The Least Dangerous Game      Directed by  Alan J. Levi Written by Richard Chapman Synopsis:  The Simons are supposedly hired  to investigate the death of a zookeeper who had been eaten by a sick lion.  However, the wealthy zoo patron makes it clear he expects them to dig up dirt on the keeper so that the zoo's reputation won't be affected. The  Simons aren't thrilled with his instructions, but take the case because they really need the money. Myron is particularly upset because the patron is an old acquaintance of his and should have  hired him. The Simons look around the keeper's apartment for clues and  find a conveniently placed bottle of pills and a few syringes under the sink. AJ asks the zoo's veterinarian, who isn't thrilled with her boss's attitude towards the keeper's death, to test the pills and syringes to see what was in them. When the patron demands instant results, the brothers claim  they didn't find anything at the apartment, figuring it had been planted  by him. They ask for undercover jobs to ask other employees if they knew anything about the dead keeper. When they leave, we find out they were  right - the patron had gotten a crooked zoo employee to plant the drugs. Frustrated, the patron tells the goon to give him a reason, like an 'accident', to fire the Simons. AJ takes a job as tour guide (to the appreciation of the girls on the tour) and Rick gets a job feeding the animals - same as the  dead man. Rick discovers that the lion that had been destroyed for killing  the keeper had been denied food for five days before the incident. Rick  and AJ are more sure than ever that the keeper's death was in fact murder,  not the accident everyone assumes. They sneak into the zoo at night to find out more, but are  caught by the goon. He manages to hit AJ with a tranquilizer dart before Rick gets them both out of target range. AJ is delirious, rambling and  giggling, to Rick's frustration. He throws AJ over his shoulder and slowly but surely gets them safely out of the zoo. The goon does manage to do his job, arranging for a bear to  be let loose in his pen while Rick is cleaning it. Rick climbs a tree until a fellow keeper gets the bear away from him. This gives the patron the excuse he needs to fire the brothers for incompetence. When they get back to the office, they are contacted by the  veterinarian who asks them to come right over. When they arrive at her  office, she tells them the pills were a version of PCP used on some of the  animals, but the syringes were full of a drug that would make the lion appear sick when he wasn't. The three go to the research facility where the lion had been sent and catch a glimpse of the supposedly dead lion being loaded  onto a truck. Rick has a hunch he knows what's going on and tells the  veterinarian to follow the truck and call the police when it stops. She  follows the truck to the patron's estate where it stops, and calls the  police. What Rick has figured out is that the patron has been  arranging for various animals to appear sick and then be sent to the  'research facility' he ran where they are reported anesthetized due to the illness. What he's really doing is bringing them to his estate and  hunting them while they have nowhere to escape his bullets. The patron is in for quite a shock when he goes to look at the lion with some of his hired men. AJ and Rick have stowed away in the back of the truck and threaten to release the lion if they don't drop their guns and back away. At the patron's insistence, they back away until the police  arrive. After he is in custody, the Simons and vet look around his  home and find a room filled with the grisly trophies of his past hunts -  all of which were zoo animals. Review: This episode will always has a special place in my heart because  it was the one that made me fall in love with the show.   I'd seen all sorts of action shows with good-looking guys doing muscular things to solve crimes. In the 80s, they were a dime a dozen. But this episode showed something different - two brothers reminiscing about the past, obviously caring deeply for each other and showing it in the  understated ways men do. The scene where  A.J., hit by a tranquilizer dart, is slung over Rick’s shoulder is the  scene that did it.  Here’s A.J., delirious from the drug, babbling  about their past as brothers.  Rick’s just trying to get them safely  out of there, frustrated by his brother’s inability to keep quiet.   He tries putting his hand over AJ's mouth, he even knocks the wind out of him, but to no avail. The best part of this was when A.J. mentioned tattling on one of  Rick’s escapades involving Monkey Island.  Even in mid-flight, Rick is steamed when he finds out after all these years that A.J. was the one  that got him into to trouble.  There’s just something endearing about Rick wanting to kill A.J. for a sin of the past, even as he’s risking his  own life and back muscles to save him.  What are brothers for, after all? Also the brothers' easy relationship with their mother, a sure fire endearment to  most women, including me. The scene where Rick comes in with AJ slung over his shoulders obviously unconscious, asking his mom if he can borrow her car is just wonderful. The fact that she doesn't ask questions, but accepts it as business-as-usual with her adventurous sons, somehow allowed to share in the family feeling. That's just how things are done around the  Simon house, nothing to get excited about. I was hooked. Interesting the  differences between the beginning of this series and the end. For instance, in the apartment of the dead keeper, AJ has his gun out and  immediately checks the rest of the place for anyone inside. Rick just strolls in and starts looking at things on the desk. Later, Rick and AJ  always did the sweeps together, taking positions on both sides of the doorway. I'm going to keep an eye out to see if they show a scene that specifically leads them to be more cautious. I'll be really impressed if there is. I'm surprised  at how much of a baby Rick is when Janet is tending his scrapes from the  bear encounter. I'm so used to seeing Rick brave it out...but then the  instances I'm thinking about happened when the bad guys are around. Maybe  he doesn't have to put on a strong face when it's just Janet. Either that, or he's playing it up to get sympathy from her... I ha ve to admit there was one more reason I fell in love with  this show, though I know better now. The horror the Simons expressed at  the patron's hunting of the zoo animals touched me because I am rabidly  anti-hunting. The fact that these characters were, too, impressed me. Now, I know  that the actors themselves are hunters and that bothered me at first. However, JP's staunch support of preserving habitats (no matter what the reason) is a cause I believe in and it balances his hunting in a way.  Also, having read his article where he talks about hunting ("To Shoot or  Not to Shoot" can be found on the Articles page) showed me that he's  careful to kill cleanly, which I can respect. He's not any more thrilled  about the animal suffering than I am. As for Mac, well, I was raised in  the South, too. It's part of the culture. Do I wish I could be watching actors who never killed animals, well, yes, but I've been friends with too  many men who do the same thing to start being high and mighty now. As for the plot, I have trouble being objective because of my fondness for the  episode, so I'll simply give it four Camaros. Personally, I  think this is one of JP's most attractive episodes (Mac looks great, too) and I got a wee bit carried away. Pictorial with 100+ captures is here. 4 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!