The Man Who Saw the Alligators

This episode is slightly against the norm, at least the latter half is, as it's basically filmed in a secluded, wooded cabin as Jim and his accountant go over tax returns. The brightest aspect is the performance of George Loros, who plays "Anthony Boy" Gagglio, who just got released from prison and is looking for a vendetta against Rockford, who supposedly helped put him in jail, although this wasn't fully revealed here. Loros is a frequent Rockford guest star, and he plays Gagglio perfectly, and really looks the part. I was also impressed with Joseph Sirola(Jospeh Minett)and Penny Santon, who plays Anthony's mother, and the 2 share a delicate scene together when discussing her wild son. As usual, Rockford and Angel have great chemistry together, as Angel flees to the cabin after getting smacked around by Anthony; Rocky and Dennis have a scene or 2 for good measure. In the beginning of the episode, Rockford had major dental work, as he had wisdom teeth pulled, and I have to wonder if James Garner really had dental work done during the filming, as he is a consummate professional. The ending may want the viewer, such as me, wanting a bit more than we got, as Anthony finally catches up with Rockford, and the other goons finally catch up with Anthony, and Angel's prized car, Lucille, gets blown up by Rockford as a diversion to escape, which they do. This is still a decent episode, but not close to my favorite.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong. The trivia tidbit left about this "Rockford" episode says that rains were preventing the completion of its filming, as well as that of the first episode of "B.J. and the Bear" which was to air the same night, and that NBC decided to expand both to 90 minutes each. How do you catch up on delayed shooting schedules by increasing the shows' lengths?

I do see an announcement today at TVShowsonDVD.com that it is the 90-minute version of this episode that is being released on the fifth-season DVD.

Trekkies may recognize guest star Sharon Acker from the "Star Trek" episode "The Mark of Gideon," which had the memorably eerie scene of her and Kirk witnessing a bunch of faces looking at them through a window of a seemingly otherwise deserted Enterprise from outside the ship.

Sub-par for a Rockford Files episode. It was too long, and the long drawn-out scene at the cabin was something that would have fit in better in the 1966 Adam West Batman (balpeen hammer anyone?) than in the street smart Rockford Files. Weighed down by badly done armchair psycho-drama. Garner's acting, and the acting of the crime boss and the Italian mother make the best of an over the top script.

I saw the 78 minute long DVD version. By Season Five, they seem to be running out of new types of car chases, so we have more of the mind game stuff. Sometimes it works (the episode "Guilt" is an example of that). Also, because Rockford is a PI who has to be in mortal danger regularly, mafia types show up a lot by Season 5. Often it works, this time it didn't. Still worth watching.

This episode is another 'Anthony Boy' one. The melodrama is about family. Shows like this exemplifies what makes Rockford Files watchable. What makes drama are characters & their interaction. "Why did you shoot at him." "Because I thought I would hit him, meatball." Classic.

Stephen J. Cannell has chase scenes, but the show is made because of characters & their interaction. The pilot show had another actor for Rockford's dad, but Noah Beery Jr made the character real. Stuart Margolin was a constant gem as Angel Martin.

The location of the show was important part of the activity. Another reviewer stated the show was weighed down by certain activities, but the pacing of this episode was excellent & it covered a lot of ground. There were multiple threads to the plot & all were handled adeptly.

We all dread a tax audit even Jim Rockford who is in a line of work and charges unusual deductions for unusual situations. He's planning a working fishing trip in a cabin with his accountant Sharon Acker. But then Lt. Becker comes by with a warning that George Loros is out of prison and looking for James Garner. Five years ago Garner worked with the police in a sting operation in which Loros got a nasty gunshot wound which gives him a lot of pain. Now why he fixated on Rockford is really not made clear as Garner wasn't even the one who shot him.

Strange are the workings of a criminal mind even one in pain. Loros is determined to gt Rockford and the bosses who as we know don't like unauthorized hits are also trying to stop Loros. Not that they care about James Garner or anyone else nearby if they should be nearby.

So all the parties meet in that cabin where Rockford is stuck with Acker and his old pal Angel. Why is Stuart Margolin there, just playing whatever angles come up. Oh, and all he has is a BB rifle to defend himself.

It's interesting to see how Garner gets out of this one, but this is a nicely paced well written Rockford Files episode.