The Grenade

This is one of Dragnet 1967's more ambitious episodes. It's notable for the casting of future 70's TV/movie stars John Rubinstein and (the "Jan" not yet credited) Michael Vincent. While Rubinstein shows more talent (I saw him do a dead-on Darryl F. Zanuck once: excellent actor!), Webb managed to save a few wardrobe bucks by keeping hunk Vincent shirtless. Mickey Sholdar plays misunderstood acid-wielding loner/psychopath Gerald Paulson. A bit on the melodramatic side here, Sholdar's acting career spanned primarily his teens & twenties, with his most notable gig being a series regular on real-life uber-disturbed Inger Stevens' The Farmer's Daughter (where he once appeared with this episode's Heather Menzies; Hollywood was a small planet in the 60's). "The Grenade" contains less right wing proselytizing than many of Webb's '67 entries but does sport the usual idiotic generic "rock" music heard when a 60's TV producer was either too cheap or oblivious to the real thing. I think Sherwood Schwartz shared his '45 collection with Jack Webb (I'm sure that same dance number was used in an episode where Gilligan dances with a monkey). This episode does have me wondering if it really was that easy for a disturbed, Brylcreamed 18-year old to get his mits on WW2-era explosive ordinance in 1967. I was only 10 then and don't remember these babies being sold in the Army-Navy stores I wandered into. Sidebar: What the hell ever happened to Jan-Michael Vincent?! He was a big deal in the 70's-early 80's but he's seemed to have blazed a trail for Mickey Rourke, without the late game comeback. Back on topic: For all my criticism about how chea.. errh ---economical--- Webb-the-Producer was, the series has a weird, undeniable appeal and this is one of the better installments. 9+/10 for the season, likely the Citizen Kane of Dragnet 1967.

Decent episode (although the blaring music at the party in the conclusion is rather annoying). The main point of interest is a young (and really tanned) Jan-Michael Vincent shirtless (having been doused with sulfuric acid by a disturbed teenager) in one of his first acting roles.

Decades later Columbine and Sandy Hook have made this episode ring true. A disturbed teen starts out by throwing acid at a fellow student while at a movie theater; later a search of the boy's room turns up a 45 hand gun and a semi-automatic rifle and a live hand grenade. And when an additional grenade is missing, Friday and Gannon know they need to find the suspect. By today's standards, the acting is stilted and the action slow, but the story has become too familiar.

This is one of my favorite episodes of the show as well as season openers. I like the issue this episode deals with which unfortunately has gotten worse today with incidents of mass shootings along with serial killings both perpetrated by people so young. Shame, Gannon and Friday don't really exist because we could really use their help on these matters.

The episode feels like your classic time bomb thriller, as it's suspenseful from beginning to end.

The perpetrator Gerald we do get a little into his psyche which underneath that nice exterior there is bad chemistry going on. The guy is an outcast in some form or another, in a way the clothes this guy is wearing kind of reflect that though also his frayed psych, as his outfit is obviously kind of dated like something you'd see from the 50's and old TV shows like "Leave it to Beaver". It could me a lot of things or nothing but that look you could say shows he a person that not quite up to the times but also that it's the innocent boy mask he constantly puts on.

We never truly know his true motives probably doesn't even have any real ones. It's true that he's been a victim of bullying and having few to no friends but those aren't root causes for his awful acts as their more the catalyst of them. His psyche profile is that of someone despite highly intelligent has a bit of low self-esteem or an inferiority complex; but is also emotionally disturbed and unstable.

And of course, throughout the episode we discover the red flags which I'll admit are a bit chilling and hit too close to home but show how deeply frayed his psyche truly is. When we see that he's purchased weapons and of course one of those are a couple of grenades that are live. What makes it worse and makes the situation scary is Gerald has one of them in is position and you already know he's not going to use for target practice.

I really love this dialog scene between both Friday and Gannon in the car. From Friday saying how sometimes some kids are just born bad. Which I believe is true, there sometime really isn't any legitimate reason as to why people so young can do heinous inhumane things like serial killings and mass shootings, either their wired badly, circuits aren't firing in the right places, wrong chemicals mixed together, but also, their just plain evil.

Gannon gives a little monologue on modern society and kids growing up too fast in it. Which I think is true as this isn't any different right now as it seems like kids are allowed to be kids and grow at their own pace and time. I personally don't think is right because like the plants and seasons in nature you can't rush things, they're not meant to be; if you want flowers and plants to grow you have to give them the patience to let the sunlight, come for them to grow.

It all comes down to a really tense stand off which to me is probably one of the most suspenseful moments ever. Can Gannon and Friday find and defuse this loose grenade on time, you'll just have to wait and see.

Rating: 4 stars.

This episode is about a kid who is seriously disturbed. However, despite tons of warning signs, his parents are morons and live in a constant state of denial. At first, his behaviors are dangerous but he always seems to have an excuse that the parents buy quickly. Even when Friday and Gannon get involved, the parents continue to insist that their little angel is just 'misunderstood'. Eventually, this culminates in much more serious behaviors such as pouring acid on Jan-Michael Vincent's clothes as well as his threatening a group of kids with a live hand grenade--and Friday and Gannon jump into action to save everyone. Finally, the parents realize they have a problem on their hands!! While it's way too easy to blame parents for all a kid's problems, this show is a wonderful example of a mentally disturbed kid whose parents are just incompetent boobs. Very, very informative, entertaining and tense. One of the better episodes.