This story is a good time waster but not much. I won't repeat the summary already well explained. The actors do their job in a rather convincing way, but I preferred BRONK series, so far in BARETTA's one. Maybe it will take off in a few episodes because the show spirit has not reached its peak yet, the screen writers have to find their marks, their cruise pace for this show. But I agree that Robert Blake is funny and tough in the same time. I remember this series when it was aired in France during the second part of the seventies. Only the scenes between John Marley and Robert Blake are worth the viewing in this tale, unusual; when they eat together or play chess. This episode lacks action, that's the main flaw.
3 Reviews
If You Can't Pay the Price...
Prismark1030 November 2020
An odd kilter episode that already messes about with the formula.
Durone (John Marley) is a retired gangster whose wife is seriously ill. He now makes out to be a respectable member of the community. Baretta is the fly in the ointment.
Baretta knows that Durone is still involved in a drug shipment coming by road from Mexico.
So Baretta does a stakeout by being a roof mender in the house opposite or a cab driver but Durone spots him.
There is a symbolism of a chess match between the Durone and Baretta. Both go for a passive/aggressive relationship to get to know each other. Durone even sets Baretta up with compromising photos.
Durone offers a few pawns to satisfy Baretta's appetite but he wants checkmate. It is an episode with a strange ending. A cerebral episode.
Durone (John Marley) is a retired gangster whose wife is seriously ill. He now makes out to be a respectable member of the community. Baretta is the fly in the ointment.
Baretta knows that Durone is still involved in a drug shipment coming by road from Mexico.
So Baretta does a stakeout by being a roof mender in the house opposite or a cab driver but Durone spots him.
There is a symbolism of a chess match between the Durone and Baretta. Both go for a passive/aggressive relationship to get to know each other. Durone even sets Baretta up with compromising photos.
Durone offers a few pawns to satisfy Baretta's appetite but he wants checkmate. It is an episode with a strange ending. A cerebral episode.
Overly Plotted, Slow but Means Well
HughBennie-77715 January 2019
Not without its assets, including John Marley's acting and Blake's comedic fight scene with a mafia henchman. But the draggy and unnatural philosophical dialogues about crime and dues could use more action to help the pace.
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