Coralee

In this episode, Richard Kimble is Tony and he works for an underwater salvage company run by Joe (Murray Hamilton). One of the workers is killed on the job and it is suspicious. Adding more suspicion are the actions of the boss, as he sure acts like he's got something to hide. Joe does just about everything he can to encourage Tony to quit...and ultimately you wonder if that might even include arranging for another 'accident'. Along the way, Tony meets up with Coralee (Antoinette Bower), a woman who is called a jinx and who everyone in this stupid seaside town blames for every little problem that occurs...which really doesn't make a lot of sense. Nor does it make a lot of sense for Richard Kimble to hang around this town. Overall, a rather weak offering. Not bad...but not good either.

Despite being one of the finest television dramas of all time, The Fugitive had many instances where the writers had Richard Kimble taking foolish risks that would be inconceivable for a man of his experience and intelligence. This episode stands out as possibly the worst example of this flaw. But this time, they also have one of the supporting characters take an action that is so horrendously stupid, that for the first time ever, I considered not finishing the episode. I won't get specific, so as to avoid spoilers (though I recommend that you skip this episode, which although the last one of the season, contains no cliffhanger or anything relevant to the following season). But the foolishness begins within the first few minutes. First, Kimble discovers that he is working for an underwater salvage company that may be guilty of either negligence or murder, and instead of high-tailing it for the road, he sticks around. Then he is warned by many to avoid getting involved with a local woman, so . . . You get the picture, but that's only the first few minutes of the episode. The worst is yet to come.

Kimble, using the name Tony Carter, works on a boat that does salvage work. The captain is Joe Steelman (actor Murray Hamilton). A diver, Johnny, the brother of Joe's wife Lucille (actress Patricia Smith), drowns. It is commonly believed among the sailors that Coralee Reynolds (actress Antoinette Bower), who recently began dating Johnny, is a jinx who was responsible for the death, even though she was not on board the boat. However, Kimble examined Johnny's diving helmet after the drowning, and saw that a piece had worn and broken, probably due to negligence of Joe.

Coralee works for her uncle Frank (actor Rusty Lane) at a small diner in this seaside town, but patrons begin to shun her because of her reputation, and Frank can't afford to lose the customers. But one patron is far too intelligent to believe in jinxes: Kimble. Kimble warns her he will only be in town a couple more weeks, but the two start a romantic relationship.

Joe fears that "Tony" will testify against him at the upcoming inquest on the death of Johnny. Coralee suspects Joe has a plan to prevent "Tony" from testifying at the inquest, and she takes steps to protect him, but those steps place Kimble in serious danger.

Coralee is a bad luck waitress who's blamed for the death of everyone she comes in contact with. But Dick is drawn to her, and even though he tells her he can't stay long, begins a torrid affair with her. It's this attraction that makes Dick stay longer than he should, as he discovers an accidental death of a diver on a boat he works on may be negligence. The captain is afraid Dick is going to blow the whistle on him at a hearing and turns the rest of the crew against him. Coralee gets wind that captain Joe may harm Kimble and tells the law to pick him up before any harm can come to him. See, Dick told her that he had to leave because of some trouble with the police, but she never imagined that he was the famous escaped wife killer, Dr Richard Kimble. So here come the cops just as Dick is being set up to have a fatal accident by captain Joe. Now, the previous accident was because of a faulty helmet, and now Dick is either wearing the same helmet or finds it on his dive, because when the cops pull Dick up, all they get is the helmet, which was thrown into the ocean by Joe after he realized Dick was wise to what happened. Either way, the helmet on the rope was far-fetched. Dick makes his escape with the help of Coralee, who may have been a better choice for Dick to hook up with at the end of the show than Diane Baker.

In most episodes of "The Fugitive" the leading lady falls for Richard Kimble in the first 10 minutes of the story. But in "Coralee" things are refreshingly different. As the lovely, talented actress, Antoinette Bower, "Coralee" resoucefully resists David Janssen's shy, thoughtful Kimble, in what seems like forever, until she notices him outside on her porch, then walks outside and coyly says, "I just came out for some air" and Kimble grabs her and kisses her full on the lips, passionately. As an American actor/ screenwriter, I find this a gem of an episode in this classic TV series. And Bower's inventive, subtle, but deft performance is tender, loving and quite remarkable... Beau Dare.