User Reviews

Joe Santos takes center stage in this episode of The Rockford Files as he's handed a truly delicate situation. At the same time he's cramming for the lieutenant's examination so this man is stressed. What his good buddy Lieutenant Chapman has assigned his is the murder of the wife of the Deputy Chief played by Byron Morrow. Dennis Becker's whole career in the LAPD is at a crisis moment.

So his good buddy PI Jim Rockford helps him out and just a few discreet and incognito inquiries reveal that the late wife had quite the lusty libido. When she wasn't doing it with other and younger cops she had a job as a parole officer and the parolees were a fertile field for this eager cougar.

This episode is known also for an early appearance of Ed Harris who was some years from his breakthrough appearance as John Glenn in All The Right Stuff. And the role of one of the paramours is certainly light years from a boy scout astronaut. Harris is a pretty chilling character in this episode.

And poor Becker is wondering as Rockford helps him solve the case that this won't be a career ender as well. No cop would want this one, but he's stuck with it.

Guess what, it turns out to be a career maker as Joe Santos finally becomes Lieutenant Dennis Becker. In one of the best Rockford Files episode in Santos's career.

Fantastic to see a Becker-centric episode where he is applying for promotion to lieutenant, amidst a very thorny investigation of the suspicious death of his superior's wife. The Rockford Files is a tour of 70s nostalgia in the City of Angels, and definitely worth the trip.

One of the best episodes yet, in my opinion. Easy to follow and well written. Ed Harris had a small part and wrapped up the ending well. Was hoping Angel was going to make an appearance since he was mentioned, which would of bumped up my rating to a 10. Becker making Lt,, for the second time during shows run tied in nicely with the storyline.

Quite the plot twist. Becker is in a certain creek with out a paddle, having to investigate the Chief's murdered wife. Becker's wife asks for Jim's help. What a tangled web of mystery. Let's just day the Chief's wife lived a very active life style with the boys in blue. Well, there is enough here for a good cover story on Inside Addition because of all the sleaze and mystery. My wife said hey there's a young Ed Harris in the story. We got a surprise ending with Kill the Messenger . Unforgettable ending which is twisted enough to get across as real life. The dirty, the bad and ugly of investigation. 7 stars.

The most notable moment for me in this particular episode is the addition of a young and still balding Ed Harris, as he portrays a dirty cop who murders the wife of a police deputy, after they had an affair that supposedly went awry. This looks like one of the first acting gigs for Harris, although he doesn't get too much screen time here, which is unfortunate but he added presence in one of the final scenes when he takes Rockford hostage. I would also say that Dennis gets just about the same, if not more screen time than Rockford, as he's up for a promotion, but Chapman hands over the case of the dead deputy's wife to him, which puts him in a delicate situation as he must question the deputy himself, played solidly by Byron Morrow, who also starred in 4 other episodes; this is the only time I can recall Dennis having a partner, named Frank, who's usually moaning about his pregnant wife. Rockford helps his friend, but has to tread cautiously because he asks questions to the wrong people, and this could hamper Dennis' promotion. Pat Finley gets several scenes as the wife of Dennis(Peggy), as she plays it both tough and sympathetic in regards to her husband's predicament. The ending isn't exactly thrilling, as Rockford ends up taken hostage by the killer cop, but soon after, both Dennis and Frank come to the rescue, which involved getting Kempner(Harris)in a car accident, in which I thought he surrenders too easily without much of a fight. After this plays itself out, the deputy lauds Becker's performance on the job, as being both tough and sympathetic, and is soon given the promotion, as the news is given by Dennis himself at his own party. This is a decent episode with a few familiar faces around, but this is more of a Dennis vehicle, with Rockford more in the background than usual.