Two Hundred A Day - Episode 136: In Pursuit of Carol Thorne

Episode Date: May 26, 2024

Nathan and Eppy take a road trip in S1E9 In Pursuit of Carol Thorne. Jim is hired to keep an eye on a newly-released-from-prison Carol Thorne - but he's not the only one! Carol takes a hike and Jim pursues her to Nevada, only to find that he's being used by a conman to get Carol to find another member of his old gang who's sitting on a million-dollar score. Not really a con game episode, we enjoyed the con characters as part of a fun, easy-to-watch season one romp. Recommended! Here's the Rockford Files Filming Locations blog entry (http://rockfordfilesfilminglocations.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-rockford-files-episode-in-pursuit.html) for this episode, it's an extensive one! We have another podcast: Plus Expenses. Covering our non-Rockford media, games and life chatter, Plus Expenses is available via our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/twohundredaday) at ALL levels of support. Want more Rockford Files trivia, notes and ephemera? Check out the Two Hundred a Day Rockford Files Files (http://tinyurl.com/200files)! We appreciate all of our listeners, but offer a special thanks to our patrons (https://www.patreon.com/twohundredaday). In particular, this episode is supported by the following Gumshoe and Detective-level patrons: * Richard Hatem * Bill Anderson * Brian Perrera * Eric Antener * Jordan Bockelman * Michael Zalisco * Joe Greathead * Mitch Hampton's Journey of an Aesthete Podcast (https://www.jouneyofanaesthetepodcast.com) * Dael Norwood wrote a book! Trading Freedom: How Trade with China Defined Early America (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo123378154.html) * Chuck Suffel's comic Sherlock Holmes & the Wonderland Conundrum (http://whatchareadingpress.com) * Paul Townend recommends the Fruit Loops podcast (https://fruitloopspod.com) * Shane Liebling's Roll For Your Party dieroller app (https://rollforyour.party/) * Jay Adan's Miniature Painting (http://jayadan.com) * Brian Bernsen's Facebook page of Rockford Files filming locations (https://www.facebook.com/brianrockfordfiles/) * Brian Cummins, Robert Lindsey, Nathan Black, Jay Thompson, David Nixon, Colleen Kelly, Tom Clancy, Andre Appignani, Pumpkin Jabba Peach Pug, Dave P, Dave Otterson, Kip Holley and Dale Church! Thanks to: * Fireside.fm (https://fireside.fm) for hosting us * Audio Hijack (https://rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/) for helping us record and capture clips from the show

This is the message phone company. I see you're using our unit now. How about paying for it? Welcome to 200 a day the podcast where we talk about the 70s television detective show the Rockford files I'm Nathan Poletta and I'm at the diarama show and before we get into our episode today I was gonna say our episode this week, which is not what we do not at all Never been accurate never been accurate The episode that we will record today, Epi, I see that the red light on our answering machine over there is giving some flashes. So I think we should go ahead and check on some recent listener feedback.

All right. Yeah. If you're ready. If you can stand it. I am ready. Have we paid for that answering machine service? Epi you were saying that a listener had some had a music related note for us Yes, so oh no, I've lost where I found that. Alright one second it'll just take me a moment a listener the show and

you know someone we know personally has informed me that the Man who plays the harmonica for the Rockford Files also played the harmonica for the Muppet movie, which is great. And I would give you that man's name, Tommy Morgan. The Muppet movie or the Muppet show? I believe it was, I gotta look this up now. Well, okay.

So the Rockford Files and Sanford and Son, the link doesn't actually say the Muppet movie, but he says on the Muppet movie soundtrack. Okay. So we gotta believe in that. I believe. I'm just now scrolling. Yeah, he's done some things with Neil Diamond and Carly Simon and the Carpenters

and Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. So yeah, well, I mean, obviously. All the greats. Yeah, Linda Ronstead. So somewhere in here, I'm sure there's some something he's done with some Muppet. We believe our listeners. So glad to have that factoid. Lovely to know. I, the other day had a dream that I had learned harmonica so that I could provide soundtracks to role-playing games I'm playing, which I then described as a personal nightmare.

But I mean, if I were a Tommy Morgan level harmonica player, thank you. That's the word, harmonica player. Then maybe it wouldn't be that much of a nightmare. I think I would enjoy it. And I think other people would enjoy me breaking into the Rocker files theme no matter what we're playing. Speaking of little details we had a submission through our website form. We have a contact form over at 200aday.fireci.fm for such things.

Where listener Timothy reminds us that there are in fact answers to a lot of our random questions about We I think we or at least I often say something like I don't know if this was actually how things were or if they just Did this for the show right or I don't know how widespread this was or if it was like Because the production company had one like that kind of stuff and a lot of the time I'm just you know establishing that I don't know very much. But Timothy is a historian and has offered to fill us in on such things. That's great. Which offer I accept. Please let us know. But as an example, in Beamer's last case, which we did quite a while ago, I remember this. There's a guy, there was a telephone that was an American flag,

like fully wrapped. Centennial. Yeah. Bicentennial motif. We were saying like, because that one did not occur during 76. It was, I think, 77. So it was like, that's a strong move for this character to have like this phone. And he said, well, the easy answer is that there was so much bicentennial merch in 1976 that it was just everywhere in the couple of years following. So you know, fairly easy answer, but nice to have that pinned down by Rockford Files watching podcast listening historians. So thank you for that. Also speaking of details, we have listener Scott sent in a

missive to tell us that the director whose episodes we recently wrapped up, his last name is pronounced Doheny, not Do-any as I have been pronouncing. Oh, Doheny. So Doheny. For some reason, I thought that might sound like I was trying to make fun of it or something. Like when I was like, I don't know how to pronounce this name. So that's why I went with the other one. We apologize to Laurence Doheny and the Doheny family for mispronouncing that name. And thank you, Scott, for the correction.

I mean, I'm just glad that you took the lead on pronouncing the name. I mean, we've done it with many of our directors. Why stop now? I'm not a good lead on pronouncing the name. I mean, we've done it with many of our directors. Yeah. So why stop now? I have trouble not putting a D in Gardner. That's true. You've been taking a task for that. In fact, our first couple episodes, I think we were saying Stephen Connell.

Yeah, yeah. We heard about that one real quick. You know, audio medium, where we're talking about a lot of things where we're just reading. That's what happens. I'm not a good talker. That's just part of it We had some recent recent feedback from a friend of the show Sam Anderson via patreon Hmm about our episode on murders and misdemeanors the last movie we did where with with Booker Hutch and Booker Hutch and all the activity around. It was a hot case, right?

Yeah, yeah. And yeah, the hot case where like the detectives were framed, but they were under investigation and it was all about like staying out of jail for a drug thing. Anyway, we discussed and I posted a screenshot on the Patreon of the final punch of the final fight where Jim and John Amos both have their fists cocked back to punch their respective goon. So the goon on the left in that particular screenshot that John Amos is about to slug is a return for Dick Duroc, who was a classic recurring goon on the original show. And I believe as he has told us and we have discussed was the original live action swamp thing. Right. Yes. But yes, he was maybe was he the the proofreader in that one episode with the

yeah, something like that. I'm vaguely associating the swamp thing reference to that anyway. Shout out to the door rock and also one of the other featured goons in the movie was James Liu who was a working action actor and stunt coordinator since the 70s including fight choreography for big trouble in little China and is apparently still working in Hollywood thanks Sam for the Sam's always he's always on top of those... Yeah, slightly more in depth than IMDB. That's the...

The deeper cuts. The deeper cuts. Yeah, the deeper cuts. A final and perhaps most important note that our listeners may wish to mark on their calendar. Patron and friend of the show, Brian Bernsen, who runs the Rockford Files Facebook page where he takes pictures in front of shooting locations with his tribute car, is helping organize the Rockford 50 Fest that is occurring this fall. So this is a two-day event in Thousand Oaks, California, September 14th and 15th.

It is a celebration of 50 years of the Rockford Files as this is the 50 year anniversary. Brian is not organizing, but he's kind of helping out and helping get the word out. We are happy to help get that word out. We are not sure if we can attend. It is the kind of thing that we would like to, but just logistically in that time of year, it might be, it's not a slam dunk. So we're still talking over about what we're, if we're going to be able to be involved. But yeah, you can head over to Rockford 50, the number 50, fest.wixsite.com. I'll put the link in the show notes or I guess Google Rockford 50 Fest And see if you want to go there's gonna be special guests including John Winokur who co-authored the Garner files with James Garner Rob Howe who was a production assistant on the Rockford files

You know multiple super fans whose names you may recognize if you've been buying books or going to blogs or Whatnot in addition to listening to our show and more so you can go to the website and see all the guests but uh Yeah, check it out. Yeah, you guys should check it out Hopefully these these words reach your ears before it occurs. I mean we'll release this before then it's just whether Somebody has come across this we'll mention it on the, you know, on our next couple of recordings for sure. The deadline for registration is June 1st. So take a look.

