Over the Water

Kojak takes out a pretty lady on a dinner date. She is very attractive, and she has a speaking part in several scenes, but she is not listed in the credits.

Kojak tells her that he likes New Jersey because nobody knows him there. Then Kojak sees a local jerk pushing around a girl having dinner with her date, and Kojak gets into a bar brawl with the guy (Michael Cristofer) and his buddy Kreter (Asher Brauner). Turns out thug 1 (Cristofer) is the loser son of a big mafiaso.

Now it gets ramped up. Son calls Dad (Tito Vandis) who calls his Chief of Police (Roy Poole) to cool things down. Unfortunately, for them, Kojak would rather spend all night arguing with people than with a beautiful woman on a date.

From there, it all goes off the rails. Kojak slapping around the loser son (Michael Cristofer) sets him against his Dad. Dad knows Kojak is trouble, and his son wants to kill Kojak. So he sets up his Dad for an arrest, and takes over the gang, and puts a hit on Kojak.

Roy Poole, the Chief of Police realizes he does not want to be a part of killing other cops, and warns Kojak, and switches sides. For Poole, that would be a deadly but honorable choice.

Before long, Cristofer is killing off his Dad's loyal friends, along with trying to kill Kojak. The end is action-packed and bloody, as Kojak fights back to stay alive against psycho Cristofer and his only loyal thug, Kreter.

Frankly, I don't get the meaning of the title to this episode, but the story is another good one about a gangster family, one in which the father stays true to the "code" but his young son is out-of-control.

What's a papa going to do? Does he help a cop or let his son murder the cop (whom he knows: a guy named "Theo Kojak."

The hot-headed kid "Michael Viggers Jr." (Michael Cristoper) has just had his world blow up on him and, as a last act of revenge, is planning a hit job on "Theo." It doesn't take long for word to get out into the street and into police headquarters. Everyone knows it is going to happen.....but when, and how? As you can tell, this winds up to be a good suspensor.

Theo Kojak is the kind of man who can't stand a bully. So while on a nice dinner date with a nice female companion, he sees some tough guy who it turns out owns the restaurant harassing this young couple who are also on a date. The tough guy is Michael Cristofer whose old man Tito Vandis owns the small Jersey town that the place is located. And Telly Savalas and Vandis have history.

Vandis is an old school guy who knows he's raised a punk and tries to make amends. But Cristofer who has chafed under the old man's thumb just wants to make his bounds and a big splash in the Mafia world by hitting a cop who insulted him and getting away with it. And if it means stepping over his old man, so be it.

When a hit goes out on Kojak, the Manhattan South Squad goes into action officially and unofficially. The guys rally around their lieutenant and they have the orders and blessings of Dan Frazer to do just that.

There's also a nice performance by Roy Poole as the police chief of the small Jersey town where all this started. A most conflicted and corrupt man who does not like what he's become, Poole has the best role in the story.

Wehn "Over the Water" begins, Kojak is on a date with some lady over in New Jersey. At the restaurant is a young punk who makes a real fool of himself...and Kojak puts him in his place. But what Kojak doesn't know is that the punk is a mob boss' son...and one who is apparently full of himself and thinks he's above the law. What Kojak also doesn't know is that the local police chief is on the take from this same mob! But the chief's loyalty to the mob is tested when the punk then arranges for a hit on Kojak...just because he stopped the punk from hassling some customers in the restaurant! What follows is a most exciting episode...one where Kojak doesn't seem all that concerned about the contract out on him.

This is an exciting episode....well written, difficult not to like and full of twists. It's not the best episode of the season...but is among the best.