Curtain Call (S02, E23)
In which we get the greatest hits of The A-Team.
Colonel Decker is closing in on the A-Team while they finish up their latest mission. They’re taking out a villainous cattle rancher who’s been bullying a small business owner. Defeated, the bad guy pulls a gun on Hannibal but Murdock dives in front and takes the bullet for him.
Tawnia warns the team that Decker’s almost there, so they bundle the Captain into the van and escape. Decker’s not worried though, they’ve driven into a part of the county with only one road in and one road out. Meanwhile, Murdock is bleeding out and needs medical attention.
Face manages to scam the team into a hunters’ hut, by tricking the two hobbyist hunters into going out to look for ‘Big Luke’ a grizzly bear worth $10,000. Hannibal looks at the wound, stating that it’s not the bullet that’s the problem but the bits of cloth that lead to infection. There’s no antiseptic in the hut, so Face and Tawnia head to a Ranger Station 15 miles away.
Back at the scene of the shooting, Decker finds the blood and realises the team will need to find medical supplies. He tells his right-hand man that the team will no longer act as a unit because they need to protect one man – and that will be there undoing. Despite his confidence, Decker still thinks Murdock is back at the VA hospital though.
While BA and Hannibal look after Murdock, we begin the first in a long series of flashbacks to clips from the first two seasons of the show. These are framed by the characters remembering their adventures with Murdock – first up the blood transfusion from Black Day at Bad Rock, the trashbag escape from Pros and Cons and so on.
Driving to the Ranger Station, Face experiences his flashbacks with Tawnia presumably holding the steering wheel straight as he drifts off. On arrival, they find Decker is camped out at the station and the area’s swarming with MPs. Face knocks one out and takes his uniform to infiltrate the building and steal the first aid kit, reasoning that people never see what’s right under their noses.
Tawnia’s worried, but Face is more than happy to risk prison for Murdock. He heads inside and despite a few close calls, manages to pass the kit out of the window. Meanwhile, Decker begins his trip down memory lane, thinking about all the times he almost caught the team. When he comes back around, he notices the first aid kit is missing but reveals he knew they’d take it and has hidden a tracker inside it.
BA and Hannibal are on the move after MPs find the hut, taking Murdock on a stretcher between them. They find an old mine shaft and shelter inside. Murdock’s getting worse, so Hannibal heads out to find Face and promises BA that if he can’t he’ll bring Decker. BA nods in agreement, all three happy to give up their freedom for Murdock.
After another flashback from BA, Face, Tawnia and Hannibal return with the medical supplies. Hannibal operates on Murdock, removing the bullet and cleaning the wound.
Just then, Decker arrives and surrounds the mine. Hannibal heads out and surrenders, telling Decker they have an injured man who needs help. Inside the mine, Murdock’s head is now wrapped in bandages and the team convince Decker that he’s Face (remember Decker thinks Murdock is back at the VA).
As the team leave the mine, Face (still in MP disguise) slips in and helps carry the stretcher into the van. Hannibal requests to ride in the van as Face might die and the team wants to be with him. The Colonel agrees and a minute later Face kicks the MP out of the van and drive the team to safety while Hannibal shoots out Decker’s tyres.
Over at the VA, Decker pays a visit to Murdock and asks him to reveal the location of the team, but the fully recovered Captain acts up and gives nothing away. The team have a good laugh behind a nearby bush and BA shares his softer side before we end on a montage of his highlights with Murdock over the years.
Let’s wrap up with a few key questions – with the answers only looking at the original parts of the episode, not the flashbacks.
Does Hannibal wear a disguise?
Nope (Face wears two though, as Bearclaw Jones and an MP).
Does BA get on a plane?
Nope.
Should someone be dead?
No, Murdock gets very close but his recovery just in time thanks to the team is a relief.
Curtain Call is a real mixed bag of an episode for The A-Team. While the original story is an unusually tense drama as the team rally to save Murdock’s life, it’s half-filled by clips from previous episodes.
As clip show episodes go, this is by far one of the better ones I’ve seen. The new parts are some of the best written and acted in the series. When one of the team is in danger, the others always do everything they can to help. Here, we’re left in no doubt that while they’ll try to keep Murdock alive on their own, they won’t hesitate to surrender to Decker to save their friend.