episode #10 - The Last of the Fourth of Julys

Air Date: 4/5/74 written by Richard Landau Directed by Reza Badiyi

This was pure James Bond knock-off > Austin is sent on a special mission reminiscient of his very first in the pilot, only instead of parachuting in via airplane, he's torpedoed in via submarine. The target is quasi-Bond villain Quail (Steve Forrest, complete with goatee to suggest the sinister) and his island base. Quail also has a small group of close confederates, including Kevin Tighe (Emergency! series) as a whiz-guy-gone-bad. Quail plans to use a super-duper laser, bouncing the beam off a satellite to set off explosives halfway around the globe.

This was a fairly exciting bionic / secret agent adventure and slightly unusual in that Austin, despite his abilities, had to undergo special training before the mission (under a strict military sgt. played by Tom Reese). There was a strange denouement, a mention that not all bodies (including Quail's) were found at the end, suggesting that Quail was a good-enuff villain to return, but since Quail was right next to the first explosions and the entire island blew up, I myself understand why he never turned up again. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10

Star Trek TOS actor alert:
Arlene Martel played the femme fatale in this one; she also played a Vulcan, Spock's almost-wife, in Amok Time