episode #48 - Clark Templeton O'Flaherty

episode #13 of 3rd season / Air Date: 12/14/75 written by Frank Dandridge, Dennis Pryor Directed by Phil Bondelli

Someone is stealing top secret documents from OSI. It turns out to be the cheerful maintenance man, O'Flaherty (Lou Gossett, Jr.), with whom Austin plays handball - but is he really a maintenance man? O'Flaherty claims that he works for the O.G.A. -- the O.G.A.? What the hell is that? is what Austin wants to know. It sounds like O'Flaherty is just spinning tales, but Oscar confirms that such a top secret government agency does exist. O'Flaherty says he's after the top dog of the theft ring; however, Oscar then finds out from the head of O.G.A. that O'Flaherty's tactics of stealing documents are unauthorized - so is O'Flaherty a double agent..?
This episode keeps you guessing as to the true motives and i.d. of O'Flaherty and that's its strength; a new revelation or disclosure pops up every 5 minutes or so, keeping the intrigue high. It's not much of a bionic adventure, however, coming across like some standard crime show centered on Washington D.C. There's a final revelation of who the top dog really is. Gossett is engaging and the epilogue hinted that we hadn't seen the last of him - but we never saw him again. Also, no mention of the OGA ever again. BoG's Score: 5.5 out of 10