Bloodbath

With the psychic this is the best episode of season 2, in this season there are a very good episodes (murderb at sea,the vampire, survival) but there are a very not good episodes (tap dancing, murder at stage17)

A maniacal cult guru named Simon Marcus (Aesop Aquarian - Looks like Meathead from All In The Family here) apprehended by intrepid detectives David Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and Ken Hutchinson (David Soul) is finally brought to trial. His multitude of creepy followers rest on the court steps chanting his name.

Non-plussed, the arresting officers/title characters of the show prepare to testify. As far as they know Simon is just some weirdo more dangerous than some of the guys they've busted and less so than several others.

Before the legal proceedings begin Starsky heads for the restroom to freshen up. After several minutes in the courtroom it becomes apparent Starsk is taking longer than usual. Given the intense cop''s general no-nonsense attitude and the gravity of the matter at hand Hutch senses his little buddy is under considerably more difficulty than the usual stuck zipper, heads in to check on him and finds he is gone. His surname is written in blood on the mirror which is never an encouraging sign.

Hutch interrogates Simon demanding to know Starsky's whereabouts and the murderous cult leader is delighted to talk taunting him with riddles but doesn't say anything that Hutch can make sense of at first. The cult members only have one word when Hutch questions them - "Simon" which they repeat over and over in unison as a sign of relentless devotion to a prophet with an inverted cross carved into his forehead who claims to dreams his dreams awake! Starsky's time is running out and unless his generally laid-back partner can come up with coherent answers fast Hutch is very likely to find his friend dead, victim of a ritual murder at the hands of a satanic cult whom he knows have killed before.

This show was never better and this particularly chilling bit of old TV mined a darker vibe that Starsky & Hutch - generally dismissed as banal and vapid, came to master in many of its best episodes. It is tour-de-force sliding from whimsical beginning through an intense and horrific journey back through to lighthearted denouement.

It should not all fit together so neatly but due to clever casting (Anthony James & Frank Doubleday specifically), convincing performances, solid writing and crafty directing (By Glaser himself) it works on every level with the exception of the bush league production value generally to be seen on series TV at the time.

Try telling the cast and crew that what they were doing was making some dumb cop show. Their answer might well be this work, a prime example of solid work by professionals doing their best within the limited confines of a stringent narrative framework.

Hollywood folklore has it that Aesop Aquarian hung out with the Manson family but left before things got dicey. I'm sure he is a perfectly likable chap.

PAUL glaser is a very good director, this is the best episode of season 2.