Some Polish American Guy Reviews Things: BJ And The Bear S3 E5: Down And Dirty

Originally aired on February 10, 1981
Directed by Michael Preece
Written by Rogers Turrentine

Note: I use the word "weird" a lot in this review. I believe it is justified.

It gets weirder

It's nice to have some Stacks featured here. But, my theory about the show featuring one of the lady truckers in this episode and another in the next episode to spotlight them all is shot in the foot here. The main gal is Sam, who was the main gal in the last episode. And there's far too much Callie. Oh well.

Stacks Ahoy!

This episode made me anxious. It takes place in Reno. Callie goes two thousand in debt at a casino. Sam is there for a psychic convention. Steiger is hauling some stolen slot machines around. Two federal agents are looking for the machines. BJ and Grant play a big game of Four Card Stud for all or nothing. (Basically, BJ's rig.) Plus, Greg Evigan in his underpants. So, this episode has that going for it.

This image is for all people who love good things

Plus, you can play my new game with Steiger:

Tie, Cravat or Ascot?

This episode is a weird one. (I told ya.) It's structured sort of Sting-esque with lots of twists and turns and double-crosses and that kind of thing. But, events and scenes just kind of happen. Plotlines get resolved... or not. Moments occur that aim to accomplish something but seem kind of hazy and vague. For example: during the big card game with Grant, BJ has a little speaker in his ear. Sam is sending him info on Grant's cards. Right at the moment where BJ is about to win, a guy starts vacuuming nearby causing static on BJ's earpiece. BJ starts to lose. One thinks "Well, the vacuum guy will pass." But, no. He seems to vacuum the same spot on the rug for minutes on end. (And isn't the sound of the vacuum so close annoying to the players?) Literally, it keeps cutting from BJ's ear with static to the guy vacuuming the Same Spot over and over. What?!

Present your badges, men

(The guy on the right thought they were shooting widescreen)

Then, there's some weirdness with the gals. In the previous episode, Sam was the gambler. Callie was just annoying. In this episode, Callie is a gambler with a problem. And Sam is psychic. What?! The same guy wrote both these episodes. Did he accidentally switch Callie and Sam's names on his script and no one bothered to fix them? If they want to establish these gals as anything more than ciphers, that can't pull nonsense like this.

I can't believe Judy Landers wants MY autograph

What about the opening sequence? It feels like we're missing something. BJ, driving at night, goes right through a Grant-placed roadblock causing huge explosions and chaos. After it happens, we cut to Grant's office the next day where we learn that BJ had a sick kid in his rig who would have died if he stopped. What the hell?! He what?! I didn't see a sick kid. There's no mention of a sick kid. It looks like BJ is just doing something crazy. I thought that when the scene was over BJ was going to pull off a mask and reveal himself to be Steiger or Grant. It's such a w*i*d scene.

I've got a sick child (!) on board

And the final scenes are weird too. They pile on a lot of incidents that seem to need explaining. Cheating at the card game, stolen slot machines, BJ beating up Federal agents, getting Callie's rig from the casino... And then wraps everything up in a really quick scene that has a semi-incoherent twist and seems to leave a lot of stuff hanging. Did I mention that this script is really odd?

Yeah, this script is confusing me too.

Plus, there's the fact that the show has specifically set itself in Los Angeles... but everyone winds up in the same casino in Reno. It's about 500 miles from Los Angeles to Reno. If the location was changed to specifically allow for a script with gambling, then that is one of the most contrived things I've ever encountered. Why ground your travelling show in a specific place and then have the 4th regular episode be one that can't happen in that place? When Run For The Money went to a casino, it was for a convention that everyone would logically be at. Here... you guessed it... it's weird.

There's a face you want to punch

I've got lots of questions here, folks.

Overall, it's not a bad episode. It definitely has a lot going on and it's rarely dumb. Bear is in it a lot. I am not a fan of card games/ gambling and there is a lot of that in here. Your mileage will vary. If you can forgive all the contrivances and the screwy characterizations, it's a breezy 48 or so minutes. It, honestly, did make me a bit anxious. (There's way too much Grant in here.) And the fact that nothing BJ does seems to come with any consequences, except good ones for him, mean that happy endings abound!

Oh, Sam tells BJ to "shove it up your big red Kenworth" at one point. That might be worth the price of admission.