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Review
Have you ever woken up thinking, "Gee, I really hope I can see Peter Graves in a bathing suit today"?
Neither have I, and after watching this episode, I don't think it's gonna come up much in the future, either.
In many ways, this is like the first episodes of most series. It's a bit rough plot-wise,
has some bad acting, looks like it was produced on a shoestring budget, and rushes to get all of the main characters introduced.
I'll start with the plot. First, we have a daughter who discovers a horrible secret about her stepfather. But she doesn't go to her mother. She doesn't go to the police. She goes to the library. There she deposits the only
proof of her stepfather's treachery in a book, assuming that no one will check it out or that anything else might happen to it. Then she runs off to Mexico to be with
her boyfriend where she's not really protected by the policia, and where she can be tracked down fairly easily. Okay, so she's not terribly bright.
It must run in the family. If her mom was in on the political bribery, why on earth would she hire private detectives to find her daughter? Especially since her
daughter could tell them about all the bad stuff. She could have asked around and found her as easily as Rick and AJ did, without involving third parties with a habit of
upholding the law. (Well, a habit of making sure other folks are upholding the law, at least) And since the stepfather wasn't just going along with the mother to be sure
the kid is safe, why would he risk hiring private detectives? Doesn't make sense.
Okay, on to the bad acting. I'm guessing Connie, the blonde in the beginning wasn't hired for her acting talent because she pretty much didn't have
any. Neither did the goons, the border smuggler, the folks in the cantina, Chuy, or Myron's PI. Not great odds.
As for being produced on a shoestring budget, well, it probably was. The free-floating camera work that jiggled as it followed the
action and the jerky editing just smell of amateurs. Not to mention the bright light they used to illuminate the street outside the office in the end - you could see it plain
as day in the door's glass panes.
Rushing  to get all of the main characters in - did Myron really need to be in this
episode? He really didn't do anything to forward the plot, just provided some comic moments. Mainly, he was there because DeGuere wanted to establish who he is, regardless of the plot.
Same goes for Cecilia. When the brothers started arguing about who would call 'her', I assumed they were talking about Janet. She seemed to
be their errand gal so far, so why deal with Mom's disapproval? Ah yes, because we needed to meet the boys' mother.
Not that I object to either Myron or Cecilia being there, but it would've been nice if there had actually been a reason for it.
Okay, all that said, what made this stand apart from the first episodes of other series was the fact that the main actors had the chemistry and the ability from the very
start. Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker are Rick and AJ Simon. Jeannie Wilson is Janet, the gal with sexual tension to spare. Eddie Barth is Janet's
disapproving and competitive father. Mary Carver is those boys' mother. Not only are the dynamics there between characters, but they happen to be damn good
actors, too. Thank you, Mr. DeGuere for having great taste in performers!
 I've always thought Rick's taste in clothing
was...whimsical. But in this episode, he becomes a full-blown fashion victim for a while. What was with that outfit? And that collar. Rick, honey, the
70s ended two years ago - let it go! Thankfully, he looked great in the rest of the episode.
Also, may I say I loved it when Rick went into Older Brother mode about calling Mom. No particular reason, it's just fun to watch
Mac go from pleading to ordering in .05 seconds. And it's even funnier that they immediately switch to a shot of AJ calling her.
 
 
 I also loved Janet's response when Myron
tells her the Simons are only after one thing. "Yes, I know. Aren't they cute?" You go, girl. How adorable was AJ's big grin and Rick's little squinch?
There was really only one...well, two things that surprised me about this episode. First, that AJ brought up breaking and entering and Rick groaned.
In later years, Rick's ready and willing with his credit card or lockpick tools out before AJ knows there's a door.
 The second thing was Rick's familiarity
with Janet. It takes two kisses by the jail cell for her to start complaining, and even then it's not all that adamant. I can easily believe it of Rick, but I'm shocked that
Janet had already accepted him after he stole AJ away from her. Not that I'm complaining - I'm glad to be able to watch the two of them flirting - I just didn't
expect it. Then again, if I were Janet, I'd forgive him pretty quickly, too.
Though it has its flaws, it's still an enjoyable ride.
Chachi's Review
Rick and AJ are hired for a job to locate a missing person, they unknowingly were
being watched and while going through the apartment, they are arrested. AJ shows his P.I. license as if they were going to back off, while "always the street smart"
Rick holds out his wrists to be cuffed. It was probably just as well because something just didn't appear right to Rick.
 Janet bails them out of jail only to find
Myron very upset because his client, Wade Christianson, the news anchorman, has fire Myron's agency. To make matters worse, Christianson wants to hire Rick and AJ.
As they arrive at Wade Christianson's home, he hires the Simons to find her and if they do within a few days, he'll throw in
a bonus. Being told she probably went to Mexico, Rick and AJ go to Encinada where they locate her car, well, actually Rick tells AJ to let him handle it and he
pays the kid to tell him where the car is, only to find the kid pointing down the street. 
Now, Caroline, the client's daughter, and her friend spot the Simons and try to trick them but the friend takes off and he is
followed by some unhappy thug friends of Caroline's father. She decides to trust Rick and AJ when her friend, Chuy, shows up bleeding. It comes out that she discovered
her step father was doing illegal transactions and that's why she ran away - because she seen him. She also wrote her mother a letter telling her so, and told her
mother she could not allow him to be elected to city council.
 Rick arranges for them to be
smuggled over the border, of course to AJ's objection because he has to leave his car in Mexico for the time being. Rick informs AJ he has to call their mother so she can pick
them up once their over the border, but again AJ protests, "You have to, she likes you better" Rick tells his brother. As AJ keeps giving him a hard time we hear the first of
the imfamous "rickisms" "AJ, get your butt in there," (to the phone to make the call.) 
Cece's first question to Caroline as she gets in the car is, "this trouble you're in, are either of them responsible? "No" answers Caroline,
"then don't you worry, my boys will take care of everything," she assures Caroline sounding very much like Ma Barker.
Janet has already checked out a book that AJ had on a piece of paper in his pocket, when
he told Janet he didn't write it, she told him it was a library reference number and he asked her to check out the book. Now, he had forgotten all about it until they arrive
back at the office and there Caroline mentions why she ran away and she hoped her mother maybe didn't get the letter, that she had hid evidence in a book at the library.
Janet brings out the papers that she was going to use as proof, she calls her mother
but she already got the letter and was on the way to the library. Once there, she discovers her mother told Wade and the gangsters are there waiting to get the papers.
Caroline sees AJ giving her a high sign because Rick already thought of a way out,
Carolie hands the empty book to her mother . Rick tips the shelves on the thugs to prolong them as they get away.
 They arrive at the station where her step father is
on the air and now realizes he's caught. Janet tells Caroline that although she's still in law school, she does not think her mother would be charged. It
ends with them going to have dinner and AJ asking about his car, I had also forgot to mention that their trip over the border including them hiding in a truckload of chickens.
I would just like to say that although I prefer the older & wiser Simons of the last
four seasons (probably because I'm older), I still treasure the fact of being able to follow them for eight seasons, because down that road are some glorious hugs to
look forward to, some very tender moments I would never miss and the fact that Rick and AJ Simon have found a place in my heart that is as much evident now in
reruns, almost twenty years later as they were the day this episode aired.
3 out of 5 Camaros
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