Leif Erickson makes a good middle-aged 70s villain, and we get to see some decent magical action as Tony blinds a guy (in a scuba facemask) with a playing card and then stuns the main henchman with an appearing cane.
But the voices of the two main female leads, played by Robyn Millan and Anne Randall, soon grate. The plot doesn't make much sense (Olson wants Laurie dead, then wants her as a living hostage to guarantee Gary's behavior), and Tony survives a multi-box & barrel & forklift trap through hero's omnipotence rather than any physical or magical skill. The episode climax deevolves into a bunch of faceless stuntmen in wetsuits, facemasks, and fake health officer uniforms running around, and tripping and knocking out themselves. Olson insists on using anesthetic dart pistols to not start a fire on the tanker. So why do his men then thoughtfully rescue the unconscious guards from drowning in the harbor? They're ruthless high-seas pirates: why do they care?
The episode finishes with another mediocre ending, as Tony's other assistant botches a sleight of hand trick that he showed her how to do. And it's funny! Really, laugh! Todd Crespi shows up to not do much of anything, because presumably the episode was held back from earlier in the season when he was still on the show, and this one airs after Crespi's character Dennis was dropped because he didn't contribute much to the plot. Good call, because we see in this episode that he doesn't contribute much except provide some exposition and so Kenne Curtis didn't have to get humiliated by being shot unconscious with an anesthetic pistol.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
But the voices of the two main female leads, played by Robyn Millan and Anne Randall, soon grate. The plot doesn't make much sense (Olson wants Laurie dead, then wants her as a living hostage to guarantee Gary's behavior), and Tony survives a multi-box & barrel & forklift trap through hero's omnipotence rather than any physical or magical skill. The episode climax deevolves into a bunch of faceless stuntmen in wetsuits, facemasks, and fake health officer uniforms running around, and tripping and knocking out themselves. Olson insists on using anesthetic dart pistols to not start a fire on the tanker. So why do his men then thoughtfully rescue the unconscious guards from drowning in the harbor? They're ruthless high-seas pirates: why do they care?
The episode finishes with another mediocre ending, as Tony's other assistant botches a sleight of hand trick that he showed her how to do. And it's funny! Really, laugh! Todd Crespi shows up to not do much of anything, because presumably the episode was held back from earlier in the season when he was still on the show, and this one airs after Crespi's character Dennis was dropped because he didn't contribute much to the plot. Good call, because we see in this episode that he doesn't contribute much except provide some exposition and so Kenne Curtis didn't have to get humiliated by being shot unconscious with an anesthetic pistol.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
