T.J. Hooker (TV Series) Deadly Ambition (1982) User Reviews

Deadly Ambition

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 30 August 2022]

An old friend of Hooker's is shot while trying to stop a robbery at the store where he works as a security guard. A detective who's extremely ambitious suspects that Hooker's friend was the crew's inside man who got a change of heart and that's why he got shot. Hooker tries to prove him wrong. In the meantime, the detective is leaning on his snitch, to give him something. But he knows the crew personally and he and the leader try to find a way to get him to back off.

Cliff Potts acts really well as the shady detective who would go to any lengths to secure an arrest, hence making a name for himself. He even shoots a snitch who has framed him as being part of the gang. TJ, of course, figures him out and is going to stop him. This is an above average entry that has some nice twist and turns, and a guest appearance from Jerry Lee Lewis.

Outcopped

[JasonDanielBaker · 13 April 2014]

Veteran cop Sgt. T.J.Hooker (William Shatner) and his young partner Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed) are summoned by dispatch to investigate a silent alarm triggered at a jewellery exchange. Security guard Ben Edwards (Jesse Vint) an old friend of Hooker's gets shot trying to foil a robbery and the thieves clean out the vault.

Hooker and Romano tangle with one of the burglars on the roof. His accomplices desert him making a clean getaway whilst he dies trying to escape. Edwards survives but is hospitalized. Clumsy clues that would normally only be left lying around by the most careless kinds of people nevertheless serve to advance the plot.

An ambitious, rude and arrogant police detective named Holland (Cliff Potts) is assigned to the case and is convinced Edwards was in on it for several good reasons. He follows up that angle no matter what protestations Hooker offers. Hooker is of course prompted by that to try to prove his friend Edwards is innocent. The self-serving way Holland works continually irks Hooker. But is he right? If he is then Hooker is showing inexcusable favouritism.

Believe it or not many of the stories in this series were considerably more facile in terms of plot than this one. The Holland character is the antagonist of this teleplay but is kind of an anti-villain. He is a workaholic and shows certain initiative that gets him results. He is not a team player but it doesn't hold him back until he overplays his hand.

Cliff Potts did well for himself playing baddies and cads in his career in apparent avoidance of straight forward leading man roles. He was evidently unafraid of appearing unlikeable if not downright contemptible on screen and this role was another example of how he made it work for him.

The inclusion of a gratuitous cameo by Jerry Lee Lewis playing himself is puzzling. It could hardly have been to lure in younger audiences.