User Reviews

The End Game was a great way to finalize season 1 of "The Fugitive" as it was one of the series' better episodes.

Richard Kimble makes the mistake of turning his head at exactly the wrong moment and as a result, becomes the focus of an 8 square block manhunt.

We are introduced to the concept of dupes (those who are easily manipulated to one's own end,) and eccentric homeowner's Reed & Devlin (played by John Fiedler and John McGiver respectively.)

Kimble has the necessity of convincing Mr. Devlin of his innocence which is not very easy as Devlin is a stubborn, natural born cynic. Mr. Reed on the other hand followed Kimble's trial and emphatically remembers that 4 jurors held out for more than 3 days professing his innocence.

Barry Morse is instrumental as Lieutenant Gerard in that he builds up the suspense mood. He shows an aptitude for predicting Kimble's method of operation and treats the manhunt like a chess game. Morse also shows his chivalrous nature in his treatment of the food vendor. He is certain it's the end for Richard Kimble and hence "The End Game" title.

As I watched this particular episode of "The Fugitive" I realized how times have changed. In the show, Richard Kimble hides out with two middle-aged guys who live together. Nowadays, most folks watching the show would just assume that the guys (John Fiedler and John McGiver) were a gay couple. Could the writer have also intended this but folks back in the day didn't catch on to this? Who knows.

Early in the show, Kimble is in yet another city. This time he just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets his picture taken by a street photographer...and eventually Girard gets a copy and comes to seek Kimble. He's assisted by the local police lieutenant (Joseph Campanella) and the two toss out a drag net that hems in Kimble. To try to escape, he goes to the two men's home-- and finds they both followed his case very closely. One insists on turning him in, the other wants to help him. What will come of this odd couple?

This is a very interesting and well made episode. Worth seeing. And, if you see it, tell me if you think I might be right about this one!

The doc is going to work when a street photographer taking pictures of newlyweds snaps a picture at the moment when Dick turns his head and his mug is visible. Due to a series of random circumstances, the pic finds itself on the desk of one Phil Gerard, obsessive police lieutenant. Gerard looks at the pic and deduces pretty much what Kimble is doing and what his routine is. He licks his lips and rubs his hands and says "End game, Kimble." The doc tries to pick up a hooker who says she saw his face on TV. She tries to seal the deal when he tells her to get lost, he murdered his wife! At last, he admits it. So she runs to Gerard who dismisses her as a dupe who Kimble is using to outsmart him. Insulted, she tells Gerard that if she's a dupe, he's a boopie dupe. She feels pretty good about herself after that. Dick then comes across a surfer dude, just standing on a street corner with a surf board. Dick wants to buy his radio to chill to some tunes and see if maybe the cops will broadcast their plans on catching him. He offers 20, then 30 and finally 40 bucks for the boom box. The dude then tells the cops and they announce some phony plans as part of their trap. Kimble jumps out of the back of a truck away from a roadblock. So he's boxed in. A newsman appears on the scene and it's the great Chick Hearn, the Lakers play by play guy. Kimble eventually puts Gerard in the popcorn machine. He hides out in a house which is owned by Felix, the neat, fastidious one, and Oscar, the unshaven slob in a bathrobe. Turns out the two are familiar with doc's case, arguing about it along with everything else. Felix somehow convinces Oscar to not tell Gerard he's there, and Oscar appears to be drugged when Gerard shows up, glassy eyed and slack jawed and unresponsive. This doesn't seem strange to Gerard at all. Gerard, who previously has appeared so brilliant and insightful, thinks nothing of an apparent zombie standing before him. After Gerard leaves, Oscar comes to his senses and goes to tell Gerard the truth, so Felix and Dick get in Felix's old breakless car and take off on the most dangerous road in town. Gerard gets there to see the car go down a cliff and burst into flames. Gerard is sad to see the game end, but Felix appears out of the darkness and says it was all a joke, they weren't really in the car. Like we didn't know that. So Felix is taken into custody but he's not worried. He is expecting a light sentence for aiding and abetting.....a fugitive.

The first season ends with an odd item. Kimble is back in Chicago, (although it looks more like a seedy section of L.A.), and Gerard has him trapped within an 8 block area. He seeks refuge in a house owned by a couple of eccentric old guys played by John Fiedler and John McGiver, who are familiar with Kimble's case and have been arguing his guilt or innocence for years, Fiedler having reasonable doubt and McGiver just being unreasonable. David Janssen does a good job of playing off these two guys while they debate his case angrily. McGiver finally gets up and leaves to find Gerard. Fiedler and Kimble escape in an old car with no breaks and wind up going over a cliff, (does Chicago have cliffs?), the car bursting into flames. Gerard grimly looks at the burning car sand says "So this is how it ends".

An interesting scene shows Gerard roughly treating a guy who sets up a hot dog stand for the crowds at the stake-out. Gerard asks the guy "Don't you realize a man is fighting for his life in there?" It's interesting to wonder what the source of this reaction was. Was Gerard feeling a bit of sympathy for Kimble? Or did it simply offend his sense of the gravity of his job?

Ed Peterson's book on the series says that this was the last episode filmed for the year and that it "plays very much like a finale" for the show. I certainly doubt that they would have ended the series on the note of Kimble dying in the flames of that car. Indeed, after Gerard has announced that this is the way it ends, Fielder shows up saying that he and Kimble got out of the car before it crashed and that Kimble has escaped, so it's not the end of the game at all. Peterson said everybody knew the series had already been renewed, so this episode was not intended to be a true "end game" for the series. What's interesting is that the opening reverts back to the "irony" introduction that was used before "Never Stop Running", four episodes previously. It makes me wonder if this was really the last filmed episode. Maybe the happy ending was added on later when they were renewed? Maybe it was supposed to be ambivalent whether Kimble was actually in the burning car or not?

This is one of the very best episodes, and has quite a bit of humor alongside the drama. By accident, Kimble appears in the background of a photo taken of a young couple. A series of coincidences brings the photo into the hands of a policeman, who recognizes Kimble.

Lieutenant Gerard comes to town, and has a plan to get Kimble before he knows Gerard is on to him. Kimble is forced to escape on foot. He meets unusual characters, one of whom informs him his face is all over the TV news. He is in one of his most desperate situations as Gerard and the local police box him in.

Things alternately improve and get worse as Kimble comes into contact with a couple of eccentric older men who live together, delightfully played by John McGiver and John Fiedler.

Once more our hero is unluck caught by camera on street and soon it reaches at Lt. Gerard's hands, so the Los Angeles Police set up a dragnet to catch the long time escapee, after meeting with a lady night Martine Bartlett that snitched on to police, thus Kimble on the large find himself in a rent house uninvited by two opposite owners, meanwhile John McGyver is about to hold Kimble by the Police, John Fiedler actually has a feeling that Kimble at least has the right of any reasonable doubt, postponing any act of this rival concerning the arrest.

One the best clashes of point of views of those self-called buddies that have quarrel all the time whatever matter, in between Kimble envisages heavy clouds hovering at your head and the time is running out...

Thanks for reading.

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First watch: 2024 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5.