A man named CJ Jackson escapes from Santa Clara Penitentiary when a robotic radio gasses the warden and opens Jackson's cell. Furthermore, an automated car drives Jackson away from the prison. In San Fransisco, a cook named Peter Wong is fired when he supposedly poisons a dish, though another robotic radio was the actual culprit. Wong is driven to the same location as Jackson - the home of Margot Sheridan. Margot is working with a professor named David Holston, a genius in robotics, and needs Jackson's expertise in safe cracking and Wong's expertise in security cracking to perpetrate their master crime - the theft of millions from San Fransisco Federal Reserve Bank. Margot's hired muscle has obtained old Chinese maps of tunnels underground San Fransisco, and Holston has designed a missile system for his automated car. Devon tells Michael that Jackson is of special interest to the Foundation - he killed Ken Franklin, the man who was to be appointed as an operative before he was killed by Jackson years earlier. His replacement was Michael. With these facts, and some computer chips taken from one of the automated cars, Michael visits an old friend - Bonnie Barstow, who has been studying at Santa clara University for a year. Holston turns out to be Bonnie's professor, and when he leaves the room, the chips dissolve the same wasy the robotic radios did at the prison and the kitchen earlier. Wong returns to his apartment to retrieve his tools and Michael follows. Wong escapes, but KITT gets his license plate number and traces it back to Margot's house. Michael questions her and finds Holston there, but is quickly ushered out before he can learn anything more.
THOUGHTS: -Good setup for Part 2, hopefully Part 2 will be worth it.
-It's great to see Bonnie again!
-I do miss April though.
-Fun stuff as former football player Jim Brown (CJ Jackson in the episode) reads the sports pages as Wong is introduced to the group.
-Those clever creators used KITT's season 2 dash during the main title sequence for this episode. Starting with the next episode ("The Ice Bandits), KITT's new dash is used.
-The last shot of the episode features KITT on a San Fransisco bridge, not the usual purple haze outtro. Not really a nit, just a note.
New feature on KITT: +Passive Laser Restraint System
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Go back to the zoo where you belong." -KITT's translation to Phong's "Egg Roll Boys."
NITS: -Okay, Bonnie was at Santa Clara University throughout season 2, but what has happened to April since season 2 ended?
-So a strange woman gives the warden a radio and he uses it inside a prison?
-It looks like the first radio is made of cardboard as it dissolves but then suddenly it's just a pile of goo.
-KITT doesn't scan that there is no one inside the red automated car.
-Right after Michael has to stop KITT to avoid hitting the cable car, KITT's "normal cruise" indicator light turns off for no reason.