Kojak. Season 2, Episode 3. "A Very Deadly Game" Kojak fights Feds over a cop killer.
Fast-moving tale. It opens with a double cross which leaves a crook dead and a cop dying, a top level FBI enters the picture and tries to shut Kojak from the case as he tracks the killer for personal reasons, but our hero gets suspicious and - at the end of a chase that leads to Los Angeles via Chicago - he's able to nail his guy.
Aside from the pace and the epic scale of everything, there's lots to enjoy here. Lillian Lehman and Sylvia Soares have one scene each, playing flip-sides of the same character, and both of them are terrific. The cop's wife/widow gives a passionate speech about the sacrifice's her husband has made - for the job - because of his skin colour, while the crook's girlfriend cries over the live/escape she and he will never now have because he's lying dead somewhere. In both case, for different reasons, you believe in the love these characters felt and - in both cases - you feel the pain.
The war over jurisdiction is familiar cop show territory and this Kojak take on things offers nothing new. Since Telly Savalas is so charismatic, you can't help but root for Theo, of course, and see his point of view. Having said that, cold-fish Watkins (a terrific Art Lund) makes a good point, too.
Burr DeBenning (one of my favourites) gets somewhat lost in the shuffle. His dilemma, caught between Kojak and the Fed, occupies screentime in the first half of the story. But, by the time the chase shifts to LA, his character drops from sight and is never seen again. A pity. I like Burr DeBenning and I feel there was a point to made, in there, about those who are weak and don't stand by any convictions.
Nevertheless, a very strong episode.
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Kojak. Season 2, Episode 3. "A Very Deadly Game"
