After Jill Danko and one of the doctors from the hospital are taken hostage at the women's prison farm, officers Danko, Webster, Owens, and Lt. Ryker are called in to diffuse the situation.After Jill Danko and one of the doctors from the hospital are taken hostage at the women's prison farm, officers Danko, Webster, Owens, and Lt. Ryker are called in to diffuse the situation.After Jill Danko and one of the doctors from the hospital are taken hostage at the women's prison farm, officers Danko, Webster, Owens, and Lt. Ryker are called in to diffuse the situation.
Photos
- Dr. Martinez
- (as Rene Enriquez)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- Quotes
Maxine: [Maxine opens the prison rec-room door] Here they are.
[She addresses Terry, who is posing as a news reporter; he is accompanied by a real news cameraman. Terry is dressed in regular street clothes, with his shirt casually unbuttoned halfway down and he is wearing sunglasses. As he is working undercover as a reporter to gain info on the prison hostage situation, a tote bag, which holds a tape recorder, is hanging from his left shoulder and he is holding a microphone in his hand. Maxine is pointing a gun at Terry as she speaks]
Maxine: You, with the recorder.
Officer Terry Webster: [Terry calmly maintains his professional demeanor, then he points the microphone toward Maxine] You the one to speak to all of them?
[Jill, recognizing Terry is working undercover, sits up straight in her chair, careful not to blow his cover]
Maxine: [Maxine indicates Landers] No. She'll do the talking; you do the shuttin' up and listening.
Officer Terry Webster: [Maxine is still pointing the gun at Terry, as he takes the tape recorder out of the tote bag and turns it on] Ok. Just want to make sure I get every... uh... everything just the way you say it. Stan, you ready?
[the cameraman moves over between Terry and Maxine, and begins filming the dialogue. Terry, without moving his head, looks over at Jill, and catches her attention. As he begins conducting the interview with Landers, Terry's eyes, hidden behind his dark lenses, are intently scanning the room]
Landers: [Terry holds the microphone up to Landers' mouth and she starts speaking stridently] Well, we'll start with the reason for all this in the first place. We've got diphtheria in this place. And our infirmary is staffed with an old doctor and nurse who don't even know what a bottle of iodine was. Sure, they sent us a medical team to treat us, when the disease hit. One lousy doctor and a nurse... that's all they sent for a place this size. And they didn't get here soon enough. We just ain't gettin' the right care... a couple of women have already died.
Officer Terry Webster: [the scene now shows Lt Ryker, Mike Danko and the Superintendent outside, listening to the conversation. Terry's voice, echoing slightly, is now being heard on the walkie-talkie held by Lt Ryker] What about the hostages? When will you let them go?
Landers: [Landers' voice comes over the walkie-talkie] We'll talk about that when we take care of our business.
Officer Terry Webster: [Terry's voice is still being heard over the walkie-talkie] I'm glad to see that they're not harmed.
Superintendent: [the Superintendent looks at Lt Ryker] That's Irene Landers Lieutenant. She's all right... tough, but not mean. As long as she's heading up things, we have a little hope.
Lt. Ed Ryker: [Lt Ryker looks directly at the Superintendent] What about this Maxine Wills?
Superintendent: [the Superintendent replies to Lt Ryker's question] Well, she's another story; she's capable of a lot of things. She'll kill if she has to.
Landers: [Landers' strident voice comes over the walkie-talkie] There's a lot I want the people outside to know. Most of us are repeaters in joints like this, all over the country, and we need help. Doctors to help straighten out our heads so we'll have a chance once we do get on the outside.
[the scene switches back inside; Landers is staring intently at Terry, as she drives her point home]
Landers: A place to learn a trade so that we don't have to be ripping off and stealing to make a living. This is like a revolving door with no way out!
Officer Terry Webster: [Terry is holding the microphone up to Landers; Maxine is still pointing the gun at Terry] Exactly what is it that you hope to gain for this?
Landers: We want better conditions in this place.
Officer Terry Webster: [Terry is keeping his composure as he replies to her statement] And, uh, you feel that you're going about it the right way?
Landers: This is the only way we have to go about it.
Officer Terry Webster: [Terry contemplates Landers' answer] Mmm-hmmmm. How long are you prepared to hold out here?
[Leslie walks into the room; Maxine walks away from Terry and goes over to her and they whisper together]
Landers: When your lives are at stake, you hold out as long as you can.
Maxine: [Maxine finishes her conversation with Leslie and returns to Terry's side and points her gun at him again] Ok. That's it; you heard what we want. Now you either get the superintendent to deal with us, or we deal with the hostages. You tell them that. Now, move outta the building.
Landers: [Landers protests] Wait a minute, wait a minute!
Maxine: [Maxine looks directly at Landers and scoffs] You let 'em stay any longer and it looks like you're begging. Trust me, Landers, I was in Frontier when they pulled the big riot. The reason they failed is because they talked too much.
Landers: [Landers acquiesces] Ok.
Maxine: [Maxine's voice is rising] Ok, move it out... out!
- ConnectionsReferences The Great Escape (1963)
I'll admit that I was dreading having to watch yet ANOTHER hostage crisis since this show has already done eight of them in three years, but this one defied my expectations and is actually entertaining and at times it's even funny where it isn't intended to be.
Fran Ryan is unintentionally hilarious as Ma Burker, an overbearing and wisecracking prison guard. I was cracking up laughing at her, which is probably not what the producers intended, but it's entertaining nonetheless and that's all that matters.
Dorothy Tristan's performance as Maxine, the leader of the uprising, is terrific and at times she's really funny with some of her campy dialogue, like when she holds a knife to Jill and tells her she's going to turn her into a vegetable. I mean, this is great stuff, and apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so, because at one point while Maxine was talking, there was a cutaway to Webster and he actually looked like he was about to break out laughing.
Laurie Walters is excellent as Callie, a terrified prisoner who is forced to participate in the uprising against her will. It's hard to believe she's 28 years old here as she looks like she's 18. It's mind-boggling to think that she's almost two years older than Kate Jackson.
Della Reese is solid as Landers, a prisoner who is the voice of reason and doesn't want any violence and is chosen to be the spokesperson for the uprising and airs the prisoners' grievances to the media.
Marki Bey is really good as Leslie, a prisoner who is Maxine's accomplice in the uprising. She was seen laughing at one of Ma Burker's jokes at one point.
I liked the idea of having Webster pose as a reporter as a means of getting into the prison to survey the situation. He looks cool in the sunglasses and sport coat.
One thing I didn't like is that once again we see the overused cliché where someone who is not a doctor stands over someone else and declares them dead when they have no way of knowing that. I really hate this cliché.
Since the entire episode is focused on the hostage situation, there aren't any car chases or shootouts but there's a great action scene at the end.
I really liked the campiness here and in that respect it's really fun and enjoyable and it almost plays like a B-movie at times with some of the strange dialogue, but there's also some tension too with Jill being one of the hostages and Mike obviously being extremely anxious about it, plus there's the awesome action scene at the end.
I was truly expecting to hate this episode but in reality I loved it.
- pkfloydmh
- Sep 28, 2021