The Six Million Dollar Man: Steve Austin, Fugitive

episode number: season 2, episode 22 (1975)
viewing setting: home DVD, 2/26/11

episode synopsis: Steve is framed for murder (and thus set up to be hunted by the police) by an old enemy.

impressions: Pretty good. The bad guy uses his brains to set Steve up, and Steve must in turn use his brains to solve the mystery and clear his name. There needs to be some way for Steve to call Oscar when he gets in these complicated situations, so that Oscar can call the police chief (or whoever) and issue a command something like "I do high-level, top-secret work for this country, and by the authority of the President of the United States, you need to quit hampering Steve." Just saying.

notable guest star: Veteran TV and movie actor Gary Lockwood (who was the superpowered crew member in the early Star Trek episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey) is the old enemy who's back for revenge. Reb Brown (who played Captain America in the unsuccessful late-1970s TV pilot of that show, and also had roles in the movies Uncommon Valor and Cage) has a very brief role as a young cop here. Jennifer Darling makes her debut in this episode as the new secretary, Callahan - and she's actually quite useful in helping Steve.

significant bionic antics: Steve spots the enemy, breaks handcuffs, kicks out a police car door, leaps up to and later across rooftops, hands on a window ledge by his hand, breaks through a barred door, upends a bulldozer, and knocks someone out with one punch.

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