TWE: The Careerbreaker

[owlcroft]

The Career Breaker

Airdate: Oct. 28, 1985

Taking a vacation, Hardcastle travels down to Canary Creek, California to participate in an annual fishing contest. To Hardcastle's surprise, Tina Cutter, the local sheriff's sixteen year old daughter, accuses him of rape. While transporting the judge to jail, Sheriff Dale Cutler tries to kill him. Thanks to Mark's timely arrival, the sheriff is forced to postpone his assassination. Realizing that the judge is in mortal danger, Mark, posing as a drunk, breaks his friend out of jail. Once free, Hardcastle begins to question why Tina framed him. Recalling an earlier meeting with the sheriff, Hardcastle, who has concluded that Tina's own father set up the false rape, realizes that he had mentioned a plane he came across while fishing. Returning to the fishing site, Hardcastle seeing the sheriff and some of the local residents dismantling the plane, ascertains that the sheriff had discovered a downed drug transport. Following the sheriff, Hardcastle and McCormick watch as the residents try to sell the drugs to a major dealer. With the help of a conveniently located forklift, Hardcastle and McCormick manage to capture the sheriff and the dealers. Later, once the sheriff's plans have been exposed, Hardcastle is cleared of the rape charges.

Guest Cast
Matt Clark as Sheriff Dale Cutler, Benjamin Slack as Dr. Grant Smith, Faith Ford (Murphy Brown) as Tina Cutler, Randall "Tex" Cobb as Dennis "Corky" Conklyn

Writer
Stephen J. Cannell

Director
Kim Manners

(As always, thanks to Howard T. Konig for the synopsis)

[krokkie]

This episode had me in stitches. It is deliciously funny and well written. McCormick posing as that filthy drunk looking like something that had just crawled from the sewers was a real riot. What a silly look he had pasted onto his face! His prison break was brilliant, and who could ever forget the way he hollered buuuuuugs buuugs, running around in the cell like a headless thingyroach? The resulting look on Hardcastle's face was a picture worth a thousand words. This ep showed me that their friendship and mutual understanding of one another had deepened to such an extent that they could work together through this impossible situation like a well oiled machine. The idea that Hardcastle had to resort to committing crimes with his skinny thingy-eyed accomplice in order to prove his innocence was just too good!

[Deleted]

My problem with this episode is that rape is so unpalatable that it makes me uncomfortable every time it's used as a plot device.

Once we get past that McGuffin, there's a lot to like. Mark is at his best while bemoaning that awful description of himself on the news. Though he's such a charming reprobate he thinks being told he's good at lying is a compliment.

And Hardcastle gets to preach adherence to the law while he benefits from Mark's breaking it. Great stuff!

Love the part where Milt pulls a gun in the bar. Love the part where Mark steals the motorcycle.

[Coyote X]

This is definitely in my list of top 5 episodes. We get to see Mark use his unique talents, which included the whole jailbreak scene (Book 'em, Danno), stealing various types of vehicles, and assuming the role of the FAA inspector. While all of this was funny, it was done for one serious reason - to keep Hardcastle out of jail and alive. Hardcastle , although a little reluctantly, goes along with all of Mark's schemes, because he trusts him. That's at the core of the episode. Milt trusts Mark, and Mark never even thinks for a moment that the Judge might actually be guilty of the charges.

One of my favorite parts takes place while they are taking a break and talking. Of course, Mark is eating , too. The Judge says that he would love to talk to Shaun Edwards about the plane crash. Mark holds out the phone he had taken from the convenience store, and tells him (with a wonderful deadpan delivery) to give Edwards a call.

Stephen Cannell wrote a terrific script, and I think that his was one of DHK's best performances in the whole series.

Barbara

[thejman]

"What are you in for, Pops? Growin' old in public?"
Cannell is a hoot.

[owlcroft]

I loved the way they played his lines, too. The director and actors all had a good idea of what was wanted in those scenes.