episode #02 - Angel of Mercy

episode #2 of 1st season / Air Date: 1/28/76 written by James D. Parriott Directed by Alan J. Levi

This episode actually marks Jaime's 1st solo assignment; the previous ones were with Steve Austin tagging along and for the last one, in Welcome Home, Jaime Part 2, the bad guy forced the issue by coming after Jaime. Here, Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson) makes the difficult call of requesting Jaime's help for a rescue mission. Here we see the stark contrast between how Oscar approaches Jaime for something like this and how he addresses Austin. With Jaime, Oscar feels guilty and is nervous about asking her; it almost seems like he hopes she declines. The mission is simple: a U.S. ambassador (James Karen) and his wife are trapped in a small Latin American country which is in a civil war; Jaime has to get them out. Jaime's cover is as a military nurse, though she knows nothing of that profession. Accompanying her is a crack helicopter pilot, played as a wiseguy by Andy Griffith.
Probably the most glaring contrast between this show and The Six Million Dollar Man is then how Oscar sees Jaime off - he kisses her goodbye, much to the chagrin of Griffith's character, who thinks that sending in a female into such territory is nuts. Very quickly, the two are on foot, chased by the local military. Jaime's bionic strength is used in several different ways - against snakes (we find out that she hates snakes), lifting debris and unbending some landing gear. Following a pattern in The Six Million Dollar Man, persons who have no business knowing about her abilities get an eyeful. This was also similar to the episode Little Orphan Airplane, from the 1st season of TSMDM, in which Austin had to repair an airplane to get out of hostile country. Jaime comes across like this pretty young woman, so her feats are more startling than Steve Austin's, who looks like a macho tough guy. Of course, though this was supposed to take place in some steaming jungle, it looks like California BoG's Score: 6 out of 10