I strongly suspect that the only reason that this TV film got made for NBC was because William Friedkin had a good time while working with Gerald Petievich on To Live and Die in L. A., Petievich said he had more stories that he could turn into movies, and Friedkin fronted for him to studios and networks until they got a deal. This dull, plodding thriller feels like all of the worst impulses from Friedkin's previous theatrical film without any effort to imbue it with an actual character journey that questions the opening assumptions about the use of federal power by do-anything to get the job done federal agents. In fact, it essentially seems to think that Vukovich became a good guy at the end of the previous film. The greater sin, though, is the boredom.
So, the C. A. T. Squad stands for Counter Assault Tactical Squad (honestly...terrible), and it's led by Doc (Joseph Cortese). They're an elite team of specialists who go against terrorist organizations, and he's introduced kind of hilariously. He's undercover in Mexico, trying to get a Mexican prisoner out of the country and across the border to California to arrest him. It's hilarious because they're under guard, another undercover, Bud (Steve James), poses as a doctor, pulls both from the line and says that they need scans, putting them in a room where they just...walk out unguarded window. It's like there was no thought put into how this introduction to our awesome central character is going to demonstrate his awesomeness. It's lazy and stupid.
The actual plot is around the assassin Carlos (Eddie Velez) working to murder the key scientists of Project Grass Valley, a secret NATO project about...space weapons or something that could tip the balance or something. Who cares? Anyway, the point is that the assassinations are happening, and they're bad. So, Doc's superior (Barry Corbin) tells him to assemble his team and investigate. There's a special note that he wants to assemble his own team, but it's the team from the Mexico job including Nikki (Patricia Charbonneau), and two others. One is an old friend posted in Alaska, Roadmaster (Jack Youngblood), and then a new recruit still in training, Leon (Bradley Whitford).
So, to continue on with how inept the whole portrayal of Doc is, he finds Leon at a live practice for Secret Service where he's dressed down by his instructor for not following proper procedure. Doc decides that he likes Leon, but the instructor warns him that Leon is not ready yet. So, Doc chooses him anyway. Now, if Leon would go on and prove himself, that'd be one thing, but Leon screws up pretty badly by the end. So, what does that say about Doc and his judge of character? He's supposed to be our example of great law officer who follows his own rules because he gets results, and he's terrible at his job?
There are other examples. While guarding a scientist at his home in Princeton, Doc leads three into an apartment building to track down a lead, breaking into an apartment, getting three rooms deep, and then having other people pop out of every room he supposedly cleared. I mean...that's dumb. I'm not a cop, but I know to check your corners, and Doc does none of that. He's great? And then, there's more, Doc tracks down a guy who helped Carlos, opens fire on him first, chases him down the street, shoots him in the back after an exchange of gunfire, and the first thing he does when he meets up with Bud? They start going over the cover story about how the unjustified shooting was justified by changing the facts (like ballistics wouldn't see that the guy was shot in the back). Doc is just the absolute worst.
Anyway, Doc being the worst is only part of the problem. The other part is that the movie is largely just boring. Made on an obviously diminished, network television budget, most of the film is people talking in rooms. That sort of thing can be compelling, but it's almost all backstory of our five CAT Squad members, and none of them are all that interesting. They're actually kind of dull. I mean, I appreciate the effort to try and build these people up. It's an effort to bring real storytelling mechanics to what is ultimately a silly and dumb sort of Cold War thriller, but it's just...dully delivered.
The other thing is that the escalation towards the final confrontation with Carlos feels janky and random. The kills of the scientists mostly just happen without the CAT Squad anywhere nearby, without them building up much in terms of clues or pursuit. They eventually get a picture of Carlos' hand based on some random back-checking of some pictures, and Doc recognizes the scar there. Then they're suddenly back in Mexico (probably to extend time in one shooting location since the film starts there), and this group that's all about extrajudicial actions wants to get Carlos just right, drawing out the tailing of him when they ultimately just shoot him anyway. It's...so bad.
So, this actually makes me reassess To Live and Die in L. A. a bit. Chance was actually supposed to be the good guy through and through in Petievich's mind, and his partner's descent wasn't a descent but a rising to his full potential. Also, trying to build five characters in 97 minutes while also dealing with a globe-trotting action plot is a fool's errand.
Seriously, I see this as nothing more than Friedkin doing a favor for a friend.
