The Checklist: Acapulco H.E.A.T. (S2 Ep20) “Code Name: Blood Ties”
There was a time when the number one television show in the entire world was Baywatch. Oddly enough, I was never that big of a Baywatch fan. I understood the appeal of the show. It certainly did not hurt that Pamela Anderson was red hot and people could not get enough of her. Plus it starred David Hasselhoff, who I consider a national treasure. I’d catch an episode of Baywatch here and there during its long run, but I never really got into it. But there was another…
When it came to action adventure television series set on a beach, Acapulco H.E.A.T. was my jam! Why Acapulco H.E.A.T. and not Baywatch? The theme song had a lot to do with it. Michael Worth and his martial arts skills brought some action legitimacy to the show and then there was Allison Armitage… my word! Plus, who could believe that lifeguards would get caught up in the kind of adventures they did… that stuff was way out of their jurisdiction. Everyone knows that the proprietors of a swimwear shop on the beach handle all the real dangerous missions.
In this edition of The Checklist, I go down memory lane and I put Episode 20 from the second season of Acapulco H.E.A.T. to the Checklist test…
1. Were there any notable guest stars?
“Code Name: Blood Ties” did feature some notable guest stars, but not in the traditional Checklist sense. The guest stars of note were actually two characters that were brought back from Season 1 of the series (two of the many that lost their spot on the show when it was scaled back in Season 2). Spencer Rochfort reprised his role as Brett. Brett is in Puerto Vallarta to elope with Tina, the love of his life and the daughter of United States Senator. Tina ends up getting kidnapped shortly after she and Brett arrive and rescuing her becomes the mission for our heroes in this episode.
But Brett was not the only Season 1 character to return for this special episode, Randy Vasquez was back as Marcos. We learned that since Marcos left the H.E.A.T. team, the former cabbie turned operative has started his own limousine service in Mexico City. Marcos made his way back to Puerto Vallarta to reunite with his old friends and spent a good portion of the episode hitting on one of the Season 2 members of the H.E.A.T. team, Nicole (Lydie Denier, Guardian Angel).
While Randy Vasquez and Spencer Rochfort may not live up to the usual high standards of the notable guest stars featured in The Checklist since they really weren’t known for anything other than their run in the original incarnation of Acapulco H.E.A.T., both deserve at least partial credit… so .5 for Randy and .5 for Spencer, gets “Blood Ties” a full point to kick things off. 1/1
2. Did the producers manage to get Michael Worth shirtless?
The last time I covered an episode from the second season of Acapulco H.E.A.T. I mentioned how the commentary track, Michael Worth mentioned the power struggle between he and the producers over how much skin Michael was going to show off in each episode. If it were up to the producers, Michael would be shirtless as much as possible, but Michael wanted to be seen as more than just eye candy and would fight them on it.
The producers won out this time… or maybe Michael did not want to be shown up by Randy Vasquez. 2/2
3. Did anyone wear a disguise?
Heroes in disguise is a common trope amongst action adventure TV series… who will ever forget Colt Seaver and Howie Munson dressed up like nurses on The Fall Guy? Or John “Hannibal” Smith in one of his many disguises on The A-Team? Well, the returning H.E.A.T. members in “Blood Ties” get in on the masquerade action with Marcos dressing up like a cop in an effort to bust Brett out of jail after Tina’s father, Senator Cobb, had him arrested after Brett and the Senator had an argument/altercation over the disappearance of his daughter.
Sick of laying low after his jail break, Brett walks around the beach in a stereotypical Mexican disguise… seriously the only thing missing was Brett singing The Frito Bandito song. 3/3
4. Did Cat and Tommy argue like an old married couple?
It always felt like there was more to the relationship between Cat (Allison Armitage) and Tommy (Michael Worth). Yes they were co-workers, yes they were friends but at times it felt like there were some romantic sparks flying and other times they would argue like they had been married for 20 years… the latter was the case in “Code Name: Blood Ties” with punctual Tommy chastising Cat for always being late. If Acapulco H.E.A.T. made it to a third season, I firmly believe that Cat and Tommy would have been banging like rabbits! 4/4
5. Did the episode end on a lighthearted note?
In the final scene of the episode we see four of the original H.E.A.T. team together for the last time as Cat and Tommy have to say goodbye to their old friends Brett and Marcos. Brett and Tina have decided to get married in the States and are set to return home. Meanwhile, Nicole zings the lovestruck Marcos one last time to the delight of everyone as the final credits hit the screen.
But wait… right before the final commercial break and the scene I just described there was a lighthearted exchange between Tommy and the team’s tech expert Joanna (Christa Sauls). Joanna is known for her long winded stories about her kin back home (think a young and tech savvy Rose Nyland), well Tommy tries to go toe to toe with her and whips up his own folksy story about an uncle back home that may or may not actually exist. This means this episode ended on a double lighthearted note which compels me to award “Code Name: Blood Ties” a bonus point! 6/5
- Final Score = 6/5 (120%) Combining elements from both seasons of Acapulco H.E.A.T. into a single episode made for the most Acapulco H.E.A.T. episode I had ever seen and for the first time in Checklist history a show does greater than 100%.
