Marlowe, Come Home 
Directed by Sigmund Neufeld, Jr.
Written by Michael Piller
Synopsis: When a champion purebred poodle is dognapped while at her groomer's (Bonnie Parker), the owner, Beth, hires the Simons to get him back.
Rick is convinced Marlowe's nose can help track down the dognappers. AJ and Town are dubious, but go along with it. Rick gets papers made up to show Marlowe is a purebred "Anatolian
Shepherd" so he can enter the fancy schmancy dog show that Rick is sure the dognappers will show up. AJ brings Beth and the dog groomer,
hoping the groomer will be able to i.d. the guilty parties.
Rick is a little nervous as he's forced to 'show' Marlowe in the heel and stay competition, but Marlowe does wonderfully. Unfortunately, when it
comes time to clear the area, Marlowe decides to lay down and doesn't want to budge. As the onlookers titter, Rick finally gets Marlowe out of the competition arena.
Rick joins up with AJ, Beth, and the groomer, and AJ is quick to point out Marlowe's uselessness as a tracker. As they are talking, Marlowe starts sniffing at a nearby onlooker who
asks Rick to curb his dog. As Rick apologizes profusely, the groomer realizes that's the same voice of the dognappers. The bad guys flee with
the Simons close behind in the PowerWagon, with Marlowe in the truck bed.
When the van they are driving pulls off the road, the brothers jump out to apprehend the dognappers. However, one of them has circled around and forces the Simons to drop their
weapons as he holds Marlowe at gunpoint. Much to our guys' dismay, the bad guys drive off with the van, the PowerWagon, Marlowe, and Rick's hat.
Rick is frantic with worry and calls Nixon for help, claiming the police chief needs help on a big case. When Rick and AJ arrive, they're chagrined
to see that Town has gotten the entire precinct mobilized. When Town realized he's been duped, he calls off the officers and gives Nixon grief over
not asking who was calling in the request for help. He tells Rick he feels for him, but there's only so much he can do for a missing dog. The Simons
give Town the license plate number off the van and trace it to a dealer's lot.
Rick tries the direct approach and asks the car dealer for information, even threatening him with accessory to grand theft auto and grand theft dog.
The dealer is totally unhelpful, so Rick and AJ break into his office that night. Long story short, they find out who's behind both dognappings.
The dognappers are upset that Beth got the private investigators involved and up the ransom by $25,000. With AJ's and mom's help, Rick comes up with the extra money.
Beth follows the ransom instructions with the Simons, Town, and several police officers looking on. But when she reaches the final hand-off destination, the money is picked up, not by the
bad guys, but by a Doberman Pinscher. Rick and AJ try to tail it, but lose him in the darkness.
On to plan D. AJ goes to the car dealer and pretends to be interested in getting a guard dog like the store has (very nervous at the time because of his previous encounter with the dog
when they broke in). The dealer happily gives him the address of the breeder, thinking he'll sell a van in the process.
Marlowe hasn't been idle during all this. He's had one escape attempt foiled, but makes it out with the poodle the second time, even stopping to retrieve his master's hat. Unfortunately, the
dognappers see them running off and manage to shoot Marlowe in the hip. He keeps running in spite of it.
AJ and Rick arrive at the breeder's place just in time to catch them escaping with the money. They try to pursue, but the dognapper/breeder sics his
Dobermans on them. They head up a tree until Rick pulls a sonic rodent repellent out of his pocket. The shrill sounds scares off the dogs and the Simons go off in hot pursuit of the bad guys.
They manage to stop them and recover the money, but they quickly admit that not only had Marlowe and the poodle escaped, Marlowe had been shot.
Rick's scared to death, as are his mother and brother. Cecilia coordinates search parties by phone while Rick sits and worries. Some new
folks arrive to help, including Mr. Gorman, Town, and some others. While they're making a plan, Marlowe and the poodle show up at the door, Rick's hat in his baby's mouth.
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Review:
He is just so cute as he beams proudly at the dog show snob when Marlowe aces his event. I won't even make a big deal of the fact that he was almost as
surprised as the audience...or that he more than makes up for his good performance by his...um...novel approach to leaving the arena.
he is one
sad poppa - and he's not the only one. Even though I shouldn't be surprised that AJ and Cecilia love Marlowe, too, their concern is touching. Both of them tend to be
very cautious about lending Rick money, but here they offer to help without being asked. A great show of family solidarity and love.
