Echo of a Nightmare

Jane Washburn is a policewoman in plain clothes. Kimble is robbed of $100 by thugs, and a uniformed colleague assists him. Astutely, Jane becomes suspicious when Kimble doesn't want to report the crime to police, and states that only $10 was taken. She insists on driving him out of town, and unexpectedly cuffs him to herself. This comes as a shock to him and to viewers, since we haven't seen any policewomen so far in this series. Gutsy, she throws the key to the handcuffs into the river. She thinks this will force Kimble to wait for backup, never guesses that he will insist that she run with him into hiding.

There are two emotional stories here. One is that Kimble must act like a thug, forcing Jane to come with him, and clamping his hand over her mouth anytime someone approaches. Must he become a thug in order to maintain his flight?

The other line is that (unbeknownst to Kimble) Jane was kidnapped at 15. Kimble winds up looking a lot like a second kidnapper, and she is terrified. But we find out she was not then, nor is she now, helpless. This is a very unusual female character for this series, and Shirley Knight is quite good.

A good story line that holds your interest throughout the episode. Solid acting with a great cast, especially Shirley Knight. Knight, by the way, was the first choice as "Weena" in the 1960 classic, "The Time Machine." The role, of course, went to Yvette Mimieux.

Kimble is beaten and robbed by teens. Jane Washburn, brilliantly played by actress Shirley Knight, sees it. She follows Kimble into a restaurant and offers aid. She is puzzled that he does not want to report the crime to the police. He accepts a ride with her.

Jane is small, feminine, reserved and soft-spoken. Kimble gets a big surprise when it turns out she is a policewoman and handcuffs herself to him, hoping to take him back to the station for questioning. Kimble is forced to make a desperate break through the countryside handcuffed to Jane. The police, equally desperate to find Jane, lean hard on the teens to get them to confess and identify the robbery victim so they will know who they are dealing with.

starts with a mugging by four creeps female cop gives him ride-- cuffs him to her, tosses away key

Soon after the episode begins, a group of punks jump Richard Kimbell and steal his wallet. A cop sees this happening and gives chase...and Kimble tries to just walk away nonchalantly. Well, a woman (Shirley Knight) offers to give him a ride and soon she grabs his hand and handcuffs it to hers. She's an off-duty policewoman and knows something is amiss, as why should a victim leave like this instead of dealing with a cop? Well, Kimble is NOT thrilled and doesn't come along quietly. Instead, he takes her prisoner and forces her to go on the run with him...but when she hurts her ankle, this does mess up his plans.

This is a decent episode but the change of heart that occurs in the female cop seems odd...and a bit hard to understand. Worth seeing even with this minor problem.

Dick is rolled by 4 punks who see him get paid in cash at a diner. The doc puts up a good fight, but his assailants run away when a cop approaches. Dick ditches the flatfoot, but the woman he was with follows Kimble and wants to know everything. Dick makes light of it and says it was only $10 or $12, and he has to catch a plane to Denver for a made-up job. She is really a cop herself and calls in to find out that they caught the punks, and it was $112. So she offers a ride to the airport, but handcuffs herself to him in the car. In better times, this could have been an interesting situation, but Dick has been conditioned to dislike cuffs. And then she throws the key away! So Dick has to drag her out of the car and they jump in a convenient slow moving freight. When they reach their stop and jump out, she breaks her ankle. Can it get worse? Well, kinda, because it seems that Jane was abducted at 15 and her father, a cop, found them and killed the guy. At least, he said he did, but Jane really killed him already. So she's having flashbacks, but she remembers a bulletin about an escaped Dr Kimble and thinks he's not so bad for a wife killer. They reach the rural home of the always abusive Arch Johnson, who is yelling at his family about wanting to go to some boxing matches. They think it would be nice to watch other people fight for a change, but change their mind soon after getting there, so they come home unexpectedly. They have a who's sleeping in my bed moment when they see Jane. Arch figures out who everyone is, and he and Janssen's stunt double have quite a Donnybrook. Arch sends the family out to the nearest neighbor who has a phone and round 2 begins. Dick lands a punch which sends Arch into some furniture and he comically hits his head and loses consciousness. Dick then leaves as Jane can't bring herself to shoot him. In the end, Jane remains on the force and Dick, once again, has left the situation in better shape than it was before he got there. Such is the life of..... a fugitive.