Airwolf

'One Way Express' is a really good first season instalment of 'Airwolf'. It's not one of my outstanding favourites of the entire show's run, but on its own merit, it's a good 'un.



As another reviewer has commented, the real hook of this episode is not really the enemy chopper – it is just a standard Bell that is defeated easily; the real draw is to see Hawke and Dominic's strong friendship tested. Although Dom could sometimes be grouchy and Hawke nearly always broody, this is the only real time the pair fall out in the entire show's run.



There is some nice dialogue in this one, particularly from Archangel – I liked his quip about getting "an ice cream truck ... with one headlight", and his comment to his assistant about Hawke isn't really a friend, they just "use each other".



And of course, Ernest Borgnine comes into his own, with some really dramatic scenes to get his teeth into. After playing the light-hearted element of the majority of stories, it is good to see him given something more serious here.

There seems to be a big deal about Hawke trusting Dom to fly Airwolf – although it might not be as obvious to those who have already seen later episodes, where Dom, and Caitlin, fly Airwolf themselves regularly (and in the terrible fourth season, just about everyone and their aunt could fly it!), but this is the first time since it was prized from Moffet's clutches that anyone other than Hawke has flown the Lady. (Though Hawke did fly her for a short distance in 'Daddy's Gone a Hunt'n', something that seems to be overlooked in this story).



This is a very good episode of the series. It's not one of my all-time favourites – it somehow seems a little "empty" compared with some of the other first season greats, and, after you've seen it once, doesn't for me have as much re-watchable value; but it's still a decent episode in its own right. I give it a reasonable 8 out of 10.

On this episode they don't find too much trouble to beat the enemy helicopter. The real value of this episode is that you see String against Dominic, since String is truly worry about Dominic's safety and Dominic is too stubborn to admit that he may be too old for certain stunt tricks. One of the best moments is when Dominic hit String and String didn't return the punch since he would never dare to hit Dominic, he cares too much for him.