The Dillinger Print       Directed by  Vincent McEveety Written by William M. Whitehead Synopsis:  A retired  FBI agent who doesn’t believe John Dillinger, the famous outlaw, is dead,  gets killed.  The daughter of the victim, Addie, hires the Simons to  look into it and catch the murderer.  They look through her father’s belongings and find that files on John Dillinger have been stolen.   When Addie goes to  her father’s safe deposit box, she barely glimpses a folder marked ‘five plus five’, when a man in old-fashioned clothing takes the contents at  gunpoint.  In the process of escaping, the gunman drops the weapon –  a gun once owned by Dillinger with a fresh fingerprint that matched the outlaw’s prints…and the gun that killed Addie’s father.  The FBI finally gets involved due to Dillinger’s federal  warrants, but are plagued by every nut in town who suddenly thinks they’re Dillinger.  A.J.’s former racquetball partner, Kinneman, is the agent  in charge of the case, and despite Rick’s distrust of the FBI, they  arrange to meet with him at the gym to discuss the case. As A.J. and Kinneman are playing, a man dressed like Dillinger heads up to the balcony above the court, pulls a machine gun out of a tennis racket case, and fires at the defenseless men.  A.J. sees him a second before he starts shooting, calls a warning to Kinneman, and ducks to the floor, but there’s nowhere to hide.   As the gunman fires round after round bare inches above him, all A.J. can do is try to squeeze into a smaller ball and scream with each round fired.  When  passersby see the gunman, he flees the scene.  A.J., however, is  still huddled on the floor, trying to escape shots that are no longer  being fired. Rick and Town come to A.J.’s side as soon as they find  out.  A.J. is still on the floor, sitting up, but much worse for wear.  He is crying openly, and Rick is desperately trying to do anything to help while Town looks on with concerned eyes.  A.J. feels powerless, terrified, and completely impotent.  He’s up late that night, wishing to get revenge on the man who had done this to him.   Rick just keeps him company, recognizing A.J.’s pain from what he went through in Vietnam. When the investigation gets too close, Kinneman tells the  Simons to bring Addie to an old theater, where he promises to tell them the truth about Dillinger.  However, when they get there, they are greeted with gunfire from Kinneman and some goons.  A.J. is almost frozen with fear, but overcomes it to help Rick get the bad guys.  He  threatens Kinneman with a machine gun unless he tells the truth about his  crooked ways and what he knew about the internal FBI investigation against  him.  Rick and Addie are afraid that A.J. will kill the guy in cold  blood, but he pulls back when Kinneman confesses. The FBI thanks the Simon, corrects them on the name of the investigation – ‘five by five’,  not ‘five plus five’, and departs. Meanwhile, a dentist’s father that the Simons questioned earlier is quietly revealed to be Dillinger, who is now a very old man and a threat to no one. Review: Wow.   Wow.  Wow.  I loved this episode! Following the  Dillinger legend as I have, it was fun to watch their take on the question of Dillinger’s death.  I’m glad they didn’t go so far as to make Dillinger responsible for the events of the episode, but I really liked  the bit with the dentist’s father at the end. That said, the most noteworthy part of this episode was Jameson Parker’s  performance.  Again, wow.  The scene with A.J., Rick, and Town in the racquetball court took my breath away.  I don’t know what the  actor thought of to cry like that, but…wow. Gerald McRaney also did a  great job as the older brother  wishing desperately he could do anything to stop his baby brother’s  pain.  I think that Rick knew, even more than A.J. did, how deeply  that experience would affect him.  And he would have moved heaven and  earth to spare him that pain.  None of this was in the dialogue, but  it was skillfully portrayed by the two actors.  Amazingly well done. Let me take a  break here and wax rhapsodic about something I’ve noticed about the  brothers over time.  When Rick cries, I see the sorrow of a man who’s seen too much, been hurt too much.  (The first example that comes to  mind is the end of What’s in a Gnome?)  I empathize, but I  know he’ll be okay.  Rick is amazingly well-adjusted for the weight they’ve put on his shoulders. However, when A.J. cries, I get the image of a lost child who  doesn’t know why he’s been hurt.  Every instinct cries out to protect  the blond boy from feeling pain, and that’s probably how Rick’s felt his whole life.  A.J. just seems defenseless.  Maybe y’all feel different, but it comes across clear as day to me.       On to the scene  a few hours later, as A.J. realizes how much he’s been affected.  Rick can see it in his brother as clearly as he saw it in himself and  others in Vietnam and brushes off A.J.’s attempt to go it alone.   It’s a strong scene, masterfully done. These two  scenes are why I watch this show. I also really liked what they did with the aging secretary, Jewel.  Although I was sorry to see the old-time clothing go to nothing, I appreciated that they didn’t make her that simple.  Schizophrenics can have rational moments when they’re medicated and it’s great that they show that.  And, of course, Rick’s dance with her was  incredibly sweet.  He did it with respect, not pity, and it was  just…beautiful.  Mac portrayed it with ultimate class. Did I think  A.J.’s attack on Kinneman was an act?  Not for a minute.  I think if Kinneman had given him half a reason, I believe A.J. would have  shot him dead.  He’d lost something of himself to the fear in that racquetball court, and it was payback time.  Anyone  disagree? Bottom line –  great episode, incredible performances by J.P. and Mac. Only one…well, two things bothered me plot-wise.  First, the ‘five plus five’ or ‘five by five’ business.  What did that have to do with anything?  They made a pretty big deal of it to give no  explanation of what it meant in the end.  And why make a distinction  between ‘five plus five’ and ‘five by five’?  They could have said  ‘five by five’ all along and it wouldn’t have changed a thing.  If the explanation was in there somewhere and cut off by A&E, please enlighten me.  Ends this loose get under my skin. Second, okay,  the fake Dillinger angle was interesting from the viewer’s point of view,  but I can’t conceive of why Kinneman would go to that much trouble to cover his tracks.  I mean, bringing Dillinger into it brought a big  spotlight on what was going on.  Why would an FBI agent  want to be that high profile, especially if he’s crooked?  Logically, it just  doesn’t sit right. However, I can handle all the plot holes in the world for a chance to see the brothers having this deep an interaction.  This one got five Camaros despite  the plot problems because I got goosebumps at the depth of the performances given, and my goosebumps are pretty selective.   Wonderful, wonderful episode! You can see all of my captures here. 5 out of 5 Camaros          ©"Simon & Simon" and all of its characters'  copyrights are held by Universal City Studios, as are all pictures and quotes on this site unless otherwise noted. This site is completely  nonprofit - I don't get a dime. On the contrary, it is my hope that  the copyright holders will make more items available for sale so  others and I can spend more money!