If it's after June 1st, I don't know what to tell you. Hopefully there's some flexibility. But yeah, there's a lot of fun stuff. The hotel is the hotel where they shot Sleight of Hand. There's a breakfast at Paradise Cove on Sunday, is the Sunday event. There's gonna be a road tour of shooting locations. If you like the Rockford Files. Yeah. You may want to think about it. Very likely if you're listening to this,

if you enjoy the Rockford Files. I feel like there's some overlap there. Look it up or check out the show notes for the link for Rockford 50 Fest in Thousand Oaks, California, September 14th and 15th, 2024. Excellent. I'll have to take a look at our paperwork to see what the status of our answering machine is, if we're owing money on it or if we're still in the trial period. So I'll do that after we record. But yeah, here we are to talk about the Rockford Files.

This episode is season one, episode nine, in pursuit of Carole Thorne. Yeah. A thoroughly season one episode, I think I would describe it as. It is very season one. Yeah. Yeah. Which is, and in case you haven't been listening to us this whole time, is not a knock on it at all. It's just that we have now, as we have approached the

finish of our arc of watching all the Rockford Files episodes, I think we've formulated some opinions about the different seasons. Season one has a particular flavor to it. So this one, I don't know, it's that thing where I feel like we have to say this each time, but we used to be like, oh, why'd we pick these? Why'd we pick these? And now we're like, well, we're running out of episodes. There's no reason why we put this episode off,

nothing like that. Nope, it just didn't happen to fall into place. So basically right now we're finishing all the season one episodes that we haven't done yet. So I think there's one more to go after this, I believe, without checking our list. So it's a two parter. Yeah, I look forward to that. But this episode, it is another in the run of episode titles with women's name in them that I cannot differentiate in my mind. I guess it's a bit of a thematic pair with with the last episode, which was so all of my notes on it are catch me if you can because of the movie. But the title is find me if you can. Yes. So that was the last episode. This is in pursuit of Carol Thorne. There's kind of that pursuit theme. But other than that, just coincidence, I'm sure. This one is written by Roy Huggins, credited as always as John Thomas James. And part I think part of something feeling like a real season one episode is also feeling like a real Huggins script. Yeah, yeah.

And this one has that for sure. This has a very, very noir feel set up to it, I think. Yeah, the setup is is noirishish but then we get into the con stuff. Yes. That's like, that's the good stuff right there. But yeah, story by Huggins, teleplay by Cannell, and other than a brief rocky appearance it's- It's pure Rockford. It's pure Rockford, PI slash con shenanigans.

It's a very distilled episode for this kind of story, I think. I mean, not that, like, in particular you need to know much about the Rock Profiles to be thrown into most Rock Profiles episodes, but I feel like this episode in particular could just sit on its own. Knowing Rocky allows for some delight in the beginning, but it's not like Noah Berry isn't providing that delight anyway. And speaking of being very distilled I feel like it is a very distilled preview montage. It is sirens, Jim behind the wheel, guns, more carnage. Just let you know. There's one mention of where Jim

says I'm the inside man and I was, there's con stuff. Yes. Yes. One thing that shaped my viewing of this episode is that I've been deep in the in the weeds on my con game role playing game that I've been working on that is coming to fruition soon. The big store. I've been deep in the in the weeds on kind of the last details of the manuscript details of the manuscript talking about how like classic 20th century con games were constructed and how that translates to playing them out at your table. So my brain is there. So as soon as he said inside man, which is a con term, I was like, OK, I'm I'm looking I'm ready. So I think I probably over read some of the con stuff in this one because that's where my brain's been.

This is a good episode for the social engineering part of all of it. Like throughout, I mean, we'll point to it, but like this is very much an episode that relies on Jim being able to just be plausible in any moment or know how to just set things a certain way. Not like a mastermind's control of the situation, but more of like, okay, I'm just going to lay the groundwork. Like for instance, that line, I'm the inside man. I expected that for him to have been an inside man. No, that's not.

I mean, spoilers, but he's not the inside man. It's just to set up a plausible scenario for what he wants out of that scene. 200 a Day is a 100% listener-supported show, thanks to our patrons. In addition to our gratitude and editing access to the 200 Files Files spreadsheet, patrons receive exclusive episode previews every month, and Plus Expenses, our bonus podcast where we talk about media, work, and our lives. In addition, every episode, we say thank you to our Gumshoe patrons. Brian Bernsen has a Facebook page where he drives his Rockford tribute car to shooting

locations from the show. Facebook.com slash Brian Rockford files. Chuck Suphel's one-shot comic Sherlock Holmes and the Wonderland Conundrum is available at whatchereadingpress.com. Find Dale Norwood's book Trading Freedom! How Trade with China Defined Early America, wherever good books are sold. It's about fast ships, cheap drugs, and American political economy, published by the University of Chicago Press. Join Mitch Hampton to examine all matters aesthetic and what it means to be human at the Journey of an Asteep Podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.

Paul Townand also recommends the podcast Fruit Loops, Serial Killers of Color, at FruitLoopspod.com. Shane Liebling has all of your online dice rolling needs covered at his website, Roll4Your.Party. And check out Jay Adan's amazing miniature painting skills over at JayAdan.com. Thank you to Andrea Apignani, Tom Clancy, PumpkinJampaPeachPug, Dave P., Dave Otterson, Kip Holley, Dale Church, Colleen Kelly, David Nixon, Nathan Black, Robert Lindsay, and Jay Thompson. And finally, special appreciation for our detective little patrons. Joe Greathead, Michael Zalisco, Eric Antenor, Brian Pereira, Jordan Bockelman, Not Brockleman, Bill Anderson, and of course, Richard Haddam. If you're

interested in keeping us going for as little as $1 an episode, check out patreon.com slash 200 a day to see if becoming a patron is right for you. Well, we start our episode off with a gate opening at the California Penal Institute for Women. As this started, I was like, wait, have we done this one before? Because this is so familiar. I'm pretty sure what it is is the same location as, I think, the man who saw the alligators. Oh, with Anthony Boy coming out of. Yeah, I think it's Anthony Boy who's coming out of jail.

Yeah, I think it is because he's he's coming out and he wants to get revenge. And his buddy is who's been out is like, let it go. Yeah, just let it go. But I think it's I think it's the same location because it's like that big gate rolling aside and then the bus stop bench opposite. Yeah. And like someone in a car. I did not verify. I didn't go and check to see if that's the episode I was remembering.

But we've seen this shot. Yeah. Of this place. It just has a sign on it that says, you know, wants to do it for women instead of a sign that says like boys Boys who watch Alligators are there. Right, right. But I did spend a couple minutes double checking our backlog to be like, have we done this one before? Yeah, we've done that a few times. I remember like just going through them like, come on, we've done this, right?

But we have not, we have not. Mm hmm. Um, but we see someone watching. So a woman is leaving. We will soon learn this is the Carole Thorne from the title. There's a man in a car watching her leave. He and we watch her get on a bus and then the car follows the bus as our title, perhaps pursues the bus as our title in pursuit of Carole Thorne comes up over in a nice little composed composition there. And then on the bus, our harmonica theme kicks in. What was

his name? Tomi Morgan. Tomi Morgan, we can only assume. Tomi Morgan kicks in as someone in the farthest backseat of the bus has their newspaper up, lowers it slowly. And we see it is in fact Jim Rockford in bucket hat, yellow sunglasses, clearly also observing Carol Thorne. There's okay, I'm going to say something about the soundtrack. This is a good soundtrack episode. There's okay, I'm gonna say something about the soundtrack. This is a good soundtrack episode

But one thing that I like it reminds me of a little bit of Peter and the wolf the oh, yeah That's such a good good. It's a good look It's a good look for him. Yeah, so Peter and wolf Yeah, the the classical music piece that like is used to teach children the different sounds of the different instruments. And each animal has its own instrument. Maybe a goose has an oboe. I don't remember. It's been a long time. But this soundtrack is great because it'll do a bunch of different things.

And then the moment Jim shows up or it's about Jim, the harmonica comes in each time. It's Peter and the wolf, but it's Rockford and the wolf, right, and Rockford is the harmonica. Yeah, it's good stuff. And this disguise is amazing. A little, what's his face? Hunter S. Thompson, right? Like it's got a Hunter S. Thompson.

