episode #42 - Target in the Sky

episode #7 of 3rd season / Air Date: 10/26/75   written by Larry Alexander    Directed by Jerry London

Steve Austin enters timberland country in this one, getting himself hired on to a logging operation which is experiencing money problems, run by a tough-minded gal (Barbara Rhodes) and a hostile foreman (the reliably nasty Denny Miller, big and threatening here). However, Austin is not there about inner-company issues; he's looking into a missing (presumed dead) agent and missing missiles.  That's right - missiles! That's why the title - someone is probably planning to fire those missiles at an important target flying overhead.
This one is a bit offbeat, with Austin having to prove himself as a lumberjack and appearing unshaven for the episode. The use of his bionic powers becomes trivial and flippant in nature, mostly his cutting down trees and spinning logs in the water. Like the previous The Deadly Test, there's a good use of stock footage, such as when a huge log is sent crashing down towards the hero. Meanwhile, Oscar (Richard Anderson) is investigating at the nearby missile system installation and concludes that, again, an inside man is the probable culprit, not realizing that he is doing all his talking to the villain.   A pretty good action finale. BoG's Score: 6 out of 10

Bionic Trivia: former footballer and villain in Tarzan movies Rafer Johnson has a small role here as one of the lumberjacks. The stock footage is from the 1971 film Sometimes  A Great Notion, which had lots of footage shot up north in Oregon, in real lumberjack country.