Season Two Episode Three: “Gearjammers Part One”

Look, my life is not the world’s most exciting. But if I ever reach the point where I’m writing “the usual” in my calendar every day, I’m calling it quits. Not because I don’t do the same thing day after day, but because I am not hard up enough to write it on my calendar. One imagines Rocky got into the habit of filling out a calendar when he was younger, only now, he lives alone and doesn’t do different things very often. But “the usual” is so profoundly unhelpful that you should maybe get into a new habit.

Without realizing he’s done it, Rocky sees something he shouldn’t. Jim discovers that some untrustworthy sorts are out to get Rocky, and he goes searching all over town trying to find him. Jim goes looking for Rocky and learns more about his father than I think he’s ever known before. Meanwhile, trucks are getting hijacked. Jim, while looking for Rocky, finds a dead body. Dennis ends up putting out an APB before Jim is able to find Rocky.

I like that Rocky’s still active. Okay, so it doesn’t work out so hot for him in today’s episode, but the whole thing starts up because he’s selling tickets to the Owner-Operator Truckers’ Association ball. Everyone knows him. He’s got a whole life that Jim doesn’t know anything about. Oh, they all know Rocky’s boy Jimmy, of course, but by name and what Rocky tells them, not personally. Honestly, I wonder how many of them have the slightest idea what Jim does for a living.

I love that Mary Ramsey (Rosemary DeCamp) is firmly a Ms. It’s the ’70s, and the actress was 65, but she rejects “Mrs.” when Jim is trying to be polite. Maybe she was married before and maybe she wasn’t, but either way, it’s clear she doesn’t think it’s any of Jim’s business. Heck, maybe she’s married now for all we know; we don’t know much about what she and Rocky are doing on their Saturday afternoons together. The ones Jim never knew Rocky had in the first place, but even Dennis did.

Southern California for the Tourist: Every once in a while, you can see a very distinctive kind of tree on this show. Yeah, everyone knows about the palm trees. But another perpetually familiar tree in the LA landscape is the Deodar cedar. It’s an actual cedar, native to the Himalayas. I have no idea when they were initially planted in the LA area, but their silhouette is distinctive enough so that I am always left with the faintest twinge of homesickness when I see one—two doors down from my childhood home is some six or eight blocks lined in them that are lit up for Christmas every year and are a state historic landmark.

Take Care of Rockford Files: Someone breaks Jim’s eggs, then they beat him up. Car chase. Rocky hits him with a frying pan. His car gets blown up.