Not that he looks like him, but just the style. Like the fear and loathing era kind of look. Yeah. And just classic reading the newspaper. Like following a person and hiding behind the newspaper is just, anyways, it's good stuff already. Because I paused it to take a screenshot, I did notice that the one visible headline

on the newspaper, at least to me, was like angels lose 11 in a row or something, which I thought was just thematically like a great Rockford headline. I don't know if it was a prop newspaper or a real newspaper at the time, but it's a good bit. This screenshot is just amazing. Every frame of picture, right? I didn't take a lot of screenshots in this one, but I got this, which will be in our Patreon post. I did get this moment just because I loved his outfit and his look. And his look. It's a keeper.

Yeah. We go through a sequence where Carol gets off the bus there in LA, obviously. She finds a boutique and beauty salon to go get some all in one. Yeah, some non prison duds prison clothes or clothes she wore when she went to prison. One one imagines and but there's also kind of a couple of moments where we see her like like looking up and like enjoying the sunshine. There's a couple good business moments of like, oh, yeah, she is out of jail and she feels good about that. Most of the characters in this one are not, this is our one-offs. You know what? I didn't even mention in our run-up, our director. Also a one-off. This is the only directorial effort here of Charles s Dubin

This is his only Rockford files episode But just you know doing the old the old credit scroll started directing in the early 50s Did a one episode of a lot of things a lot of Hawaii five Ohjak, and 44 episodes of MASH, which is... Wow, okay, yeah. Quite a body of work. But his last credits are from the late 80s doing Mathnet, which I thought you would appreciate. Yes! Oh, yeah, on Square One television. That's good stuff.

[♪ music playing, Yeah, Mathnet, in case anyone hasn't seen it, it was part of children's television. They did the dragnet thing, but they tried to solve math things with math problems. The story you're about to see is a fib, but it's short. I don't remember much of it. I just remember it fondly. I remember watching it on PBS when I was that age. Amazing directorial work on that show, that Matt McIntosh.

Anyway, apologies for not mentioning him earlier, as we usually do. Again, one off. So that was leading up to saying that Lynette Meddy, who plays Carol Thorne, is her only Rockford Fowles appearance, but she was also on MASH. Oh yeah, she played like a variety of nurses. Of nurses, yes, she was many also on MASH. Oh yeah she played like a variety of nurses. Yes she was many nurses on MASH. Anyways she has a good presence here she is she's fun to watch. We get to see her enjoying her freedom I guess I would say. Yeah I do like throughout the episode enjoy her and Jim working off of

each other that it's good stuff. So there's a sequence here where the guy who's been following her is going to a pay phone. And Jim is also going to a pay phone. And these are kind of intercut with watching her go into the salon and then come out with new clothes. And then she's going to rent a car. So she goes to a car rental place. And then she's walking around with the salesperson

to pick one out, etc. The following guy is on the phone saying, I don't know where Rockford is. He's supposed to be on her. You know, immediately our plot thickens. What is going on here? It's a good intriguing twist, right? Cause you automatically assume that he's following her not only from the title, but just that's what she sees he sees me doing and then when he mentions Rockford, you're like wait, what is happening? Hmm. Well, yeah, what is the situation here? Jim is going to

Various phone booths to call Rocky who is at a different phone booth to update Rocky as to his location So that when he needs his firebird, Rocky can bring it to him. Presumably Rocky has been driving the firebird from phone booth to phone booth. Right. To whatever the last phone booth that Jim was at, and they just keep doing that. So now we've got the hint that Jim is on to the fact that he's being followed. Right. And yeah, no, this is good.

And of course, Rocky, Rocky is great because you have any idea how hard it is to keep people away from a payphone? Hashtag 70s problems. I like that he told somebody that he was a doctor. Yeah. Rocky definitely doctor vibes. We so we go through a couple stages of that. The second place that Rocky goes, I guess Jim had left a handwritten sign on a piece of notebook paper that says, do not use danger of severe electrical shock.

I I had to pause with this handwriting. I was like, this looks like it says do not USB. And it's just like signed like, yeah, Metropolitan Power Commissioner or something. But as Rocky says, it worked great. Yeah. But finally, Jim gives him the corner that he wants the firebird at. We we watched Jim watch the other guy go to a phone booth to, you know, call in again about whatever. He skips across the street.

Rocky pulls up in the firebird. I'll see you back at the trailer. Rocky. How am I supposed to get back there? But no time now, Rocky. And he strands Rocky as he follows Carol, who has rented her car and starts driving. So the guy who's been following Jim sees Jim driving. Jim gives him a good like, how you doing? Like wave. The guy runs to his car, goes to turn, and his tire has been deflated.

So he cannot follow. And we can only assume that Jim managed to get that in there at some point. Can't possibly be a coincidence. Right, right. Good stuff. Two things here. One, this is a very early instance of Jim pulling Rocky in to do stuff for him? Yeah. Or I think that might be a little counter to one of our theories of how long it took Rocky to, like, start getting involved with Jim's actual business as opposed to just being disapproving of him. Yeah, yeah, because this is definitely during the era where Rocky would use every excuse to tell Jim he doesn't approve of his job, but he's clearly having fun. Well, having some fun.

He doesn't like being ditched. Grudgingly having fun. And then I just did not go back to look, do we see this guy again? I was trying to think about that too. I don't remember, because he can't possibly be one of the two that show up pretending to be cops. Right.

Because Jim would just recognize them straight out. Right. But one of those two just disappear from the story as well, right? Yeah. But it makes sense. It makes sense. Like when we get to it, there's definitely a very makes sense explanation. I just was like, I didn't go back to checking because sometimes I'd mix up faces.

I was like, maybe he was also somewhere else, but. There is a thing where prey species instinct where you're not identifying the animal that's trying to eat you, you're just trying to get away from it. I am a little bit that way with the goons on the Rockford Pots. Every so often I'm just like,

no, this just reads as danger. I don't need to know the specifics. And which is a disservice to some of the most goonish goons on television. Yeah, how dare you? The phone thing, I just want to make the note left on the phone thing is great. I find it, oh God, it's just some of the good writing

in the show, like Rocky's complaining, tells Jimmy he's got a problem. Jim solves the problem with this note. Like, I'll just tell a lie that will free up the next phone for Rocky or whatever. He's just always entirely on throughout this whole episode, and I think that's great. It sets us up for, instead of being like a brooding detective that... So I feel like this is like early rock profiles where they're still trying to establish him

as a different kind of detective than what has come before. So instead of him like being a brooding detective who can take his lumps and just is persistent, he's definitely persistent and he could definitely take his lumps. But like, he's playing people's game with that. He's trying to see if he can win the game that they're playing. We'll get to that. Oh, yeah. Well, and we start off with game gamesmanship, if you will, in our next scene, where we are at a restaurant where Carol is alone in a booth having presumably finished her meal because I don't think we see any food on the table and Jim walks up and Awkwardly looks I think there's a bit of a of a gag where I could see look like is he looking at her legs?

Yeah, yeah, you know and then she's like, can I help you and he says that he was in that booth earlier And he lost his wallet and he was just trying to see if it was on the floor There's a bit of banter to get them talking Basically, she has a good line Thematically strong so this is where my like con game brain really kicked in this is a con But you know the specific thing. So he's like, I dropped my wallet. It's not so much the cash and the credit cards, but there's some irreplaceable things in there.

And she says, oh, like pictures of your family. And he's like, actually, three uncashed tickets for the track. She says, well, maybe I'll help you find it. And she gets up and is looking. And so when she's looking away, he slips the wallet underneath the foot of the table. So then when she goes to look under the table, she is the one who finds it. He offers to buy her lunch, she says, No, you know, no, thanks. That's not necessary. It's not often you help someone cash a winning ticket. And he's like, Oh, do you do you play the ponies? And so they start talking races and and horse betting. She ends up asking what he does. I'm a sports investment manager specializing in off-track arrangements. A bookie.

I freelance a little. She introduces herself, says she's a fashion photographer. She's in from Detroit, fresh off a divorce, just looking to take a little vacation. Jim does buy her lunch He just gives he's just like hey, but you know put her lunch on my credit card She's looking at him tells him that he has an interesting profile Photographically speaking so there's a little bit of flirtation starting to creep in at the end. Yeah Yeah, and then we end on her saying so how about you help me bet on some horses? It's a great scene. They have good chemistry.

They have really good chemistry and it's flirty and defensive in the beginning and then eases into this flirty thing. There's this one moment in it that I think is a lot of fun, which has to do with his wallet because he says, imitation alligator, and she asks, imitation? I think stumbles. His con here is that he makes money making bets.

