Starsky learns that his visiting little brother Nick might be involved with counterfeiter and drug dealer Stryker.
Nick Starsky: John Herzfeld, Frank Stryker: Antony Ponzini, Victor: John O’Leary, Al: Nicholas Worth, Jake: Eddie Fontaine, Weldon: Stanley Grover, Mrs. Krupp: Joan Shawlee, Bronson: David Moses, Marlene: Elizabeth Brooks, Katie: Liberty Godshall, Carol: Linda Lawrence. Written By: Ralph Wallace Davenport and Robert Earll, Directed By: Arthur Marks.
QUESTIONS AND NOTES:
It’s a pet peeve of many viewers when surprising modifications or additions are made to characters midway through a series and the audience is expected to accept these changes as a given. Starsky has never ever mentioned having siblings and here comes Nick, younger brother, to change the biography. This could have gone wrong but it doesn’t, partially because the emphasis of the series is on the urgent present without much reflection on the heavy baggage of the past, and partially because John Herzfeld gives a truly wonderful and nuanced performance here and it is to his credit that we come to accept him as a Starsky sibling without too much difficulty. He was carefully chosen to play this difficult role, some say by Glaser himself after he saw Herzfeld in a play with the possibility of replacing Glaser if Starsky was killed off in the last episode. Nick was to reform and become a cop, but that was scrapped, as was the plan to have Roz Kelly join the cast as Detective Linda Baylor (“Fatal Charm”).
Hutch is interrogating Mrs. Krupp, accused of beating her husband with a baseball bat. Of course this is played for laughs even though it isn’t remotely amusing, especially when she mentions her husband is small and frail. Mrs. Krupp also has the bat itself in her hands during the interrogation, an egregious procedural no-no. When the other officer calls Hutch away, he asks her to charge Mrs. Krupp with “first-degree husband beating” and she says, “there’s no such charge!” This is a confusing exchange, as we never know whether Hutch really intends to charge Mrs. Krupp or if he’s merely intending to scare her with a phony indictment.
Short Memories: Dobey is seen eating out of a can of chilli. Hasn’t he learned anything from Hutch’s near-fatal experience in “The Game”? Next, Starsky is picking someone up from the airport and getting ticketed for illegal parking. Hasn’t he learned anything from “The Plague”?
Nice staging as we see only the back of a curly-haired guy in a brown leather jacket trying to pick up a pretty girl. We are intended to think “Starsky” and we do. Then the shot turns to the real deal standing a few steps behind. And first impressions don’t mean everything: Nick looks quite a lot like his brother but lacks that magic recipe, that amalgamation of elements, some natural and some supernatural, that make up David Starsky (sorry John).
Starsky, with awe-inspiring ease, picks up the girl right from his brother, and to top off this display of chutzpah he uses the pitfalls of his own profession to change her allegiances from brother to brother. She stares at Starsky, mesmerized, and agrees to meet with him that night at a nightclub. Nick is good-natured about this but one wonders if this thrilling display of alpha maleness is just another log on Nick’s bonfire of jealousy. Nick then says to Starsky, “Two years and you’re still trying.” Starsky smirks, “Who’s trying?” At this point Starsky hasn’t seen Nick for four years, so this remark is interesting. What happened two years ago that Nick and Starsky remember?
Nick is very well drawn by writers Ralph Davenport and Robert Earll. Throughout, he is nervous and placating, displaying an exaggerated self-confidence to his brother that withers away to nothing when on his own. He is both ambitious and lazy, vain and insecure. There are similarities between the Starskys: Nick can also be energetic, likeable and quick on his feet. But, in the classic dilemma of someone trying (largely unconsciously) to live up to an older, more powerful and more successful brother, he is missing some essential ingredients, and one of the most important is the internal calm that comes from moral and ethical maturity. Without these this Nick will always suffer from insincerity and lack of impulse control. (And what do you suppose happens to him when he returns to the east coast? Yes, he performed a selfless act, assisting his brother and possibly averting a crime, but how deep does this altruism go? I’m guessing it evaporates as he leans back in business class and looks out the window at the clouds, his mind wandering to unsettled scores and unclaimed money back home.)
Marlene really delivers when she arrives with her gorgeous friends. However, she changes her allegiance with Starsky with startling alacrity the moment she sees Hutch. Starsky, to whom this whole thing was a joke to begin with, couldn’t care less.
