The Checklist: The A-Team (S5 Ep9) “Point of No Return”
If you grew up in the 1980’s chances are high that The A-Team holds a special place in your heart. But even the most devoted fans of The A-Team started tuning out in the final season.
I hate to admit that I am guilty of turning my back on The A-Team. Over the years I have made it a point to revisit what I missed in the fifth and final season. The fifth season is notable for adding two new characters in the form of Hannibal’s Hollywood pal Frankie Santana (Eddie Velez) and the man who is now handing out The A-Team’s assignments, General Hunt Stockwell (Robert Vaughn).
I recently watched the ninth episode from the fifth season, titled “Point of No Return” and thought I’d put it to The Checklist test…
- SYNOPSIS: Hannibal is on a solo mission in Hong Kong (why?) to prevent the sale of plutonium to an unfriendly nation. But Hannibal goes missing in action, forcing the rest of The A-Team to make their way to Hong Kong to find out what has happened to their beloved leader and make sure the plutonium does not end up in the wrong hands.
#1 – Was anyone in disguise?
Everyone knows that Hannibal is the master of disguise where The A-Team is concerned, so with him out of commission for most of this episode it would be easy to dismiss this question. But let’s not forget The A-Team’s resident confidence man Face. Face has been known to don a disguise or two in order to pass himself off as something he is not. With Hannibal missing it is time to pull out all the stops, including the Faceman doing his best Joel Grey from Remo Williams impression and disguising himself as the elderly Asian grandfather of Bobby, a local Hong Kong cabbie who is recruited to help The A-Team find their missing comrade after he takes Face and Murdoch for a ride, both literally and figuratively. 1/1
#2 – Were there any notable guest stars?
The aforementioned Bobby was played by Dustin Nguyen, who would go on to become a series regular on 21 Jump Street. As Nguyen’s career continued so did his contributions to the action entertainment genre in both movies like No Escape No Return and 2 Guns: Zero Tolerance and another action adventure series, V.I.P. with Pamela Anderson… One of the main villains in “Point of No Return” was portrayed by Soon-Tek Oh, whose action credentials include The Man with the Golden Gun, Death Wish 4: The Crackdown and Missing in Action 2: The Beginning… Robert Kino also has a small role as Luk Toy, a friend of Stockwell’s that runs a bathhouse and treats The A-Team as honored guests… honored guests who are potentially radioactive! I recognized Kino as the professor from Ghost Warrior and as the janitor from Night of the Creeps. 2/2
#3 – Were there any obvious stunt doubles?
One aspect of The A-Team that has not been discussed in previous editions of The Checklist is the obvious use of stunt doubles. When I originally watched the show as a youngster I am sure I was not paying that much attention to the fact that it wasn’t really Mr. T or George Peppard flying through the air. There was no such thing as high definition televisions during the show’s initial run either, so the stunt doubles may not have been as obvious. But watching the shows back now and the stunt doubles stick out like a sore thumb. In this particular episode I really took notice when Robert Vaughn’s character General Stockwell is fighting and throwing some kicks I do not believe a young Robert Vaughn could have performed let alone a 54 year old Vaughn. 3/3
#4 – Did B.A. and Murdoch squabble?
With their beloved leader missing in action, it really wasn’t the time or place for B.A. and Murdoch to get into their usual jibba jabba arguments. Plus, the two don’t really share much screen time in this episode. Murdoch and Faceman end up doing their own thing once they arrive in Hong Kong to find out what happened to Hannibal, while B.A. and Frankie find themselves teaming up with General Stockwell and doing things the boss’s way. 3/4
#5 – Were any catchphrases used?
As you might expect, Hannibal is rescued and the plutonium is recovered before it is sold by the bad guys to some other bad guys. Normally Hannibal has a catchphrase at the ready whenever The A-Team has successfully completed a mission and while that famous catchphrase is uttered in this episode, it is not by Hannibal, but by Bobby! Still “I love it when a plan comes together” was said so it counts in my book, especially since it got the approval of Hannibal himself. 4/5
- Final Score = 4/5 Final Score = 4/5 (80%)
Hannibal being out of the equation for most of this episode gave this one a unique feel and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Even with the lack of Hannibal (and BA for that matter), I can honestly say I enjoyed this episode. Stockwell was more hands on and the Bobby character proved to be great use of a guest star. I think Bobby would have made for a great recurring character had the series continued.