He has to think, my character that I'm playing here would not have imitation. This seems wrong to her. He just says, I'm a conservationist. I know it's like a little thing, but it really does feel like this, uh, set up of Jim's going to play this con game on her, but she is paying attention. Yeah. She's relaxed and, uh, you think that Jim wants her to be the market, but you

don't think that she's, she's being. My, my note at the end of the scene is like, this is really fun because who is playing who here? Yeah, exactly. And who knows who is playing who right? Like, we we know she's not fresh out of a divorce in Detroit. Right. Does Jim know that she I mean, Jim obviously knows that she's lying. Yeah, but has she already clocked him and is like, I'm going gonna see where this is going or she has a con that she wants

To run and he's a good he seems like a good mark, right? And if she is doing that does Jim realize that and is he playing into it? Right, like there's a couple levels here, which are fun the thing that really got my my noodle going was the wallet because one of the Classic cons that I was writing up and this could be an intro to lots of different ones, but there's one called the payoff, which the overall frame is you rope the mark into into an association with someone who claims to be working for like a syndicate of some kind and he has inside knowledge about fixed whatever if it should be something they don't know about. So like if they're an investment banker, then it's about races. If they're if they're into races, it's about boxing. If they're into boxing, it's about stocks, right? Like it's you pick something that's kind of they

don't have total knowledge about and then this syndicate guy bets your money for you you make a profit and then he sends you to make a big bet because he can't do it anymore because he's getting recognized or something and it goes from there but the reason that you get hooked up is the classic ploy is you and the Roper who brings you into it find a wallet and in the world is an uncashed, you know, uncashed ticket or whatever. And so by returning the wallet to this insider, oh, thank you so much. What's actually important in here isn't all this money, which I have a lot of because I'm obviously big, important and wealthy, but it's this ticket. And as a show of appreciation, I'm going to place a bet for you. No risk to you.

Yeah, that's great. Yeah. So once the wallet came up, I was like, it's a con. He's kind of doing that. Like, we don't know what his his end game is yet. But like, yeah, he's definitely trying to rope her in. We have a scene outside where they're looking at the odds in a newspaper. She wants to bet on nine lives over Jim's objection. He says there's no chance, but she likes the name. So he's like, all right, I'll phone it in and book it. So he calls the trailer. Rocky answers. Jim gives a bunch of bookie jargon to book these races.

Rocky says, are you OK? Right. Are you drunk? Yeah. Yeah. Rocky apparently was waiting for a call, but not necessarily this call. Yeah. He goes through all the motions. So Carol's just hearing his side of the conversation, obviously. And then Rocky's last thing is, stay off the freeway. Yeah.

He hangs up and she says, hey, you are a bookie. You didn't believe me? It pays to be careful. Cut to a knock at Jim's motel door To be careful script wise there's a nice thing where rocky in talking to Jim on the phone says Are you coming to the trailer? Are you gonna stay in the motel again tonight? Yeah. Yeah, we are primed for this Yeah, good little writing bit there that I always appreciate and we have our two goons claiming to be police Really quickly flashing a badge when I'm like, well, they're not cops Yeah

The speed with which that badge was flashed that my notes to were like nope. No good exchange Can we come in please? I don't like standing in the hall and you shouldn't have joined a force Which is very good remember you don't don't don't let the cops in, everybody. They don't have a warrant. You don't have to let them in. Oh, they hit them with the I can't remember what the threat was. It's just thread of like there's the threat, but it's also the season one. Always make sure there's a reminder that Jim's an ex con.

Yes. Yes. Pulled your package, Rockford. Ex con. I was pardoned. No visible means of support. X-Con line. Pulled your package, Rockford. X-Con. I was pardoned. No visible means of support. Can't sort frequently with criminals. If I wanted to, I could jerk you under in about ten minutes. Why didn't you say it was social?

Come in! So there's two goons. As you said, one of them disappears, and so the other one we'll be seeing more of, though. His name is Nate, as we learn. I could have sworn He was in other Rockford files episodes, but I think this is his only appearance this actor May he's in one other one Bill Fletcher. Oh, yeah the the the goon in the car They credit him as the man with the flat tire. Hmm. Okay, Bill Fletcher was in one other episode

He was it he was it he was a hit man in the gang at Don's Drive-In So, okay, probably someone more like hey look a goon. He's been in one episode episode he was it he was it he was a hit man in the gang at Don Drive-In so okay probably someone more like hey look a goon he's been in one episode of lots of lots of TV shows and in a bunch of like mediocre movies oh look at him with a mustache that's a good look for him anyway he has a great face he's a good good heavy yeah he stands in that doorway and it is, it's threatening. He's taller than Jim, which is always remarkable. Or at least he feels like he's taller than Jim. Yeah.

The camera makes him taller than Jim, if nothing else. Anyway, yeah, in case we haven't watched the show before, which is the first season we made out of, Jim's an ex-con, but he was pardoned. But there's plenty to pin something on him. He's been associating with Carol Thorne who's also an ex-con Mm-hmm Jim final lets them in wants to know what he's been doing with Carol Thorne He tells the cover story that we have seen I I met her we hit it off. I've been dating her a little Yeah, it's a really good golly gee act from him like he's like I don't know what you're talking about

She's an ex-con. She just got out of jail two days ago. I never would have guessed that They tell Rockford to leave her alone. We don't want you around her The department has reasons of its own which is like okay You're not cops as they leave Jim wants to see his badge again look to me like something they give out at Disneyland And he has not shown the badge and is just told you've been warned to see his badge again. It looked to me like something they give out of Disneyland. And he has not shown the badge and is just told, you've been warned. We then go to Jim talking to his client or clients. Another hint that it's the first season. The Jim smoking in this scene. As we pan over a couple framed photographs of Carol hugging someone with someone, her partner presumably, as Jim is talking to Mr. and

Mrs. Hode who have hired Jim to find their son Cliff who is Carol's either boyfriend or husband. I think they leave it a little unclear. These two might leave it unclear. At some point she says they used to see each other, but that was it. Like that was the extent of it. So Mr. and Mrs. Hode. Mr. Hode is kind of an older man mustache. And Mrs. Hode is kind of a... she's sitting in a rocking chair and she's kind of all huddled up. They've been putting off her operation as long as they can and they need to find Cliff.

It's unclear. I was like, because they need Cliff to pay for it. Because I'm, you know, I'm like, what's the con, right? It's a little unclear. I guess maybe the pitch to Jim was like, we want him to be there or something. Yeah, like maybe, you know, it might be tricky, you know, like, so they want to see him before just she might pass

pass away. Like, it's just, it's, it's definitely that they're tugging on his heartstrings here. Yeah, this is a poor old couple who just they don't care what kind of trouble their son got himself into. They just want to find him. Yeah. Jim tells them about the quote unquote cops that came to see him And they say that Jim should tell Carol about them because maybe that'll maybe that'll give her motivation to go find Cliff And Jim's like yeah, it's a good idea. I'm gonna try it basically He leaves we stay inside and since we stay inside after Jim leaves I'm like, okay

This is this is not what it seems and if you don't know right away somebody asks, is he gone? Yeah And they spring into action dropping their acts. So yes, this is in fact not the mr. Mrs. Ho just looking for their son Cliff We get his name later miles miles miles Keely Yeah, and and D Keely. Yeah. And Dixie. Yeah.

Miles and Dixie are indeed playing up an act for Jim's benefit. And we know their cons because he starts using the lingo. But you never want to push a mark like that. And the stakes are one million dollars. This guy Rockford, he's a player. You got to handle him careful or he'll bite you back. So we got the sticks. Appreciate that. We get a little respect on Rockford's name. He changes his demeanor and then he's also kind of like changing his code or something. While he's doing that Dixie is lighting up a cigarette and like, yes, relaxing is very funny.

But her job is to stay by the phone. If the real estate man comes by, they're going to need the place for another week, which again, good, you know, con like, you know, you're renting the place, et cetera. There's cold beer in the icebox. He's going to go keep tabs on Rockford. So there's a thing now that we've watched the episode in the moment. I was like, oh, these are a couple of con folk, consters, con artists. Yeah, that's it. Con artists that are their team. They're working together.

Now that I've watched it, I'm like, oh, no, Dixie is just an employee. Miles is in charge. Miles is in charge. And he has like, yeah, people that he basically pays to do certain jobs when he needs them, right? I think that's the person who was following Jim. I think that's one person. It was just like someone who was following Jim that day just to report to Miles. Yeah.

And that's it. Miles, as we'll see, he makes a good villain for Jim. He has that like dark reflection thing. Yeah, there's there's a danger to him, especially later on when we see him like really start to use his skills and you're like, oh, you can't get ahead of this one. He is played by Robert Simons, who does not appear in any other Rockford's, unfortunately. But he was in Catch Me If You Can.

Mm-hmm. Yep. Which is not Find Me If You Can. Right. And he was in The Exorcist, apparently. I mean, he's been in a lot of movies as well as TV shows, so. He was in Chud 2. Freddy's Nightmares television series.

