Jim loves Rocky. He doesn’t always like Rocky, I think, but he loves him. And in a modern show, this would be the episode where Jim starts seeing Rocky as more of a person—it’s the episode where he realizes how much Rocky means to him and how much of his life Rocky isn’t sharing with him. He’s learned that Dennis knows things about his dad that he doesn’t, and if there were more long-term character development, that would be something that we’d let develop here. But I’m not sure we ever actually learn Jim’s mother’s name, because that’s not the sort of show this is.
Jim’s car has been blown up (again), nearly killing both him and Rocky in a police station parking lot. Jim is understandably extremely upset about the whole thing. Rocky isn’t taking it seriously, because why would anyone want to kill him? Dennis isn’t thrilled about it, but he can’t provide protection for Rocky; the department can’t afford it. Jim knows the attempt on Rocky’s life has something to do with Johnny Lo Salvo’s murder and the truck hijackings, but he can’t even figure out what those two things have to do with one another.
It’s nice that the solution to the whole thing relies on Rocky’s professional knowledge. The show has a clear respect for the knowledge earned in working a job. Sometimes, characters are traditionally educated, but Jim’s from working-class roots. Most of his friends are from working-class roots. I’m not sure anyone in Jim’s life wears a suit to work; the closest he gets is the assorted police detectives. Still, these are skilled professions—look at the difference between Rocky and Jim fiddling with basic repair and when they call in LJ because they need it done right.
And, of course, there’s the continued respect for Jim’s intuition and magpie knowledge collection. He knows sable is expensive. It helps him put together the solution. And he’s also actually learned how to drive a truck—it’s not what he wants to do for a living, but he can do it. Which might actually make Rocky more disappointed, because he knows it’s not a lack of ability, just a lack of interest. That’s got to be hurtful for someone who clearly long dreamed of a son who would follow in his footsteps, but he still needs to let Jim be his own person.
Minor Actor Alert: One of the people trying to kill Rocky—he both helps plant the bomb and also just shoots at him—is stuntman Terry Leonard, who has among other people tried to kill Indiana Jones. Possibly John Wayne—his first two movies starred Wayne, including one of the few Wayne movies I actually love. (El Dorado!, if you’re curious.) He’s done quite a lot, and I love that IMDb lists his birth as simply “c. 1945.”
Take Care of Rockford Files: Shots fired. Truck chase!
Truck chase!
This is a good chance to say that I think we could do worse than David Boreanaz as Rockford 2.0, though I would prefer not to have Rockford 2.0.