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The Fighter
posted by sukhisooSTAFFMOD on October 31, 2020 at 2:15 PM
This recap is way overdue. It has been weeks since I have watched the episode and have forgotten much of it.
The IMF meddles in crooked boxing. Their MO is to sow the seeds of division between the hardnosed Joe Maross and his slightly less ruthless partner William Windom. They have an important boxer under their thumb and he is dating Windom's daughter. This boxer and his girlfriend are innocent so it is important that no harm come to them.
The IMF's plan certainly puts their relationship in serious danger as well as seriously toying with their emotions. First Casey entices the poor lug away from from a date with his girl. Then they use one of their nasty knockout chemicals to make it seem as if this fighter killed a motorcyclist (aka Willie). Yeah, if it were me, it would cause possible irreversible psychological damage. But then he makes his living by cutting off the flow of oxygen to his opponent's brain so that he loses consciousness, so he probably has a cold blooded side to him.
Then, Jim and Barney pretend to be unscrupulous characters and events are set into motion....
Joe Maross can play the hardened criminal type in his sleep and he delivers competently. The real treat here is William Windom's performance. His character wants to be a badass, but his daughter's life is put at stake. (Yeah, I think Jim pretended to be a hitman who pretended to kill her. ) As an actor, he is great at playing someone under stress. His worried and freaking out. Great stuff. It may be worth a rewatch.
The happy couple reconciles, William Windom happily turns states evidence and will likely be reformed after serving jail time. Joe Maross will rot in jail for most of the rest of his life. Almost everybody wins!
If not a classic, this episode is still a winner. Another seventh season success.
Reply by Jayhn1111
on October 31, 2020 at 2:51 PM
definitely or of my least favorite episodes but not terrible or anything
Reply by LansingFan
on November 27, 2020 at 6:21 PM
Sounds a lot like the plot of The Contender.
Reply by LansingFan
on December 3, 2020 at 6:18 PM
Joe Marissa and William Windom co-starred in the second season premiere episode The Widow.
Reply by Jayhn1111
on December 12, 2020 at 4:05 PM
The Contender blows this episode away in my opinion
Reply by SecretaryIMF
on November 29, 2022 at 11:32 PM
@Jayhn1111: Yes, it most certainly does! I got a real kick out of Cinnamon's "boxing groupie" characterization.
Reply by SecretaryIMF
on December 9, 2022 at 6:46 PM
You took the words right out of my mouth.
Reply by SecretaryIMF
on March 14, 2023 at 10:53 AM
Also William Windom did an incredible job as Commodore Decker in the Star Trek TOS episode The Doomsday Machine. It's the one where Dexter's ship encounters a planet eating machine and he unintentionally gets his entire crew killed.
Reply by Jayhn1111
on August 26, 2023 at 10:48 AM
Great Star Trek episode too
Reply by SecretaryIMF
on August 28, 2023 at 9:41 PM
@Jayhn1111:The Doomsday Machine was one of the best Star Trek TOS episodes EVER! If they were giving Emmy awards for Best Guest Appearance In A Series back then William Windom would have won for that episode hands down!
Reply by Jayhn1111
on September 1, 2023 at 7:37 AM
I see they have the remastered versions on paramount for streaming so I am sue for a rewatch too 😊
Reply by SecretaryIMF
on September 2, 2023 at 3:22 PM
@Jayhn1111: Glad to hear it!
Reply by Jayhn1111
on September 14, 2023 at 8:16 PM
They take things down quickly these days so i better hurry!
Reply by wonder2wonder
on October 1, 2023 at 11:13 AM
Really that fast?
Reply by SecretaryIMF
on October 1, 2023 at 4:43 PM
@wonder2wonder: To be honest I really hadn't noticed.
Reply by Jayhn1111
on October 13, 2023 at 2:36 PM
It was on Netflix at that time and they took it off there, but at least it's on paramount plus which I do have. They have recently taken down the rockford files and hart to hart when I was just a few seasons in on amazon prime and put it on another streaming service that I don't have. So you really have to binge things if you want to watch them before they take them down unfortunately.