Mandroid, which is... when did that come out? 93, yeah. Well, it is what it is. It's Mandroid. He was in Ice Pirates. Oh, I haven't seen that in a thousand years. I definitely recognize them, I don't think as any particular role. Yeah, he's definitely fun to watch as this episode unfolds.

Yeah, in a similar vein, we go to dinner where Jim and Carol are having dinner. Yes. And this waiter hands Jim the menu and gives him a tip on he's like, Hey, Jim, and he has this tip on a race, again, in the name of someone who is paid to do a job, right? Like, yeah, this is part of Jim's cover here. You get the feeling that like, Miles has a bunch of people on a payroll, and Jim shows up at the restaurant a half hour early to tell the bus boy what to do. She says, Oh, you pick the wine. I have no head for wine. He's like, oh, this isn't this isn't the wine list. These are the odds on on races across the country. And he opens the wine list and inside are these just big

lists of races and odds. She has a list of hunches that she wants him to book that she's been making. So she has a little list that she gives him. I think at the bottom of it, it's because he's been kind of joking about the names of the horses. And I did not write it down, but it comes up again later. It was like, oh, yeah, the horse. So sorry. I'm so sorry. Oh, so sorry. Oh, so sorry.

Yeah. Yeah. So he makes a joke about the horse named Oh, so sorry. She has a good hunch. Let's order. You can book it later. You don't order in here. Eat the corned beef hash. So sorry, she has a good hunch. Let's order. You can book it later. You don't order in here. You eat the corned beef hash. If you eat anything else in here, it's eight to five that you die. You're fine.

Yeah. I can't believe the corned beef hash is the safe thing. Right. Tells her about his visit from the LAPD warning him away from her. She lets go of his hand. Maybe she should run along. He says, I did time myself as far as I'm concerned. If you haven't been in the joint, you aren't completely trustworthy. Which is a good Rockford bit that comes back in multiple episodes.

I love this the following exchange where she's like, oh, but I was innocent. He's like, I was framed. So was I. She goes, no, but I was. So was's like, I was framed, so was I. She goes, no, but I was. He goes, so was I. It's just good back and forth. And then he settles on just saying, like he doesn't care, he just doesn't wanna see her waste energy

on this fashion photographer bit. Like you can drop the act. Yeah, yeah. Cause it doesn't matter. I like you. Let's eat some corned beef hash and forget it. Mm-hmm. We then go to Jim who's in his car. Clearly we've been staking out the place all night. Finally, Carol is leaving wherever she was staying with her bags in hand and he follows.

Now this is another one of those Peter and the Wolf moments where we get like this nice airy eerie kind of music. The closer we get to Rockford the more harmonica comes in. And then when Carol shows up we get like I'm I'm guessing a cello like suspenseful percussion and bassy string. full percussion and bassy string. And then then we're going to go into full on banjo. Right. Just a moment with this. Full on banjo picking. As we just watch them on the highway. Yeah, it's just it's kind of a nice pursuit sequence.

We see here and we see him. He has a nice little move where he's far enough back that he uses one half of a binocular to like check and make sure he's like still behind the right car. And then we see a sign where they are crossing into Nevada. It's time for us to take our traditional intermission as we all need a little break to head out to the lobby, take a little stretch, get a snack, a drink, reflect on what's come before, and anticipate what's to come in

this episode of the Rockford Files. We also like to take this time to remind you of where else you can find us on the internet. Epi, where can our listeners find you? Well, you can find me at my website dig1000holes.com. That's 1000 the number. Or you can find me as Epidya on the Macedon instance dice.camp or on cohost. Where can our listeners find you, Nathan? All of my games, zines, podcast projects, and other work are at NDPdesign.com. You can also find me at NDP on cohost and over on Instagram at NDPdesign.games.

And of course, you can always find this show, 200 a Day, at 200aday.fireside.fm. And now we return to the continuing adventures of Jimmy Rocco. Jim is in his motel. There's a knock on the door and it's Carol with a gun. He's blown. She wants to know who he is and why he's following her.

Because it's great. Great response where he's like, Oh, no, we're not allowed to have girls in our room. Yeah. Just wants to close the door on that gun. But she saw him following around Modesto and then paid off the maid who he wanted to keep quiet. She sold you out for 10 bucks. So Jim's story here is he's with the PRW. The what? PRW.

The Parole Rehabilitation Watch. It's a new governor's initiative to keep tabs on new parolees. When I said I was a bookie, you should have notified your parole officer. I was very disappointed in you for that, Carol. Now crossing state lines, possession of a firearm. But he has influence with the parole board. So if she just, you know, puts the gun down. He can help her out She wants to see some ID. He says well, we can't carry ID in our role. She's not buying it

He gives her his wallet looks he's up sees his ID. He said he's a private eye. Who are you looking for? You know, I'm not supposed to reveal that and she pokes him in the stomach with the gun But I will, yeah, it's good. So yeah, it's good and I also like how this whole attitude is like, oh yeah, Carol is in this world. She's a hustler, she's a con, like she knows what's up. They're on equal footing. Giving us the whole him following her and seeing his technique like you were saying

with the one half the binocular and stuff is great because it's just to no avail. Yeah, she just she had him. She made him and then that was it. Like it's just really good because it does establish her as an equal in this situation. He mentions at some point like, well, you know, I blew it so I might as well tell you what's going on. So he says that he's working for the Hodes. They think she knows where their son Cliff is.

They want to find him before she has her operation. And she's like, what operation? Like, of course, as for Mr. Hodes description, Clif's father is fat and bald. You're working for Miles Keely. You're getting played for a mark. Over three years ago, Cliff, her partner or as well whatever, Miles and two other guys, hit the Camp Pendleton

Marine Corps payroll for over a million. But then it blew up due to a fluke. Cliff ended up with the money and the others just got away with their lives. She was in jail at the time. Cliff came to her because he was scared to spend the money because the government has the serial numbers. She says something like, and he's, and Jim's like, and he's stupid. He's intellectually limited, but he was just smart enough to know that he needed help laundering the money. so that's why he came to her. Miles doesn't know where Cliff is but knows that Carol does and wants his money back. So I guess the idea here is that like he's been waiting for her to get out and then she's

gonna join him and they'll blunder the money I guess is the idea. Yeah I think that's what's the plan, their plan, one of the plans in the wealthy layer onion that is the plan. Jim is like, you expect me to swallow all that? And so she has him confirm it by calling information and asking for the Hodes phone number, because it's probably not going to be the same phone number that you have. And sure enough, that is true. Don't let it bug you. Miles has conned some of the best. I just hate getting stiffed at my own racket, that's all. The look he, when he realizes that he's, ah, it's good. It's a very good look. It's like, yeah.

Ah, he got me. Yeah. I guess we get to what the actual agenda is now, which is the statute of limitations has run out on the robbery. And so she wants the reward for recovery of the money right is Theoretically 10% of the million dollars right since Jim is basically since Jim's already Involved and to keep him from blowing up the spot. She'll cut him in for 20% So we're looking at $20,000 right 10% of a million is a hundred thousand. Yeah, $20,000. Yeah, 10% of a million is $100,000. Yeah. $20,000. Yeah. So this is what he says. Okay. And I'm like, Jim, you're not gonna you're not gonna haggle. And he goes in to like shake her hand and she is so startled by him not haggling that he just grabbed the gun out of her hand, which is a great move. And he starts to tie her to the chair and she's like, this isn't necessary. What are you doing? He's going to get her bags because he told Hood where she was.

So once again, get her out of there, but doesn't want her disappearing on him. And then there's a, as I say, a gag with a gag. He wants to gag her. She says no. She closes her mouth and then he stomps on her toe. And when she goes, oh, he shoves it in her mouth. It's it's it's fine It is kind of funny. It's a little like is this really necessary jim, but it works. Okay. All right Now we get into the good stuff. Yeah, we're gonna go to Kind of an amazing hotel room

This hotel room is enormous. Yes. It is. It's got like a a wrought iron Uh, like partition partition. It's got like a wrought iron... Like partition? Partition, yeah. Like plants. If you didn't tell me this is a hotel room, I would have thought this is a Season 1 best apartment. We go into this room immediately because we're watching Keely and Nate the Goon tossing Carol's bags. They've already made it to the hotel. We go outside to see Jim pulling into the parking lot, so we know he's too late. And they indeed get the drop on Jim when he just walks in with the key.

Of course, they're not going to tell him where Carol is. She says, get out of jail free card. And Keely says, so Nate's the muscle, he has the gun, so that's present through this whole interaction. Keely says, you have about one chance in 10,000 surviving the next 30 seconds I bet if we check your pockets will find your your hotel key Pat them down. We see QE take his wallet. Just like oh your wallet. Yeah, just on general principle I think which is great and indeed finds his hotel his ice cold. You're Bush League Rockford. But here we have Jim getting his situational story,

doing what he does to like keep afloat, keep afloat in the situation. She's not there, Miles. I'm way ahead of you. Yeah, there's banter here where he says you're actually kind of a disappointment. I expected more from such an experienced con man or whatever. We'll go. And when you see that she's not there, then I'll play you. He says, like, I'll play for a percentage. You can cut me in and then I'll help you. Right. We then come to one of my I think this is an all time Rockford move.