Of course Starsky and his brother end up dancing more with each other – actually ending up in each other’s arms – than the girls they were supposed to be with. This is entirely consistent with the theme of the series, that women are merely peripheral to the action and that the real story are male relationships (which, given the current preoccupation with the competitive complexities of female friendships, makes a welcome change). Also, the intensity of the physical affection the two show each other seems out of proportion with the emotional distance of their actual relationship. I can think of three reasons for all this hugging and grabbing: pansexual dynamism, a learned family trait, and – most likely – a diversionary tactic meant to hide the fact they fundamentally dislike each another.
Coming back drunk from the disco, Nick is singing the Beatles’ classic “I’m a Loser”, with its disturbing words disguised by cheery upbeat music (I am always in awe of this fact, as licensing Beatles material must be extremely difficult, legally). The song is so much like Nick himself, deeply unhappy despite his aggressively upbeat appearance. By singing this song Nick is, consciously or unconsciously, trying to tell his brother something, and Starsky really should be listening to what he’s saying. I think any time someone from your past strides forcefully into your present there is something important going on. Starsky does notice Nick’s expensive new suit, however, and he also comments on Nick picking up the tab for the evening. And yet he outwardly shows no curiosity about where the money is coming from or why Nick is dressed in such expensive clothes or why he has made this trip. I have a sneaking suspicion Nick’s drug dealing – and drug use generally – has been well-known by Starsky for years and perhaps in the back of his mind he is pretty sure where the money is coming from and maybe why Nick is in California and just doesn’t feel like dealing with it. They may have had bitter, even violent fights about it in the past and Starsky is too wary of wrecking this fragile détente they have going to ask too many questions. It’s obvious there is nothing he can do about it anyway, as Nick is a headstrong stubborn sort of guy in no mood to be on the receiving end of brotherly advice, especially at two in the morning, but we also get an unwelcome glimpse into Starsky’s passivity and disinclination to rock the boat, especially if it’s a two-man dinghy and he’s the passenger; later, in “Starsky Vs. Hutch” we’ll see this again with even more devastating results.
Nick asks Starsky why he works so hard in such a dangerous job and for little material gain. “Tell it to me straight,” he says, “don’t you ever get tired of it? Don’t you ever get sick of it?” For all his scheming and prevarication, Nick comes right out and asks the question. He asks it twice. “What for? What for?” There is a little silence as the two stare at each other. Nick breaks it, saying (in disgust) it’s no point in asking. It’s a strange moment that leaves us wondering. Why does Nick interrupt what could have been an honest conversation? He may not want to know the answer, suspecting it would be something he didn’t want to hear, or his disgust could reveal a decades-old communication problem between them, much in the same way Starsky earlier ignored Nick’s suspicious largess.
And was Starsky going to answer? If not, what was stopping him?
What does Starsky reach up and grab on the door frame to his bedroom while talking to Nick? It looks like a dried leaf from some kind of arrangement.
Agent Weldon says pointedly to Starsky, “Maybe there ought to be a law about people like us having families.” Is he referring to Agent Bronson’s lack of children? Starsky’s brother? Or is he possibly thinking of his own children, and the fear of leaving them behind?
In “Velvet Jungle”, Hutch mentions Starsky being “back east” three years ago as they devise the barrio bar plan. Here Hutch mentions Starsky hasn’t seen Nick in four years when Nick comes to visit, two years later. It’s possible these two mentions are the same visit. This would match up to when Starsky had his first case out of uniform. But it is also entirely possible that when Starsky went back east it didn’t include seeing Nick. Nick and Starsky make a point of saying they haven’t seen each other in four years. A season earlier, Hutch mentions Starsky being on the East Coast a “few years” ago. This must be the same trip, as the times match.
Hutch, who has been exhibiting a great lack of restraint so far, finally has enough and asks Starsky, “He’s calling out to you … what’s he trying so hard to make you find out?” Typical Hutch, he is psychologically incisive, asking Starsky to look at things logically. But is Hutch correct when he says Nick wants his brother to understand his situation? Do you think Nick would tell the truth if Starsky asked him?
It’s great when Starsky has had enough of Nick’s facile hey-how-ya-doin’ act. When Nick gives him the exaggerated brush-off at the Pits Starsky gives us a frustrated head-shake that is only partially comic.
