Jonathan Dutton has recently given control of his once-failing logging industry to his daughter, Samantha ("Sam"). At a party to celebrate the third-straight quarter of record profits for the company, a man enters and wreaks havok with his chainsaw. The man's name is Eric Whitby, and when Eric is bailed out by his sister, Devon asks Michael to investigate the incident further. Eric and his sister have inherited the surrounding area since their parents died, and Eric claims that Dutton's company has been cutting wood illegally in restricted areas in order to undercut whatever prices they pay for surplus from the local loggers. Michael meets with supervisor Terry Nash at Dutton's company, and finding him uncooperative, leaves. Nash has one of his lumber trucks chase after Michael, but Michael is able to dodge KITT out of the way just in time. Returning to the company, Michael finds evidence that the newest trees do not come from the designated cutters but from a nearby federal park. Michael has KITT take pictures once they get to the site as proof that Nash is forging the lumber tickets. Unfortunately, Michael and KITT are trapped by Nash in a logslide, but after some jostling and a turbo boost, they escape. Michael approaches the Duttons and Devon with the evidence, and the Duttons seem surprised by the news. In fact, Sam has been behind the illegal activities all along - she believes her father pushed her too hard to be a success and she had no choice but to resort to the illegal logging. Michael goes to visit Eric and his sister, but Sam has Nash and a group of workers torch the Whitby home. Michael gets them out, and soon gives chase. Eric and his sister stop some of the workers and Michael stops Nash. Michael chases Sam back to her house, where she eventually gives herself up. Jonathan Dutton will cover the losses suffered by the Whitby family.
THOUGHTS: -Pretty good episode. Felt a lot like season 2.
-Fun stuff with KITT's malfunctioning voice modulator talking like a Bronx cabbie!
New features on KITT: +Hydraulic lift +Rapid Cycle (used with the lift). ...I tell ya, KITT must have a lot more buttons that I thought!
FAVORITE QUOTE: "I won't tease you about your New York accent if you don't tease me about my serious cowboy hat." -Michael to KITT
NITS: -The first shot of KITT's turbo boost through the logslide is the old (season 2) stock shot from underneath KITT, showing the blue sky (where there should actually still be a bunch of logs).
-KITT flies out of the logslide and one shot shows him coming down at a near 45-degree angle, but the very next shot shown him landing pretty straight.