This is one of my favorites that we've seen in a while. Oh, yes, that's good. They go out of that room. They're on the second floor of a two-floor motel with the courtyard parking in the middle. So they come out of the door. There's two guys approaching them who are there for a convention.

They have badges and hats or something who are talking about, oh, the convention is this, blah, blah, blah. They're making some kinds of plans. They pass shortly in front of Jimim who is standing in front of miles and nate who are kind of holding his arms like kind of low key keeping control of him jim approaches them these two guys puts his arms around both of their shoulders how you doing fellas hey i'm jim rockford just hit down from soup all's i was hoping maybe you guys put me on the gambling joint where the game isn't rigged i'd like a little their shoulders. Notorious con man an armored car bandit and this is his friend Nate something or other he likes to go around pretending

He's with the police department. Very nice to meet you. How do you do? Likewise? I'm sure hey listen What do you say we all go together? No party. We really gotta get down We better know we got to pick up Margaret and the girl market still has a plume the girls can stay with your sister And all five of them are now on the lower set of stairs heading down to the parking lot. Jim ends the thing by shoving the two guys that he has his arms around backwards into his captors and makes a dash for the firebird, which he indeed does make it to. One of my favorite parts is Miles trying to turn the situation towards him with the

like, well, remember we were going to go meet this person and that person. Like, yeah, yeah. He starts trying to save it. Like he sees what Jim is doing. Yeah. Is doing what he can to counter what Jim's trying to do, but doesn't account for Jim physically getting the drop on everyone. Um, and then we have good chase music as

More banjo as our Villains pursue Jim. They both run a red light. There's lots of honking so Many tire squeals these are tires that are fighting the road It's good Jim turns into the hotel and Carol is running out of the door. How did you get loose? Never mind. Myles is right behind me. Get in. So I love the convenient freedom that Carol gets here. Our chase continues and really is leading up to one of our favorite things that we just haven't seen in a while. Yeah. we get we get it. We get a J-turn. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, we're talking before when Rockford found out that he was being played, you know, he had like a real raw moment, you know, like that. I feel like after this, we get a real raw moment from Carol, like when she's like, you're nuts. Yeah. After riding in the car for a brief moment with Rockford, Carol like when she's like you're nuts after riding in the car for a brief moment with Rockford she's a little terrified. It's great because it's the full J-Turrent story that you want

where they go into it's kind of like a cul-de-sac ish kind of thing he pulls the turn it kicks up all this dust he then passes the chasing car so that he can look out the window and like wave goodbye. They try to do the J-turn, their car is too big, they're not skilled enough drivers, it skids sideways into a tree and then they can't pursue. It's so good. The only thing that's missing, and maybe I blinked, but this really felt like a moment where someone had to hit the steering wheel in frustration, right? Like the...

I think that did not happen, unfortunately, but very good. So yes, Carol does have this moment of, you're nuts, and Jim's like, well, I got us away from them, so I don't know what you want from me. Jim wants to know where Cliff is. He's in for 20%. And Carol says, that's when I thought you were competent. She's changed her mind. She doesn't need him. Well, that's tough. I'm sticking to you like a bad smell.

Fine. She offers him 10%. That's the best you're going to get. She says something like, and if you don't take that, I'm just going to go into a holding pattern. You're not going to get anything. And a great, great Jim Rockford philosophy here. For 10%, I don't risk my neck.

I just stand around and look tough. Well, I hope that'll have a calming effect on your driving. So his perspective take is now $10,000. $10,000, yes. If this all goes to plan. If. Big if. We then go to the local police department where Miles Keely in this giant overcoat is claiming to be Jim Rockford and saying that

a couple stole his car. He has his wallet ID. He doesn't have his driver's license because apparently driver's license is in the car. The real problem is that he has a specialized medical condition and he needs his medicine which is in the glove compartment of the car. Nate is his male nurse and when he starts doubling over coughing quickly provides him with a like a respirator mask to breathe in as the temporary measure, but it only gives a little bit of relief. It's a it's a incredibly convenient ailment in that, like he's got a temporary relief from it. He needs the meds are in the car and you can't take them to the hospital because they're not going to be able to do anything for him. Right. They don't have the special the specialized equipment.

He gets it flown in from like the Cleveland Clinic every week or whatever. So this this cop says to, you know, put out a bulletin on the firebird. They do, I guess, to lend a little bit of veracity kind of towards the end of the scene. Cop comes in, he's like, we ran the plate. It is registered to Jim Rockford. Right. So he's like, see.

And then he asked, can I ride with you? Because that way I'll be able to get my medicine as quickly as possible. He's being very big. But also there's just enough plausibility that it's getting things to go his way. Which again, we like to see. We usually see from Jim, right? Right. But it does work. It gets the cop to put a little bit of a heat on it, a little bit of emergency going here. Doesn't want this man dying on his watch.

We go to a patrol car, indeed picking up the Firebird. Cop has him get out. Jim's like, what's this all about? And the cop is having none of it. I'll put a pill in you right now. Yeah, such a good line. This is Vince Howard is the cop. Yeah, he's been in five episodes. So he's a police officer here. He's an uncredited police officer and Chicken Little is a little chicken. He's in

the trouble with Warren, with Warren Kleinschmidt. I don't remember that character. He's Billy Mayhew in the house on Willis Avenue. That's a that's a character. Yeah. I forget the role, but that's one of them. That's an important character. And then he's a transit cop and just a couple of guys. All right. So prolific cop actor Vince Howard. Yes. Oh, it's a rap on him.

It's a rap on on Vince. You love to see it. He's been so many cops, most of them arresting Jim. Yes. Anyway, he has Jim and Carol out patting him down at the front of the Firebird as our lieutenant and poor sick man pull up. They there's there's a gag before they pull up where he says, what is all about? And the officer says, this is a stolen car.

And Jim says, it's not stolen. This is my car. This car belongs to Jim Rockford. He's like, yeah, I'm Jim Rockford. And that's when the car comes up. So Miles gets out of the other car goes, why, Jim, it's my son, Jim, you need to let me know when you borrow the car. So he is deescalating right the story now so that the cops were a convenient way for him to catch Jim But now he needs them gone, right? It's all a big mistake. Thank you so much for your help They like do some business where Nate runs it over to the to the glove box and pulls out

You know quote his pills. Yeah. Like you don't see him see anything, but he pretends to take it. And does a little like scolding of Jim. Like, you know that he keeps his medication in it. Right. So this is a moment where everyone, Jim is in the game as much as they are. So if they can get information to Jim, he's likely to go along with it to

get the cops out of here as well. Like, I really like how this scene plays out. They're not trying to frame him or, you know, get him pulled away. They're just trying to make sure he doesn't get away from them. Right. Right. And as long as he cooperates, they can do that and nobody has to have the cops involved. And it's a good metatextual negotiation going on here that I really enjoyed. And in fact, the cop says, I think you're pulling my boots. He's not buying it. I think now that he's seeing him all together, he's like, this isn't. No, this is right here.

But they're outside of city limits and he has a lot of work piling up. So he's going to let it go. But he tells them as they leave, get out of my county. Yes. I'm pretty sure I recognize this guy as well. And I did Sandy Ward. Sandy Ward. What a name. You'll be shocked to hear plays a sheriff in everything. Yeah. So again, this is closing the book on Sandy Ward for us as well.

He's in this and then he's the sheriff in Chicken Little is a Little Chicken. Yeah. And he's also in So Help Me God. I think he's the like guy who gets Peter Henshaw as a character. I think he's like the guy who gets Peter Henshaw as a character I think he's like the guy who gets cheated or something like he's not the mobster but he's right something like that he's yeah I don't I don't recall but yeah anyway this is our last appearance he was also the ghost engineer for the ghost train in the first episode of amazing stories so if you're if you have the kind of childhood

that I did, that means something to you. I appreciate it when there's the like the cops who know what's going on. Yeah, yeah. It's just like he's not he's not a fool, but he's also not like angry. He's just like, I don't have time for this. I don't have time for this. Yeah, no, there's a good full arc. Like he starts off like, I don't know. And this. I don't have time for this. Yeah, no, there's a good full arc. Like he starts off like, I don't know.

