Airwolf

A great way to open up season 2 and towards a new direction of "domesticating" the show to appeal to a larger "family" audience. This is one of the few episodes to be written by Donald Bellisario himself, which made it a treat, but also the introduction of sassy Caitlin O'Shaughnessy made it a hoot to watch.



No evil planes or helicopters to shoot down. No sir. Instead it's a mean ol' feller of a county sheriff that Airwolf guns down in the end….not to mention one last blast of the cannon to boot. This was a refreshing change to the melodramatic spy and espionage story lines of the first season. Sheriff Bogan was an excellent foil for Hawke. A man of his stature upholding the law for his own personal gain or ego makes him just as evil as any international spy or terrorist.



But the real gem to the episode was Caitlin. Introduced as a romantic interest for Hawke, she was played brilliantly by Jean Bruce Scott. A sassy no-nonsense "flying meter maid", she was not to be backed down by Sheriff Bogan in any way. Hawke does rescue her twice in the episode however, but she does show that she has some 'fighting' in her. "You try anything cowboy, and I'm gonna make what he did to you look like love taps."

Fairly routine plot that has been done before on other shows and movies. Hawke is sent to investigate the whereabouts of a friend and then runs in to the local sheriff. The sheriff basically puts him in jail for nosing around. Hawke then has to depend on Dominic to use the Airwolf to bail him out of prison.



When Caitlin herself is in danger, Hawke goes back to rescue her. Like I said very much an unoriginal plot but we do get to see this Caitlin (who comes out later) to be sort of a romantic love interest for Hawke. The action is ok but largely happens in the beginning and end. Still if you're a fan of the series you'll love this episode too.