Throughout the series, Starsky is consistently portrayed as being an honorable man, loyal friend and conscientious officer. However, Nick accuses him more than once as being a negligent and uncaring brother. In the “The Set-Up” it’s suggested the Starsky family was either protected by or bought off by the mob following the murder of his father. So, deprived of the influence of both father and brother, and surrounded by the temptations of easy money, Nick fell into the influence of the criminal life. But is Nick’s accounting to be taken at face value, or could there be more to the story than we hear? Nick may have pushed his brother away, or alienated him in some profoundly hurtful way. It’s also possible Starsky did turn his back on his family when they needed him, and if this is the case should it alter our impression of him as an exemplary human being? I think not, as I reflect on how many people have a jokey, competitive relationship with family members while choosing, either through tact or fear, to ignore troubling symptoms.
Huggy explains his first name to Nick, “Huggy’s the name and my game is the same. The ladies they love me ‘cause they all want to hug me.” There is never any sign of women expressing affection for Huggy, so can this really be true? And if it is, what do you suppose the “Bear” part means? Hugging a bear is a very, very bad idea, which means Huggy is the stuffed kind.
It’s interesting to watch Nick’s indifference to Huggy’s considerable charms, both before and after Starsky and Hutch’s arrival (unlike his sycophantic reaction to Dobey, whom he calls “sir”). To Nick Huggy seems like a pesky mosquito, swatted away or ignored. He merely bangs the table and demands drinks, calling Huggy a dismissive “garçon”. It could be nervousness or callousness, but either way it isn’t very nice.
Hutch tells Nick Starsky, “I don’t care what happens to you. I care what happens to your brother.” Did Starsky overhear this part at the door? If he did, would this be embarrassing, maddening, or would it merely confirm what they both already know?
Starsky shows up, Hutch leaves. Nick says yeah yeah yeah, he pushed a little weed while here in LA, as if it’s a foregone conclusion Starsky already knows and is getting ready to bust his chops. But how would Starsky learn this information? The only two people who know are Huggy – determined to keep it a secret – and Hutch, who doesn’t have time to tell him. So Starsky must have had to lean on Huggy pretty hard, unless he has other sources.
Right after the argument with Starsky, Nick accepts a dangerous job from Stryker. He said he only provided goods to the needy and soft recreational drugs to the hippie crowd but now he’s playing in the big leagues. Nick is therefore going into this not because of material gain but because of a passionate desire to prove himself worthy to his brother in some perverse way. A big F-You, basically. Which is immature, as well as stupid.
Two arch villains named Stryker seems a little confusing: here and “Snowstorm”. Gilbert Green who played the earlier Stryker also played uber-villain Frank Tallman in the pilot. Along with a lot of naughty gals named Lola and a lot of good girls named Molly, there is a sense the writers had a limited supply of names to choose from.
The first thing Stryker says to Nick, “I like your jacket.” The last thing Stryker says about Nick is to tell his thug to keep it nice after killing him; Stryker wants to give it to his one of his nephews. What, he can’t afford his own jackets?
Nick admits to selling weed to Hutch, and then to Starsky, separately. Starsky is angry, it seems, not because Nick is pushing “a couple of kilos of weed,” (kilos? Doesn’t that seem like a lot?) but because the “harm is you lied to me … and I don’t know what else you might be turning.” This seems to be quite different from the way Hutch understands Nick’s dealing. Starsky sees the bigger picture, while Hutch is facing the immediate problem.
Nick isn’t especially intelligent. Case in point, when confronted by Starsky he says, “Are you working for the Abolitionists or what?” Abolitionism was all about the ending of slavery. What Nick means is Prohibition, and even that is incorrect, as Prohibition attempted to wipe out the use of alcohol, not marijuana, but Nick is probably making a generalized statement about intoxication.
Tag: Huggy is so very not-sober in the tag, jumping all over the place and blabbing excitedly. And if Nick is such a good pool player, why did he lose the first game? Or is that part of the hustle? Starsky must be in touch enough with Nick to know he is “another Will Mosconi,” or perhaps some things never change over time. There is another revenge of the lefties joke (“Captain Dobey, You’re Dead”). Speculate on the secret relief both Starsky and Hutch feel when it’s time to drive Nick to the airport.
Clothing notes. Starsky does not wear his Adidas. He looks great in his disco outfit. Nick, on the other hand, in a brand new suit we are supposed to admire, looks like a junior gangster. Every time Hutch wears a Hawaiian shirt one suspects he is wearing the back brace underneath it. Hutch continues to wear the extraordinary tusk object around his neck as well as a blue ring. Both brothers wear identical outfits – dark pants, bright orange shirts – during the majority of their time together.