And then he comes up to, OK, let's get this done. And then when it comes back, he's like, all right, shouldn't have done that. Like, OK, I just want out of this. Whatever this is, I don't I don't want to be a part of it. I don't want to try him. You're just going to keep lying to everyone here is just going to keep lying to me. They have some business with the four of them. Carol claims that Jim was holding her at gunpoint to try and get her to tell him where Cliff is or whatever.

So this is like Miles and Carol talking out what they're going to do next. And they come to agreeing that if Jim isn't cut into the deal, he's going to blow the whistle. So they might as well keep him involved. At first, he's like, well, how about he'll get five percent of mine and five percent of yours? And then they come around to it. Or how about his 10 percent will come out of cliffside? Yeah. So we are now looking at a million dollars that they're planning to split,

I guess, three ways. I'm unclear about whether Nate is supposed to be getting in on it or if he's just like, yeah, just muscle or whatever. But yeah, so at this point, we're looking at a third each of the million dollars or of the reward for the million dollars. I think they're I think they're shooting for the reward at this point. But I don't know. Actually, this negotiation might be. I think it's for the the reward at this point, but I don't know actually this negotiation might be I think it's for the million because miles wants the money. Yeah miles wants the million

Yeah, yeah, cuz Carol's been like we'll get the reward and then that's that's the safe money and miles is like no That's my money. The the important bit is that none of these negotiations matter any moment, right? We have a brief scene where they're all in the car Nate has been keeping his gun on Jim and Carol wants him to put the gun away. Miles says, I don't know, it gives me an edge that I like. Jim's like, you're not going to shoot me. Put it away. Miles has a good line. He's like, well, put it down. When the bluff's been called, it's time to fold. I don't like holding a bluff longer than necessary. So Nate throws his gun out the window and Carol's gun out the window.

Yeah. The idea is now we're all on the same level. What about Miles? Don't worry about him. He's scared of guns. Yeah, of course he is. Which I buy as a, you know. Oh, in the moment I did. Yeah. And because it came from Carol Carol Carol's Loyalties are nebulous at this point, but the fact that she's arguing to get rid of the gun

With Jim coming along kind of points to her being like at least not wanting to see Jim get hurt Right, right. We go to our Elusive cliff coming home and they're all there waiting for him. Ask Carol, why do you bring them along? That wasn't the deal. Cliff and Miles have some back and forth about what happened. He wasn't trying to rip Miles off. He just happened to get the money at the end when it all got so wild. Ask who Jim is, and this is when he has his line from the preview montage. I'm the inside man.

I'm the one who got the info out to Miles in the first place. You mean he has a piece of it? And Miles says, of course, 40 percent off the top. That comes to about 100000 out of year end. Yeah. Which is like, what? But OK. Right. Because there is four of them. Right. So a quarter of a million would be 250.

Yeah. But 40 percent percent. Oh, but 40% of that makes yeah, okay. Point four. I should be doing this. Yeah, that's actually a hundred thousand exactly according to my calculator. Yeah, and according to mine. So it's not 40% off the top, 40% out of his share, because the 40% off the top would be 400,000. So yeah, anyway. Oh, unless he's saying 40% off the top would be 400,000. So yeah. Anyway, oh, unless he's saying 40% off the top that comes to 100,000 out of your end because it would be 100,000 out of all of their ends. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. So you could interpret that statement either way. The point is it doesn't matter. He's implying that they're all paying Jim when he just wants. Exactly. Yeah,

yeah, yeah. He's saying we're all paying him. So you owe him a hundredth. K. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but Cliff thinks that Miles brought Jim along to cut Cliff out of his share, and he's not going to take them to the money with Jim involved. And so Miles just like, sorry, Jim, you're out. That play didn't work. So we gave it our best shot. Whatever happened to honor among thieves? And then Jim does kind of blow up the spot tells Cliff that if if

Carol told him that the cops were after him she was lying the statute of limitations has run out all he needs to do is take this money to the authorities there's a 10% reward it's clean money and he's out of it he doesn't have to run anymore. Miles has another play. Seven years. He's like oh but armed robbery is seven years and yeah so there's like more trying to change the story to get Cliff invested and Cliff is finally like I want you all to leave get out yeah I'm not interested and that's when Nate hits him in the back of the head yeah so he's a little dazed and Miles pulls a tiny gun out of his sleeve.

I thought we agreed to get rid of our guns. I cheat. Yes. They tie up Cliff and Jim and start tossing the place looking for the money. So there's an opportunity for Jim and Cliff to quietly talk. Jim asks if they're going to find the money and Cliff says no. It's like then I advise you to cooperate fully. It's the only smart thing to do.

You'd like to do something smart, wouldn't you, Cliff? Yeah. Cliff nods. They've played up that Cliff is dumb like this whole time. So now Jim is, you know, all right. So we're going to get to the best hike in the world. The best hike in the world. Yep. He has this amazing green and primer station wagon. They're out in the country somewhere in the desert

countryside. It's a three-hour hike to where he stashed the money. Carol's like okay hold on. Cliff might just be sending them off, sending us off into the middle of nowhere and then we're gonna have to give up the bundle to get back. It's like I think Jim put him up to it. Jim's like what? Carol's been on the con so long. She doesn't trust anyone and clips like no here I'll show you and he draws him he draws a map kind of as yeah insurance, right and it is the worst map Yeah, you can't get back with that map, but you would die You would like the camera is like on his on the paper as he's drawing it He's like well you walk up this hill. It's just a line

Then there's a creek and he just draws another line But apparently it's enough for for miles under this white stone Yep over a ridge down into a valley and I hit it under a white stone Yeah, we now have a what I call a not fun walking montage Yeah, we now have a what I call a not fun walking montage. Everyone but Miles gets their suit jacket off, which is sort of why Miles isn't. I don't know why they didn't just leave him in the car. Oh, it just looks miserable.

Yeah. This is I was like, as they are standing there, one of them, I think Cliff, maybe Jim has like a canteen, like the round. Yeah, yeah. which is great this landscape is basically where I grew up yeah I mean it's in Nevada not New Mexico but like I recognize it right and so I'm watching them walk I'm like don't take your jackets like yeah it might be a little chilly like in the breeze underneath the like underneath because it's it's mountainous it's arid mountain so it's like yeah in the breeze in the shade you're a little chilly but once you start walking in that Sun that Sun is close it's warm it's class it's warm you are not gonna

want those jackets if it was the late afternoon and it was gonna be evening by the time you're heading back you might want to bring a layer because you'll you'll get cold at the end of the day. But it's morning. This is foolish, foolish people. But they do indeed go on their terrible hike. They get up to there's a ridge ahead. Cliff is like, it's over that ridge. Miles is so excited. He runs up. Yeah, he gets to the top of it.

Everyone else is straggling behind He looks out and he just goes what? Terribly disappointed Voice and there's a good pause here where we don't see it yet. So it's like yeah, okay What's the what's the deal over this? Yeah, what's this reveal? There is a whole reservoir filling the former valley below them. And Miles is like, I know this is where I hid it. I know. I put it under a white rock. But he hasn't been there for three years because he hid it like after the

you know, after everything went down. There's a marker that we see and I'm like, what does that say? But they do zoom in on it at the end of the scene. Of course it says Seward Reservoir, 1971. The timeline of the show is such that that would have been the year that... 74. Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, it aired in 74. The year after. So, yeah. Yeah. That would be three years ago. See, that's the thing. Cliff is so dumb. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. I got a question about this, but we'll get to it when we get to it in the next minute or two. Right. Because our next scene, Jim is pulling the wagon into a garage.

Cliff is waiting. Jim gets out. We see that the car is all torn up and we have a little bit of dialogue before we find out what the deal is. Jim says, oh, the feds have a procedure for searching cars. Yes. But I told him it was under the seat. Cliff indeed had the money stashed under the seat of this of the van. And so that whole thing was a was a was a swindle. And this is where Jim took the money to turn over to the feds to get the reward.

My question is that we can assume that Jim mastermind that last deceit, right? Yeah. Does Jim know when all the reservoirs in Nevada win it? I wouldn't put it past him. That's he really has like a mind for municipal information. Like maybe he remembers the news about that being put in or something, but he. It's awfully convenient. Yeah, nicely convenient

Yeah, so I'm sure this is just you know personalized results My top result when I just Google Seward reservoir is Rockford files filming locations blogspot.com. Yes Of course, I'm sorry as we're scrolling through this you probably came upon this too But the waiter that gave Jim the tip Mm-hmm Isn't laugh at pink a oh man. I'm just gonna ruin that name retired in April 2003 as horse racing's all-time winningest jockey with 9530 victories he played himself on the Rockford files

So that's why it was such a good tip. Yeah. It's Castake Lake State Recreation Area. So it is not a, yeah, so it is a constructed story beat for this. I thought maybe there was like a big news story about this reservoir or something. This is fun just scrolling through this. Yeah, this entry is pretty extensive. Yeah, lots entry is pretty extensive.

