episode #85 - Killer Wind

episode #6 of 5th season / Air Date: 10/16/77    written by Gregory S. Dinallo  directed by Richard Moder

It's a windy day for Steve Austin and Rudy Wells - they're in a single-engine airplane and are forced to land in a desert terrain by high winds (later, we find out that it's actually tornado season).  Wells manages to break his ankle stepping out of the plane and the remainder of the episode chronicles their trials & tribulations in bad weather along with a myriad collection of local citizens. Three of these citizens are actually bank robbers (led by Adam Roarke); they're on the run with about $200 grand of stolen loot in a van which has stalled in the blowing sands.  Austin easily pushes the van free and uses it to get Wells to a local female doctor whose bedside manner is questionable. Of course, Austin doesn't know yet that his new sidekick (Roarke) is a criminal. Meanwhile, a local teacher and a few kids have picked the wrong day to go on a picnic - they get stuck in a broken air tram. Austin eventually has to deal with the crooks and then rescue the stranded group.

This is an episode of standard tension and adventure, but it also shows how a certain sloppiness has set in by this time (the last season), in terms of both writing and direction. Rudy's injury come across as terribly contrived in order to drive the plot - he steps out of that small airplane and suddenly sustains a broken ankle; these things do happen but even Austin seems surprised by the unlikelihood of such an event (he figured a sprain, yes, but to break it?). That young teacher and her kids seem to be taken by surprise by the extreme weather but it's later established that there would have been tornado warnings earlier that day; in fact, the story has trouble making up its mind as to whether it's simply high winds or tornadoes which beset this area (there's stock footage of an actual tornado and actual damage - probable news footage of a recent event from those years). The one big action scene near the end when Austin finally faces off against the 3 bad guys is simply silly - Austin does one of his high jumps and doesn't even need to punch out anyone: the 3 guys collide so perfectly that they knock themselves out. BoG's Score: 5.5 out of 10