Goodbye My Love

One of the best episodes of the series, this one hits all the beats of a horror movie or psychological thriller. Guessing the motivations of the characters is difficult and the music is overpowering.

We are a year and a half before Jack Lord, who had always been looking for a big TV series success in a show he could own a piece of, (which is why he turned down the roles of Ben Casey and Captain Kirk), got a call that a show based in Hawaii wanted him for the lead. Here he's still stuck playing bad guys in other people's shows. Here he's a scheming husband trying to get rid of his crippled wife, (played by Patricia Smith) so he can marry a sexy young chanteuse, (Marlyn Mason). They find out who Kimble is and Lord hires him to work around his mansion so that he can be easily framed for the murder. It winds up with Kimble fighting Lord to protect Smith in a creepy sequence, made more so by the image in one's mind of Lord as McGarrett, enemy of criminals and protector of innocent victims. The ending is something of a disappointment, more a whimper than a bang.

Some ironies: Both David Janssen and Jack Lord had guested on Naked City in different episodes Lord was in "The Human Trap" (11/30/60), based on the Cheryl Crane case in which a daughter stabs a playboy to defend her mother. Janssen was in "A Wednesday Night Story" (11/1/61) in which he played a philandering husband who wants to kill his wife so he can marry the family's pretty Swedish governess. And Patricia Smith played a policeman in the first regular episode of Hawaii Five-0, "Full Fathom Five", (9/26/68), about a Bluebeard who marries rich women and then kills them to inherit their money. What goes around comes around- and around and around- in the wacky world of television.

Kimble, using the name Bill Garrison, works as a parking attendant at a country club, where he is dating singer Gayle Martin (actress Marlyn Mason) who works there. Unknown to Kimble, Gayle is in love with wealthy club member Alan Bartlett (actor Jack Lord), with whom she is having an affair. Alan's wife, Norma (actress Patricia Smith) uses a wheelchair, having been crippled in an auto accident three years earlier. Gayle wants Alan to leave his wife and marry her, but Alan is reluctant because the money is Norma's, and he likes living the rich life, not having to work.

Gayle is dating Bill (Kimble) only because she discovered his identity. Kimble is unaware of her relationship with Alan, and is fooled into thinking she cares for him. In a plot development similar to that of the Season 1 episode "Garden House," Gayle persuades Alan to scheme to hire Kimble to work at his house, so Alan can kill Norma under circumstances where he can blame Kimble.

In this one, Richard Kimble falls for the female singer at a nightclub he's working at. They seem like quite the couple but she's actually into a man who often gets drunk there who Kimble has to drive home where that man's wife is waiting, confined to a wheelchair. Turns out that singer has seen the newspaper clipping offering a reward for his capture which gives her an idea...Jack Lord plays the alcoholic, two-timing man a year before becoming the straight arrow Steve McGarrett in the original "Hawaii Five-O" and he's terrific here, that's for sure! As the singer, Marlyn Mason has quite the pipes when singing two Frank Sinatra tunes: "Strangers in the Night" and "I'll Never Smile Again". So not only does Kimble have a brief romance here but also the cops aren't looking for him this time around! So that's my recommendation of "Goodbye My Love".

Alan Bartlett (Jack Lord) is less than a stellar husband. While his disabled wife is left at home, he's out having a good time with his conniving mistress. Why do I say conniving? Because the woman is working on trying to get Alan to murder his wife AND is trying to get Richard Kimble to be the fall guy. After all, since Kimble was convicted for killing his wife, folks will likely believe he killed Mrs. Bartlett as well!

Jack Lord plays a very different sort of guy in this show than his nice-guy Steve McGarrett persona. Despite this, my wife enjoyed the episode simply because Lord was so handsome back then...and I'm sure she's recommend the show JUST for this reason alone! As for me, the writing was quite nice and I did enjoy seeing Jack Lord playing against type. Well worth your time.