The Hunting Ground

Good writing. Typical suspense. Good acting by Sam Melville and Gerald O'Loughlin. Typical overacting by William Shatner.

William Shatner plays a lone wolf cop who has an obsession to get drug dealers off the streets. The character acting is in the usual Shatner style - over the top. Although Shatner plays a policeman who turns vigilante, it really feels like you are watching him audition for the T. J. Hooker character!

The actual link to T. J. Hooker is Rick Huskey who was writer on the show when this Rookies episode was filmed. Rick Huskey was also the creator of T. J. Hooker a few years later, which was apparently intended to be similar to The Rookies.

This one is about Danko's partner Harris (played by William Shatner), who is obsessed with ridding the streets of scum, even on his own time, and while doing so he takes the law into his own hands. As time goes on, Danko realizes he's becoming more and more like Harris.

This is a stellar episode with outstanding performances by the entire cast, especially Sam Melville, who is magnificent. William Shatner is great as always too.

Anthony James plays Massler, a drug dealer, one of his many, many appearances as street criminals on various TV shows throughout the '70s.

Jill has several tender scenes where she provides emotional support to Mike as he wrestles with the realization that he's becoming just as obsessed and brutal as his partner Harris.

There's lots of action, including a great car chase at the beginning, a brawl and shootout at a bar and a great shootout at the end. The fists are flying too, with Danko throwing a rare haymaker at one point and Harris receiving a vicious wallop from Massler during the brawl at the bar.

This is another excellent episode in a season that has seen many of them.