Le signe de justice

I loved every episode even though I was only in two

Jack Cole is sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. Because of his status as a "rich kid" he faces retribution. After a personal loss he his accepted by the general population. He decides to take advantage of the situation and learn "the tricks of the trade". Learning lock picking, how to beat security systems, and other outside the law activities. The commonsense thing is: "If the guys were so good why did they get caught?" Hey, its fantasy.

The M.O. is when acquiring a target the perpetrator is sent a series of cards with the number "three" as a warning with a "catch phrase" finally ending with the three of spades. The number three is for the number of years served in prison by the way.

Dated, but isn't everything? Ignore the 70s hair and clothes, and take a step back. This is 'The Count of Monte Christo' for the new millennium. The basic plot is the same: honest man is framed for a crime he did not do, is imprisoned and while in prison learns a whole new set of skills. After his eventual escape/release he joins forces with a man he served time with, creates a new identity, and sets out to avenge the wrongs done against him. It has been said that there are no new stories; all plots you can conceive of are contained in the Greek myths, but so what? It is not the underlying story that is important - it is the way it is told, and 'Sword of Justice' does it well. As another reviewer put it, it's a shame it ran only 9 episodes, and worse that it has never been released to video. I'd buy it.

When I was a teenager, i would excitedly await each episode each week on British TV. Part of the delight about it was the ingenuity of the way that he would take down the criminals that he was challenging, rather than the standard punch up and corner the baddie in the control room that is common in the genre (cf James Bond). Indeed, Jack Cole wold usually find a way to ensure that the villains would turn on each other or defeat themselves.

For a TV series that lasted only 9 episodes, it certainly went out on a high note with Blackjack, regarded by many as the best episode. After Union funds have been embezzled to finance a mob-run Casino, the Feds have the problem that by the time they audit the books, the Casino will have been able to repay the money. Cole's solution? Stop the Casino repaying the money by bankrupting it on its own Blackjack table. His plan is so ingenious that it is said to have scared various real life Casinos in Las Vegas who realised that it might actually be possible.

As a period piece, it is also glorious to watch.

The one sad fact about the show though is that it is utterly unobtainable now. If only they would bring it out again as some sort of cult classic.

It was a favorite as a lad, even though it was short-lived