TWE: Something's Going On On This Train

[owlcroft]

Airdate: Oct. 14, 1985

Although Hardcastle is initially pleased to be invited to a party on a private train, his emotion changes to anger when he discovers that he has been lured onto the train under false pretenses. His ire is further raised upon discovering that the train is not scheduled to stop for another day. One small consolation: Mark, accidentally trapped on board the train, is around to help him find out what is going on with the trip. The mystery takes a deadly turn when one of the passengers is murdered. Although the unknown murderer temporarily manages to get rid of Mark by throwing him off the train, the ex-race car driver, who is unable to identify his assailant, pools his resources and returns to the train down the track. Another murder prompts Hardcastle to set a trap for the killer. While Hardcastle pretends to be a victim, Mark purposely lets slip that the judge had obtained evidence against the killer. Taking the bait, passenger Carl Sharples tries to search Hardcastle's "body". Exposed as the killer, Carl reveals that he has been eliminating the people (strict teacher, ex-girlfriend, army commander, high school coach, that he selfishly believes "ruined" his life. With Mark's help, Hardcastle stops Carl before he can hurt anyone else.

Guest Cast
Eugene Roche as Joe Murphy, Joseph Hacker as Carl Sharples/Charlie Carlson, P.J. Soles as Ellen Styner, Nancy Parsons as Elizabeth Foster

Writer
Lawrence Hertzog

Director
Tony Mordente

[Deleted]

Another 3rd season ep I really like. The guest stars are fun without being intrusive, and of all Mark's con jobs pulled on unsuspecting folks, by favourite is this one with the biker gang. He just pulls it off so splendidly.

They also did a pretty good job of making me believe that people could really be trapped on a train. Nicely done.

Bloopers: After walking for who-knows-how-long on the tracks as the train roars off into the distance, how could Mark ever catch up to it on a motorcycle?

Charlie, the baddie, has everybody at gun point, but when the coach tackles him, he runs. All he has to do is point that pistol back at 'em, and he's back in business. What a loser!

[Voyager Tip]

Another kind of blooper was when Hardcastle "dies" and doesn't have a shirt on, then he gets moved to the back car... a pretty difficult feat considering how big a guy he is (they could've left him there).... and then he is suddenly dressed when he is back there. Hard to believe.
But, I've got to say that one of my favorite parts of this episode is when the steward and the girl end up together at the end. I love it when the "unpopular" people or the "least likely to get noticed" people, get the girl (or guy). It's why I liked Kathy in the Girl from Accounting too. It's quirky, but so is life. And the beautiful people aren't always nice or smart!

[Coyote X]

I loved this episode. The guest stars were all excellent. There were some nice unusual plot twists, including Ellen ending up with the steward. And poor Elizabeth, the math teacher. She had that very touching scene when she is holding Milt's jacket, but then she gets murdered!

One of my all-time favorite scenes in H&McC takes place when Mark is walking along the tracks. His monologue about being a regular guy and going to Lumber World is wonderful.

Barbara

[krokkie]

This ep reminds me a little bit of that old classic The Cassandra Crossing. I was a little kid watching that with bug eyes glued to the set. Weird things were going on there, too. And of course that goofball Mccormick would get himself locked up in a toilet of all things. In this ep he just can't stay out of trouble. I wonder how he managed to get away from the biker gangstas as well of that angry mob of cops chasing him. There was this element of suspense here that lead to whodunit.

[Deleted]

Another kind of blooper was when Hardcastle "dies" and doesn't have a shirt on, then he gets moved to the back car... a pretty difficult feat considering how big a guy he is (they could've left him there).... and then he is suddenly dressed when he is back there. Hard to believe.

Agreed; can you just see Milt trying to pull off the corpse routine as he's being carried out? It would take multiple people to do it, no question.

My favourite line is when the coach says he's sorry that loser (I forget the character's name) died first, because he would've been the top murder suspect.

[owlcroft]

I love this episode for two reasons. One, it's the first one I ever saw. Two, it's excellent. It's got drama, humor, great acting -- I don't think there's a single thing wrong with it. The coach was hilarious. "And I was looking forward to dessert" cracks me up every time. Third season had some terrific episodes and this was definitely one.