The Six Million Dollar Man: The Thunderbird Connection


episode number: season 4, episode 10 (1976)
viewing setting: home DVD, 7/9/12

episode synopsis: Steve poses as one of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird pilots in order to rescue a young Middle Eastern prince.

impressions: This double-length episode's real purpose was to showcase the Thunderbirds. Aside from all that fancy flying, this episode was like a spy movie, with multiple agendas and a double-cross. Steve really uses his head here; he notices little details about rifles and uses this knowledge later, and also strikes out in two directions at once to disarm two bad guys. And he goes back to rescue a rebel leader who's slated for execution. Plus there's a fairly thrilling final segment involving a dizzy Steve trying to deal with problems in a plane. This episode had all of the little things.

notable guest stars: Robert Loggia is the head bad guy. Two-time Bond movie guest-star Martine Beswick is one of the rebels.

significant bionic antics: Steve lifts a car off the ground, hurls a pillow as a non-lethal missile, jumps off of a high balcony, jumps up onto another high balcony, breaks open a cell door, snaps ropes, uproots a small tree and uses it as a weapon, disables a truck by kicking the tires flat and ripping out the radio, sprints from the middle of nowhere to the airfield, disables some jail guards, later disarms two other guards simultaneously, punches a hole in a gas tank, and bionically throws a bomb out of his jet.

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