User Reviews

This is one of the most bittersweet episodes of The Rockford Files ever done. Some elements of Farewell My Lovely are involved in this plot. But if you think you know the ending because of that you would be dead wrong.

I don't think there was ever a show that introduced more interesting semi-regular characters than The Rockford Files. This one introduces Mr. Gandolf Fitch who is played by Isaac Hayes. James Garner owes him $1500.00 in a prison crap game debt, but for his services Hayes will forget the debt. This is not a client you refuse.

Back in the day he was a collector for the mob headed by Allan Rich and he got few refusals then as well. But Hayes swears he did not kill the woman he was sent up for. She was a prostitute whom he loved and tried to take out of that life. But she was found dead and he looked far better for it than anyone else.

The show centers around James Garner's hunt for a missing fellow worker in the deceased's trade. When she's found in the end she provides all the answers, but they're not ones that Hayes really wants to hear. Let's say that Hayes was given a chance to reassess his whole life.

Isaac Hayes was impressive as Gandolf Fitch and you knew he'd be back.

As you read ahead in this review, don't think it's a totally negative one, because there were some touching scenes, but I was left wanting more. The most noticeable aspect is the addition of Issac Hayes' character, Gandy, and how he's just been released from prison after serving 19 years on a murder rap he says he never committed. From what I gather, he and Rockford were cell mates, although Jim was fearful of him then and now, but Gandy enlists Rockford to help him find out who killed his old girlfriend or wife, for which I can't recall; apparently, Jim owed the imposing Gandy serious cash, and Rockford is practically forced to work for him to pay his debt to Gandy, although he's a bit reluctant of the man's story at first. I wish Hayes would've had an acting or speech coach, because it's hard to understand many of the things he says, or he rushes words. Look for strong performances by Allan Rich and Lynn Hamilton, who I feel is normally miscast as Fred Sanford's nurse/girlfriend, but does a much better job here in a serious role; also watch for a familiar face in James A. Watson, Jr., who is a dead ringer for Lionel Richie. I agree what another reviewer said about not liking when Rockford plays a secondary character, and he does here for the most part. Back to Hayes, this was the first of three appearances he made as the same character on this show, so maybe his performances improved, although his scene at the end when he finds out his girl killed herself was touching, as he saved his best lines for that special scene, and I did feel pity for him. As I said above, I felt something was missing in this episode, and I didn't feel that Gandy and Rockford had much chemistry going, as I also felt this was more of a soap opera. This certainly isn't a bad episode by any means, but I wanted more than what I was given.

Just to clear something up. Rockford said this: " Gandolph is not to blame for beating Layla because she "kept coming back " I have to wonder were the writers drinking when they added that into the script. So the writing team feels like its alright to beat women and when they get beat up by their husband/man, its their fault? LMFAO. Gandolph Fitch wasn't directly responsible for what happen to his girlfriend, but he was at fault. She was trapped, and couldn't get out. And that is why she killed herself and he is at fault for that.

Honestly I' never plan to watch this episode ever again. Isaac Hayes is a great actor and singer, and the other two episodes he appeared in had a completely different story and i did enjoy them. So just erase this terrible episode out of your memory and never watch it again.

Besides all of that. The Hammer of C Block overall had its moments, the action scene was good at the end, all the actors/actresses did a wonderful job. Annazette Chase and Lynn Hamilton are very beautiful and stunning. :) 3/10.

It didn't really strike me when watching this episode, but I looked the trivia here which points out that the woman playing Isaac Hayes' daughter is actually one year *older* than him. (The trivia is off by a few years) She's also 4 years older than the guy playing her older brother. Not only is that casting a little crazy but I realized Issac Hayes was only around 33 when this was made??? Was Hayes lying about his age back then? And his character just spent 19 or 20 years in prison? That makes him about14 when he allegedly committed the crime. So crazy! It would put a slightly different spin on the story if Gandy was in his late teens to very early 20s when he dated Lila. There's never an excuse for abuse, especially the level they describe with Gandy, but it would make his remorse, maturity, and growth that he found in prison even more believable.

This episode has the quality of one of those "very special episodes" that started being popular in the seventies, though long before the maudlin clichés of the eighties. It seems to be capitalizing on the Blacksploitation movies that were super popular then, and even just the then still need style of movies in general that often ended bittersweetly or even tragically.

Not my favorite episode though definitely not the worst. Hayes is captivating to watch. I don't think I ever realized what a good actor he was. But by today's standards it was perhaps a little slow with not a lot of action to break it up, so it seemed very long. I checked the timer at one point to check if it was a double episode. Then it just ends rather suddenly.

You can read many of the other reviews here for the disgusting and shocking rationalization by Jim for the death of a character and why his former prison frenemy shouldn't blame himself for it. Truthfully, that is one of the final scenes and this episode was all but unwatchable long before that. Isaac Hayes and the character of Gandy were the subject of a push by NBC (as evidenced by the theme song created by Hayes and his character appearing in a further 2 episodes). The fact is Isaac Hayes was no actor. Sure it was fun to see him in Truck Turner, but the wooden acting gets old. Unfortunately, they decided to cast all of the African American characters with some rather stiff thespians. This represented a failure at social commentary and even just entertaining on par with your average episode of The Rockford Files.