Written by Steven L. Sears Directed by Sidney Hayers REGULAR CAST George Peppard Mr. T. Dirk Benedict Dwight Schultz Robert Vaughn Eddie Valez GUEST CAST Alejandro Rey Pepe Serna Castulo Gierra Geno Silva Vladimir Skomarovsky Peter Brown Judith Ledford Tasia Valenza Blake Conway Carlos Cervantes Damon Clark Charles Howerton

Peter is a captured intelligence officer rescued by the A-Team

The A-Team [1983-1987] was strong on stunts and special effects with humor and action carrying improbable plots.  Although it was a show that might be condemned for violence by a tv watchdog group, the violence was "Disney" violence where seldom did anyone, friend or foe, actually suffer significant injury   This episode is from the final season.  During the previous seasons the four members of the A-Team were hunted criminals, having been wrongly accused of a crime while serving in Viet Nam.   For this final season they emerged from a guilty verdict at a court martial to become to undercover agents  under the direction of General Stockwell (Vaughn) to work off their supposed debt to society.  A fifth member  [Eddie Valez as Frankie Sanchez] was added to the team.

Stockwell and his lovely assistant Carla interrupt an A-Team party to give them their latest assignment - rescue three Americans held prisoner on the island dictatorship  of San Marcos.   Supposedly, Ted Burke (Peter) and two friends strayed into San Marcos territorial waters while on a little cruise.  As with Mission Impossible before it, should the team fail they will not be acknowledged or rescued by the United States government.  They have 24 hours to complete their mission and be on the beach for pick-up.

General Stockwell interrupts the party, frees the team's "babysitters," and gives them an assignment.

Being the men of the people that they are, the A-Team doesn't settle for merely rescuing the three Americans.   They mingle with the downtrodden citizens, meet a beautiful woman for Sanchez to fall in love with, are helped by a cute kid and join revolutionaries trying to to overthrow the evil President Martine who is apparently making nice with a Russian General.

Once Face gets himself thrown in jail with the three American captives, he finds the real reason the A-Team was called up.  Ted and his friends are from The Company.  Their pleasure boat is actually equipped with the latest anti-submarine technology which is what has interested the Russians.

The Company Men

Face gets the mandatory beating (which doesn't show the next day) before A-Team pyrotechnics lets them all escape.

The boys make it to the beach in time for pickup by Stockwell's men.  But when the A-Team finds out that their revolutionary friends are going to be hung in retaliation for the escape of the prisoners, they have to go back.

Ted and his friends are grateful for the rescue but say they can't get involved in a civil war.  (What, can't even save the folks who are being executed for saving their lives?)  So they take off in the raft and will arrange for the team to be picked up in three hours.

Lucky for the good guys, executioners in action series usually dress in identity-concealing disguises, making infiltration by the good guys a little easier.

NiteOwl Review:  If you like stunts and big effects you might be an A-Team fan.  If you like a buddy relationship show you might write fanfic.  Fanfic writers (mostly female) have made much more from the bonds of loyalty and friendship than the script writers ever did.  (This is true for many shows, but in our opinion A-Team fanfic authors had to start almost from scratch.) Peter's part in this episode is too small to warrant taking too much trouble or expense to collect unless you're a completist.  But the A-Team is widely syndicated so when they get to the final season (anything with Robert Vaughn in it) you might check the listings for this episode.

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