Running Scared

Excellent story line with an outstanding cast. The climactic scene between Kimble and Donna brings an added dimension to the series.

This is one of the better episodes. Kimble reads hometown papers and learns of his father's death. He contacts his sister Donna Taft, outstandingly played by actress Jacqueline Scott. She pleads to meet with Richard, so they arrange to meet at a hotel in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with the Tafts using the last name of Townsend.

The prosecutor from Kimble's trial, Michael Ballinger (actor James Daly) is running for Governor of Indiana. When his wife Harriet Ballinger (actress Joanne Linville) spots Donna at the Indianapolis airport, and learns she is traveling under an assumed name, law enforcement swings into gear to follow Donna in the hopes of finding her brother. The conviction of Kimble helped to launch Ballinger's political career, and it is hoped Kimble's capture would secure his election as Governor. Yet, Kimble has a secret ally in Ballinger's camp.

At one point, Kimble actually hides in the Ballingers' hotel room, where Ballinger finds Kimble and they struggle.

Richard and Donna (and her husband Leonard) do finally get to meet at a sports arena, and it is a very touching moment, but the sudden arrival of Lieutenant Gerard and other police poses severe danger to Kimble.

In the episode "The Girl from Little Egypt" Kimble's prosecutor is not Ballinger but is instead Mr. Rand, played by actor Bernard Kates.

Donna's husband Leonard Taft is played by actor Lin McCarthy. In an earlier episode, "Home is the Hunted," Leonard Taft is played by actor James Sikking. In the final episode, "The Judgment," Leonard Taft is played by actor Richard Anderson. Lin McCarthy in this episode does the best job of the three.

Kimble's father has died and his sister Donna, (Jacqueline Scott) isn't taking it well, so Richard arranges a rendezvous in Fort Wayne. But Gerard is all over it. The three of them, (with Donna's husband, this time played by Lin McCarthy: previously James Sikking and later Richard Anderson).

In the middle of it is Mike Ballinger, (the always excellent James Daly), Kimble's prosecutor, who is running for Governor. But Ballinger is paying a price for his run. He keeps taking pills. And he has a wife, (Joanne Linville), with a similar problem to Gerard's in "Landscape With Running Figures". She wants her husband back. She can no longer stand having an obsession as a rival. When her husband recognizes Kimble's sister and figures he must be near and that his capture could put him in the governor's chair, she warns Kimble and helps hide him.

The episode ends with a moving scene between Kimble and his sister who here seems less resolute than in her other appearances, obviously unnerved by the loss of her father while her brother remains on the run. There is no mention of Kimble's troubled brother Ray, who appeared in "Home is the Hunted".

The episodes where Kimble connects back with his family, and the inherent dangers that come with it, are always thrilling. And there's plenty of danger and tension here.

This episode begins with Richard Kimble learning that his father has died. Not surprisingly, he wants to check in with his sister to see how she's doing...and, not surprisingly, the police are keeping an eye on her in case Kimble visits. So, to avoid this surveillance, his sister and brother-in-law slip out of town and come to another town to meet Richard. Here is where it gets interesting...Kimble's sister is recognized at the airport by the wife of the man who prosecuted him! However, oddly, she seems to have no desire to alert the authorities...in fact, she offers to help set up the meeting with Kimble! Why? Why is this lady working against her husband?

It seems that once a season, Kimble has a family episode. And, I've noticed that these are all very good shows because instead of the usual formula, the family offers some alternatives. Well worth seeing.