Yeah, lots of great photos. I think we're both looking at the Rockford Files filming locations dot blogs, but dot com entry for this episode. I'll put it in the show notes. Absolutely. A lot going on. Um, yeah. Anyway, so I guess just Jim's just smart.

Jim just just knows things. Yeah, there's a lot of like convenient things in this one where it's like like Carl was running away at the exact right time. Like lots of like, let's tell the story we want to tell. Yeah, yes. And I think one of them is like, sure, Jim knows about this. Jim does take in information. General trivia is not Holmesian, right? It's not like Sherlock Holmes who has like or

encyclopedic around has this encyclopedic knowledge. It's just that Jim like when he reads that a reservoir is open that just clicks in the back of his brain and for instance that could be used in a con at some point like a like a real estate con of some some so like that sort of stuff I think just collects in his brain. I am going to say that that's perfectly fine. I agree. All right. So the outcome of all of this back and forth here is that they got $10,000.

So Jim Hanscliff is $5,000 share. And Cliff's like, you said it was a 10% reward. And Jim says, well, they only gave a 1% reward, and I was lucky to get that. Feels very like, yeah, that sounds about right to me. Mm-hmm. He asks if Cliff is going to ask for a receipt or something. Jim could be trying to stiff him. Well, I trust you, you're my friend.

Will you stop acting like a super mark and look at the receipt, huh? Thanks, Jim. Yes. Shove the receipt in Cliff's face. But Cliff doesn't really care that much. He is so excited to go back to LA and see his parents for the first time in three years. Because he's been like on the run, basically. Yeah, in hiding.

So Jim bids him a fond farewell. Then we get to our final scene where Jim finally arrives home at the trailer, comes inside, and Carol is waiting in his chair with the gun. She wants to know how much Jim got from the feds. He might have fooled Cliff with the reservoir gag, but she knows what a down-low dirty liar he is. Jim tells her to put the gun away. You're not going to shoot me and I'm not giving you 10 cents or I'm not

giving you a dime, I think is what he says. No, no, he says 10 cents. Does he say? OK. I would have written down a dime if he said a dime. That's less letters than 10 cents. I don't remember if she says I'm really disappointed in or like I've learned what kind of man you are or something like that It's like I learned what kind of man you are

I I bet you welch on your bets too and Jim says I never welch on a bet that's different And she's like oh well in that case. Yeah, you owe me When you were being a bookie and I was being a fashion photographer You made a handful of bets for me remember? Well three of those came in. One was a 40 to one shot that I've been following for four years in prison. Oh, so sorry? They've been running her at a mile and a sixteenth.

When they shortened the distance, I knew she'd go wire to wire. You owe me $3,000. I've got it all worked out for you. There's a nice calculator appearance. There is. She has it all worked out. And hands him like a piece of paper and he picks up a calculator. And he double checks the math.

Yes. Good. He's not a super mark. Right. And indeed, he does owe her $3,000. You know, I only made five grand myself. Well, you're ahead by 2,000. You know, I didn't even place those bets. I have terrible luck with horses.

Well, after the first three where you lost money, they were all winners. Mm hmm. Womp Womp. Jim tells her that she's terrible on a man's ego. And Carol says, take me to dinner and I'll fix that. You're on. And we have a freeze frame on Jim's big smile. Putting everything behind him.

Two thousand bucks up. Ready to go on a date. End of episode. As Jim's self-appointed bookkeeper and accountant, I would normally put this on the books as two thousand dollars up, but also, good eyes at that dinner date. Leaves him penniless. One way or another. Yes.

Well, plus he probably had a decent amount of expenses that he is clearly not getting reimbursed for. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, hotel rooms, travel, I guess placing bets, at least. I guess he never placed any actual bets. No, but still, I had money for quite a bit of stuff. Now, there is a grift. I'm sure that happens. Someone's a bookie who doesn't actually place the... who takes people's money and doesn't actually

place the bets. Yeah. Not that I would ever advise ever trying to cheat anyone out of their money. That is not what we're here to do. But when I see it, I think about it. Not cheating people out of their money. How people could organize a grift such that they could. Anyway. Yes. End of episode. That was good. Carol Thorne has been pursued and I suppose found? Discovered?

Found. Attained? Yeah. Mm-hmm. I mean, there's a date. There's a date at the end of it. So that's good. Even after that horrible hike. And all the other hijinks. Yeah, it was a fun episode. Lots of good performances.

I think solidly in our romp category. I didn't remember to bring this up, but like I really like how Miles as a con man is very I'm trying to think of the word because like he drops it right away before anybody's even, like once somebody has turned their back on him and is ready to leave the room, before they leave, he'll drop his his egg. It feels like somebody's just been doing this for so long. Yeah. They know, okay, I've got that finished. Let's move on to the next, whatever next thing I have to do. Like, yeah. He has the sense of exactly when he's done.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You know, Jim takes advantage of this, too, where there's a whole genre of interactions here where the last third of it doesn't matter. Like you've got what you wanted out of the first bit. And now, like, you have to end the conversation somehow. And it doesn't matter how you do, even if they discover that you are not who you say you were you already got the information you were here for yeah yeah uh so you don't need to keep it up like past a certain point and his threshold miles's threshold for that appears to

be extremely precise yeah yeah he's like yeah it's a job for him like he's like yeah i'm gonna do everything i need and nothing more it's a good casting of like someone who has that he's able to have that energy. Yeah, I've spent my entire life running cons. And I know exactly. But it's not like, but it's not a I am always a character person. It's a I am always operating and I know when I need to move on to the next thing. Yeah, which is slightly different. It's also helpful.

Nate's also helpful in that, like, he'll go along, but he's not, you know, like we see him do the cop thing. He's just, he's not great at it. But you don't see him complain to Miles. I think the only time he complains to Miles is when he has to throw his gun away. That's the only time. Otherwise he's just like, yeah, Miles is true.

He'll do the thinking part. I'm just here to do the threatening part otherwise, he's just like, yeah, Miles, too. He'll do the thinking part. I'm just here to do the threatening part. Yeah. And that's it. Yeah. I'm just here to back up the story and be threatening when necessary. Yeah, exactly. You get the idea. He's in for 10 percent. He's not going to risk his neck. He's just going to look threatening. Yes. Yeah, it's fun.

I like, you know, we always like all the percentages and cutting cutting stuff. It's nice to even in the moment, not even like we watched it and now we know it doesn't matter. It was like even in the moment, it's like these deals don't they're going to change. Yeah, yeah. Nothing's in stone. Yeah. You just feel like this is one of those where every every interaction is going to flip. Who has the power and who is able to get what out of who? And so it fulfills that promise which is fun. Fun to watch.

Good stuff. Good stuff. Um, I think this might be... Let me double check with the ol' internet. This is our penultimate Roy Huggins story. Oh, alright, yeah. Yeah, because our final season one episode, which is a double episode, this case is closed, is also a hug and story,

hug and story, can't all can't all tell a play. But maybe we'll talk about him a little more afterwards. But this is he only after season one, he, you know, stepped away from from active involvement. So he didn't do every season one episode, but we will be finishing on our last hug and story in our last season one episode, as as it turns out, is he he's involved in backlash of the hunter though, right? Oh, right, right. Not including the pilot. Yeah. Okay, good

point. Not including the pilot. Yeah, yeah. Okay, good point. Not including the pilot. Yeah, but yeah, this is the penultimate... Regular season. Yeah. Not the... If you're doing, what do they call that, one, not zero base counting, but one base counting or whatever, or not base, what do they call that? Anywho. in you yeah we're gonna be finishing out season one with our next episode yes fond farewell this was this is a lot of fun I enjoyed this episode it was nice a nice little twists and turns like I said just everyone was was on their game I think it does kind of share with the last one where we get to see part of the season one. This is like we get to see Jim's trade craft a little bit. Yeah, a bit of his kind of like how his

his con background feeds into his P.I. activities in a way that we kind of get away from some of that stuff in later seasons where it's more character based or more guest star, you know, baster or the stories aren't about him being a PI necessarily. Yeah. But yeah, no, definitely a fun watch. Recommend. Recommend. And I think that that whole maneuver with the two convention goers and Jim's patter and trying to save the situation as he's seeing it unravel in

front of him is the script and the physical action in that whole bit is I think that's a memorable one for me. I think that's gonna be something that I'll come to when thinking about Great Rockford Files moments. So that's always fun too. Yeah, I agree. Alright. Alright.

Well, guess we're gonna get ourselves out of the Nevada desert. Um... Get a nice cold drink of water. A nice cold drink of water. See if the feds will give us any reward for the turnover of this money. But, of course, we will be back next time for another episode of The Rockford Files.