A Taste of Tomorrow

Kimble meets a kindred soul: another fugitive running from a false charge and searching for someone. This one is played by Fritz Weaver, who has been falsely convicted of embezzlement and who, in a near crazed state wants to kill the leading witness to avenge his false and damning testimony. He's suffering from a rare illness, which Kimble recognizes and goes to the nearest town to try to get medication for. He's captured by the police, not as Richard Kimble but as someone who knows where Weaver is. This is the town where he was convicted.

But Weaver's situation has changed: before he died the bank president confessed to embezzling the money. The witness has recanted his testimony. Weaver is a free man. His daughter, (Brenda Scott) convinces Kimble to contact him to tell him this. He's not likely to trust the police as they tricked him into surrendering when he was first arrested, (we aren't given the details). He'll just think it's another trick. Maybe Kimble can convince him that there's no reason to run or kill anyone. He insists on going to Weaver alone: if he saw police cars, he wouldn't believe it. So they let him go. But then the police find out who he really is and they go after Kimble.

It's another nice twist from the writers, with a good scene where Kimble tells Weaver what it's like to be wanted for murder, as opposed to a lesser crime.

Fritz Weaver is one of the most gifted, one of the best at what he does. His stage-filling personality, his size (larger-than-life, or rather, I should say EVEN-larger-than-life, because his real-life size is pretty damm big too), his imposing presence, and dramatic insight into the character, and his deep, rich, voice, with its rumbling vocal core, simultaneously harsh and relaxing, make him a nearly-one-of-a-kind actor. In movies like MARATHON MAN, BLACK SUNDAY, and DAY OF THE DOLPHIN, he often played secondary roles, but here, he's the star, the only character we really care about. Everyone else, even Kimble, seems like an extra.

Speaking of secondary roles, the actors include the great husky-voiced Michael Constantine, who was in every TV program ever made, and Dabbs Greer, one of those wonderful familiar but often unrecognized chaaracter-actors.

The story is taut, well-timed, and not predictable, and although Richard Kimble is as goody-goody and righteous as always, he doesn't have any of the horrible drippy virtue-speeches the writers often saddled him with in other episodes.

One of the best episodes.

Kimble comes across the hiding place of another fugitive, Joe Tucker (played by actor Fritz Weaver), who is haggard, wounded, and paranoid. Bitter about being wrongly convicted of embezzlement on perjured testimony, Tucker has been running for four years. At first highly suspicious of Kimble, his bad condition ultimately forces him to trust Kimble a little.

Kimble, with Tucker's consent, uses his pickup and goes to town for medical supplies, leading to his capture by police, who are looking for Tucker's pickup. The officer and Tucker's daughter tell him Tucker has been proved innocent, and they want him to come in and be cleared. Kimble insists he does not know Tucker, and thus cannot tell them where Tucker is. The officer admits he has tricked Tucker by lying to him before.

When Kimble gets back to Tucker and tells him what the police said, Tucker thinks Kimble is a dupe, or a paid agent of the police. The police, now aware of Kimble's identity, are after both of them. Kimble could run, but he is the only one who can stop Tucker's plan for revenge.

Dick is running from the cops again, but unbeknownst to him, they are looking for someone else. In finding a place to hide, Dick meets Fritz Weaver, a convicted embezzler on the run. Fritz starts telling Dick his story, and it sounds hauntingly familiar. And Fritz isn't feeling well, which Dick determines as mountain fever. He takes Fritz's truck into town for medicine and is stopped by the police who are looking for the truck. They ask Kimble for his name and Dick appears to just make up a name, not the one he's using, but produces a driver's license with that name. Dick is amazing. The cops take him in and fingerprint him. They bring Fritz's daughter in and explain that Fritz is innocent. The President of the company made a death bed confession. Kimble escapes as the prints come back with his real identity, and goes to tell Fritz what's up. Fritz thinks it's all a lie to get him, and he's going to kill the owner's son, who he thinks really embezzled the money. Everyone winds up at the son's home, and Dabbs Greer is the son. Dabbs says dad really was the embezzler, he made him lie on the witness stand, and now Dabbs is going to be tried for perjury. Fritz finally starts to believe that this is true. The cops show up, Dabbs says that Fritz came alone, and Fritz gets the help he needs and is welcomed back as an old friend. Richard Kimble, on the other hand, remains.....a fugitive.

Early in the episode, Richard Kimble happens upon the hiding place of another fugitive, Joe Tucker (Fritz Weaver). It seems that Joe was convicted of embezzlement and has spent the last four years on the run. However, Joe is very sick and needs Kimble's medical help. Now here are two dilemmas. First, Kimble might expose himself to capture if he stays and helps Joe. Second, if he DOES help Joe and Joe recovers, Joe plans on killing the man he's convinced set him up!! So, reluctantly, Kimble goes into town on his own to get medical supplies...and is promptly picked up by the police. But the police don't know he's Richard Kimble, the convicted murderer. And, Kimble soon learns that the reason the police are NOW looking for Joe is to let him know that the real embezzler has been discovered and he's no longer a wanted man. But fever and years of being on the run make Joe a hard man to convince....and he seems much more concerned with revenge than his own freedom.

This is a very interesting episode...made more so by having a distinguished actor like Weaver there to play against Kimble. Well done and well worth seeing.