Good episode with some cool guest stars. Rockford Files fans will need no introduction to Gretchen Corbett, who had played the delicious Beth Davenport, Jim's lawyer 'friend.' And Supernatural fans certainly know Mark Pellegrino, who would later portray Satan for years in that series.
The story is a fairly sad one. A teenager who was a drug addict several years ago and has now become a schoolyard dealer accidentally kills his supplier but then makes the huge mistake of stealing his money, which actually belongs to the local drug kingpin. Despite the best efforts of his saintly older brother (Pellegrino. Yes, that's right, the Father of All Evil was actually a cool surfer-type bro in his younger years) things take a turn into the tragic. The end of the episode is especially touching, with Hunter showing a great deal of empathy and being fatherly toward someone in emotional turmoil.
It's true that the last couple of seasons haven't been quite as good as the first few, which are some of my absolute favourite seasons of any police/PI show ever, despite some - how to put it? - laid-back acting. The days of the incredible soundtracks made up of monster rock classics have long gone. There also aren't normally as many well-known (at the time) guest stars. And the levels of violence have noticeably been toned right down. But I can well understand that this is a result of budgetary pressures and anti-TV-violence campaigns. Even without those things, Hunter can still be superior to similar shows.
My major worry is that McCall seems to have been sidelined. She had a bit to do in this episode, but in earlier episodes of the season she was really no more than a bit-part player, turning up briefly at the beginning, in the middle and at the end.
The best aspect of the series for me was always the relationship between the Hunter and McCall, where they were much more equal in solving cases and catching bad guys. It wasn't just a case of The Man and his purely eye-candy partner. It made a very refreshing change. Hopefully, Dryer getting an executive producer credit and the increased power that comes with it hasn't changed that for good. That would be a real shame.
