I am just as shocked that this was made today as I was years ago when I first viewed it. There is no doubt in my opinion the for alot of people this killed any desire to watch any further Rockford Files movies. It lacked any of the lightness of the origional series. All in all not worthy of the title Rockford Files.
shareAs a HUGE Rockford Files fan, I could not get through this and turned it off less than half-way through. I had recorded it, but I just stopped the tape and changed the channel.
This was not how I wanted to remember the show.
I love Rockford, but I remember this vividly as one of the worst things I ever saw on tv.
shareLighten up, it wasn't that bad. Yeah Angel's character was not used to it's full potential, & the Firebird was conspicuously absent, but at least it was a sort-of end-of-series re-union & most of the old cast (Angel, Becker, Beth, Rita, only Rocky was missing RIP) was present.
And we must remember, it was the mid 90's when the media began to control people's thoughts, so what do you expect?
Very cutting edge for it's time.
The one with the blind woman was the worst. I hated that cow.
There were plenty of dark episodes of Rockford Files too.
Once Upon A Time Abridged http://daesgatling.livejournal.com/11439.html#cutid1
Rockford always had seriously dark episodes -- I just saw one at the end of season 5 where Jim’s date is pulled from a car by a pack of Hell’s Angels and gang raped. Dark. And it was always a show that reflected the day it was made. Thank goodness the TV movies *continued* the series without just being a nostalgia trip for people who just like to harp (incorrectly) about years ago.
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You are right. That is the saddest episode of the series. The look of anguish on his face as he looks out in the surf was a strong, affective final shot and gets me choked up every time.
shareIt was very relevant following the Richard Jewell case, (which clearly inspired this), and was very well done.
The past is a series of presents. The present is living history we are privileged to witness
The Rockford movies were hit and miss, but this was definitely one of the better ones. Some of the editing seemed off, but it was poignant even with its relentless misery. Apparently there are one or two movies from the series which never saw the light of day?
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Totally agree. I am surprised that some people on this board liked the episode, or called it "cutting edge" simply because it attacked the media. It was not cutting edge at all.
We all got to like The Rockford Files for both its subtle humor and its sly, understated criticism of society. The show rarely beat us over the head with anything.
Sadly, this episode was a ridiculous, over-the-top hit piece on the media. I am no fan of the media myself, and completely understand why the Rockford writing team wanted to raise criticism of them, especially right after the Richard Jewell fiasco (when this one was produced).
However, rather than creating an entertaining, humorous, and subtle episode which lampoons the media to some degree, we received a depressing, unexciting, and highly unrealistic "issues" show.
Even worse, Rockford did almost NO investigating! The one bit of investigating he did simply introduced a HUGE plot hole, which they didn't bother addressing until near the end. And guess what? Rather than Rockford's creative and clever detective work solving the case, it was cracked by a previously-unseen supercomputer, which should have been used from the start. What?!
Was nice to see Beth Davenport again, but she was completely useless and ineffective. That's a total departure from Beth's other appearances, where she protects Rockford (or his client) just enough to where Jim can solve the case on his own. That didn't happen this time. Even Beth herself said in the episode, "I'm 0-for-3 here", and expressed doubt that her next motion would be successful. EXACTLY. Why was she in this episode at all, if she was just going to repeatedly fail?
Most of the time of the episode was spent depicting the media as a caricature of heartless monsters, as well as increasingly depressing us with the consequences to Rockford's client.
Ending was not satisfying at all.
A complete dud.
The previous TV movie, "Murders and Misdemanors", was MUCH better.
This movie could have been called "a very special episode" of Rockford, and I mean that in the worst possible way.
I was cringing throughout, but kept watching because it's Rockford, so surely things will turn out OK in the end. But they didn't. The whole thing was a downer and the ending was an even bigger downer. And they left that as the grand finale of the whole series.
We now have the full set of Rockford movies on DVD, but I do not watch this one. Once was far more than enough.