For some reason, this is one episode that hasn't aged well. I'm not sure if I can pinpoint the exact reason. The activities that go on between Starsky and Hutch and the criminal boss they are trying to arrest may be the problem. They are very typical depictions for that period, but not really normal police work. Starsky and Hutch visit the crime boss, Amboy, at various places and harass, embarrass and ridicule him. They can never catch him with the evidence to charge him with. Amboy, for his part, hates Starsky and Hutch and sends his henchmen to kidnap them at gunpoint. Instead of taking them somewhere and just killing them outright, he brings them to his house where he tries to ply them with fancy food and wine to win their favor - I guess. Neither of these scenarios are likely to show up in your modern crime drama. I'm not sure why it worked back then.
The plot does not stay together very well, either. Starsky and Hutch figure something out about a ship coming in with drugs for Amboy. But we never see a ship or even anyone getting off a ship. How that clue helped them is a mystery. Also, Starsky and Hutch are getting in trouble for harassing Amboy and at one point get arrested by cops who are pretending to be delivery men - at Amboy's. Who decided to do that? Cops are protecting Amboy now from other cops? Amboy does his very secret drug deal in the very place that Starsky and Hutch busted at the beginning of show. He didn't think they would ever look there again? Just messy.
I do usually smile when PMG and DS are being their characters, though. They are still trying in this season to keep their characters credible, even if the scripts don't help them much.
The plot does not stay together very well, either. Starsky and Hutch figure something out about a ship coming in with drugs for Amboy. But we never see a ship or even anyone getting off a ship. How that clue helped them is a mystery. Also, Starsky and Hutch are getting in trouble for harassing Amboy and at one point get arrested by cops who are pretending to be delivery men - at Amboy's. Who decided to do that? Cops are protecting Amboy now from other cops? Amboy does his very secret drug deal in the very place that Starsky and Hutch busted at the beginning of show. He didn't think they would ever look there again? Just messy.
I do usually smile when PMG and DS are being their characters, though. They are still trying in this season to keep their characters credible, even if the scripts don't help them much.