Through the course of "Barnaby Jones", one of the most common plots involves a friend of Betty's being killed, committing a murder or just being in some sort of peril. It's used so often, that I am really surprised Betty had any friends left! Well, in "The Scapegoat", the friend angle is used but it's one of Jedediah's...not Betty's.
When the story begins, Dewey has been on a date and has, once again, drunk too much and has made a fool of himself. She is tired of this and tells him to go home and, after a brief struggle he goes. However, in the home ALREADY is another man...a drug addict who has broken in to steal a valuable coin collection. And, when he's caught, he kills the woman.
Soon after this, you learn that the killer is the son of a famous defense attorney. And the attorney soon realizes what his son has done. But, instead of turning him in to the police, he decides to help his son cover up his part in the killing and instead they work to frame Dewey! And, when Jedediah notices that this lawyer has volunteers to represent Dewey BUT keeps giving him bad advice, his budding lawyer instincts start to tingle.
While I generally liked this episode, I was disappointed how the show seemed to minimize alcoholism and domestic violence. Dewey is clearly a problem drinker...probably an alcoholic...though it's never really addressed. Also, when he's drunk, he is abusive...and this, also, seems to be minimized. Not a completely effective episode as a result.