Most detective shows have their preferred plot. Honestly, there are aspects of this show that remind me more of Remington Steele con. Nigh onto ten years before Pierce Brosnan would put on the tux. Now, this still does fit with Jim’s style in several important ways, one of which becomes clear only late in the episode, but part of why Laura and Mr. Steele could’ve worked it better than Jim is that they’re a partnership.
Jim is riding with Dennis and his never-before-seen wife, Peggy (Pat Finley), to a hotel they’ve bought a 2.5% interest in. However, it turns out he’s bought a 2.5% interest in the lobby, and that in fact it’s condominiums. Another member of the syndicate, Audrey Wyatt (Linda Evans), joins Jim to help get the members’ money back if they can. Jim notices that the contract Dennis and the others signed did not exclude the mineral rights. He sets up an elaborate con whereby he claims to be JW Farnsworth, oil baron from Oklahoma, who’s drilling for natural gas on the property.
When Dennis tells Jim that Diel “technically” doesn’t have anything to do with the syndicate, that “technically” is doing a lot of lifting. That his wife bought in, and that she bought in on the suggestion of Dennis, is a big problem for Jim. Even though Jim has nothing to do with the whole thing. Diel’s the sort of person who will find a way to blame Jim the second he’s brought in, because he already doesn’t like Jim. He’s none too thrilled with Dennis most of the time, either.
I don’t think I have yet talked much about Angel Martin (Stuart Margolin), but he’s one of the great minor characters of the show. He knew Jim in prison. Jim was, as established, innocent; Angel was doubtless guilty of something, though if they convicted him of anything involving courage, it definitely wasn’t him. He’s handy whenever Jim needs something mostly because he’s usually more scared of Jim than anything else threatening him in the episode; when he bails on Jim, you know it’s serious.
This is a remarkably low-violence episode. Nothing happens to Jim. No car chase. No one’s held at gunpoint. There’s some low-key double-crossing, and Angel gets threatened, but it’s got to be a nice break for Jim after yesterday’s episode. This is why Jim would rather use his head than his fists, I’m sure; okay, there’s a never-spoken possibility he’s going to get murdered, here, but he doesn’t even need a Band-Aid!
Take Care of Rockford Files: Absolutely nothing!
One of my favorite episodes, mainly for how much it uses Jim’s con artistry, plus it lets Garner shift into his native Oklahoma accent. And I love the quick switch from “we struck oil” to “we struck water.”
And the episode title naturally makes me think of another, much later show. Good news, everyone!
Anthony and I are in theory working on The Rockfood Files, the conceit of which is that it’s Rocky’s personal cookbook, including recipes from various recurring characters. One of them is from “Jimmy Joe Meeker.”