vitoscotti

A bit sluggish the first half. But, gets quite good when Jeffers (Roscoe Lee Browne) is brought in. He's always entertaining with his stylish articulation and a very good comedic actor. He also had memorable guest appearances on Sanford and Son and All in the Family. Cell conversation between birdman Gusik and Jeffers was thought-provoking then topped off by a stirring singing performance by Leonard Frey that everybody dropped what they're doing to hear.

Barney really drops the ball in his lack of security for Schuster (Herb Edelman). Instead just repeating "everything's going to be okay" when Schuster voices his concerns. I'm a big Herb Edelman fan so it was a treat to see him in this episode.

The conversations in the cell between Schuster and Marty (Jack DeLeon) were classic. Barney's wife's visit was cleverly placed when everything was going wrong.

Much of the episode sputtered until inspector Luger (James Gregory) appears. His sentiment tearfully blubbering about the "good old days" when he and his fellow cops busted the heads of the bad guys was the funniest scene in the series so far. Fun to see "Dead End Kids" Gabriel Dell. Odd casting of Greek born Titos Vandis as Puerto Rican Jacinto Escobar. The episode probably would have been a near clunker without James Gregory.