On his way to a mission, Michael meets an army lieuteneant named Robin Ladd whose car died on the road. After driving Ladd to the military base, Michael and Robin learn that Ernest Ladd (Robin's father) has died after losing control of his jeep. After some investigating, Michael and Robin deduce that Ladd was murdered. Something strange was that his hands apparently had blue paint on them. Working in a communications building, Robin eventually intercepts a message concerning the amount of missiles sent to the base. After bringing this information to the base commander, Robin is taken away and put into a tank on a missile testing range. At the same time, Michael finds out that several nuclear warheads have been repainted with blue stripes, to look like simple armor-piercing missiles. After stopping the illegal shipment of the missiles, Michael heads out to the testing range and alerts General Ducton, but Ducton actually tells his men to fire on KITT. Navigating the range, Michael and KITT save Robin and eventually capture the general and stop the smuggling ring once and for all.
THOUGHTS: -Exciting episode! I liked the interplay between Michael and KITT at the beginning with the video game. Fun interplay between Michael and Devon throughout the episode. I also liked when the catering truck got blown up...the expression on the guy's face was hilarious. KITT navigating the range. Finally, the "Go Army" sticker on KITT's bumper at the end.
-First episode with mention of the Foundation for Law and Government (FLAG). First episode with the "home office," which will eventually be the FLAG mobile unit. Also the first episode with Bonnie Barstow.
-The opening title sequence now includes sound effects and the unedited version of the theme song.
-New features on KITT: +Radar System +Rocket Booster (rear flame thrower)
-Unlike the previous episode, KITT's red scanner light is now on only during auto-cruise or when scanning (or...when it looks cool).
-Star Trek Actress Watch: Patricia McPherson (as Bonnie Barstow) played mistress Ariel in "Angel One" (TNG).
-Star Trek Actor Watch: Alan Oppenheimer (as Louis) has played many roles in ST, including Captain Keogh in "The Jem'Hadar" (DS9), Koroth in "Rightful Heir" (TNG) and Nezu in "Rise" (VOY).
FAVORITE QUOTE: (Devon is agitated because Michael didn't report in to tell him he had to delay the original FLAG mission) Michael: "Devon, some people tried to kill me last night." Devon: "I have an alibi."
NITS: -Robin doesn't wear her seatbelt when Michael drives her to the base in KITT.
-What exactly does KITT's "alpha circuit" do anyway?
-Robin doesn't seem to struggle much when the military guy puts her in the tank!
-When KITT blocks off the two army guys at the munitions building, the shot of KITT turning and stopping shows that KITT is at least 5 or 6 feet away from the wall, yet in the next shot KITT has the two men boxed in very close to the wall.
-The shots of the army guys firing the mortars come from old stock footage, probably from an old war movie.
-Does it really make sense that the military guys could just paint a blue stripe over the yellow stripe and everyone else would think the missiles were just regular missiles rather than nukes? And shouldn't nukes be bigger and have a different shape?