the way he manipulates Milner at the end. Don't care for the Rosey Griers or the one where they go to the country, but after you know the characters, you can still find some entertainment watching the interactions and all. I sort of envy you still having ones you haven't seen.
Take Care
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jarrodmcdonald-1
9 years ago
Thanks soffee,
I still need to find the season 4 & season 5 episodes. Looks like I will have to just buy the discs from Amazon. I was hoping Hulu would get around to adding them.
The second appearance by Roche that you mentioned is also very good, but I think the plot is a bit more routine. His first episode was truly spectacular and it's no surprise he was asked back a year later.
I liked the one at the end of season 3 with Susan Sullivan, where we have some guys stealing a painting from a gallery but all is not as it seems. I expected there to be a twist, and again, I liked how the first half of the episode starts one way, then it gradually becomes something else.
The Rosey Grier episode at least had some camp value and was fairly entertaining, if not somewhat ludicrous. The one that took place in Vegas with Vincent Gardenia was obviously a pilot for a spinoff and I could see why IMDb users rated it so low, because Telly and the rest of the main cast are barely in it. Still, the story was not bad-- and I kept expecting Eileen Brennan's character to be a crook, so it was kind of refreshing when she really wasn't in on the scam.
Another favorite one is the episode in season 3 where Neville Brand plays the drug counselor-- 'Sweeter Than Life.' The intervention scenes with him and Kojak's nephew are very powerful. And what happens at the end to Brand's character is uncompromising and riveting to watch.
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