The Checklist: Knight Rider (S4 Ep4) “Sky Knight”
Sometimes it is fun to look back at the good ol’ days… like February of 2020 or October 18, 1985 when “Sky Knight”, the fourth episode in the fourth and final season of Knight Rider, aired on NBC.
Knight Rider, starring David Hasselhoff, is one of the most iconic shows of the 1980’s and it is always one I enjoy revisiting. I also enjoy putting classic episodes of Knight Rider to the Checklist test, so let’s get to it…
- Synopsis: Bonnie Barstow, The Foundation for Law And Government’s resident tech whiz, is off to Boston to attend her sister’s wedding… that is until her plane gets hijacked by a terrorist group known as the New Dawn Movement. The plane lands in an old government restricted area that houses a doomsday device… a device the New Dawn Movement intends on using if anyone tries to stop their cause.
#1. Were there any notable guest stars?
“Sky Night” has no shortage of notable guest stars… first off is Ron O’Neal of Super Fly and The Final Countdown fame. O’Neal plays Charles Zurich, the leader of the New Dawn Movement. Zurich is a menacing villain and when Zurich says he wants $3 million and 197 “political prisoners” released or he’ll start killing hostages one by one… you can believe it… as long as you forget this was prime time network television in the 1980’s.
One of the members of the New Dawn Movement was played by Brian Thompson. I’ll always associate Thompson’s unforgettable face with the movies Lionheart and Cobra.
Last but not least is Robbie Rist, who will always be Milo from Iron Eagle to me. Rist plays Nick, the horny teenager who is sitting next to Bonnie on the plane and is rather smitten with her. 1/1
#2. Did Michael Knight communicate with K.I.T.T. via his watch phone?
As the episode begins, Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) is seeing his friend and co-worker Bonnie (Patricia McPherson) off at the airport… we learn that Bonnie has a fear of flying, but Michael assures her it is statistically safer than driving and everything will be fine. Looking for another voice to assure Bonnie, Michael uses his watch phone to get K.I.T.T.’s input… and we learn that K.I.T.T. also has a fear of flying… which makes sense since Bonnie was the one who programmed K.I.T.T. 2/2
#3. Did K.I.T.T. go into “Super Pursuit Mode”?
After K.I.T.T. tangled with another high tech vehicle known as Juggernaut in the Season 4 opener, K.I.T.T. was rebuilt and given new enhanced features… like “Super Pursuit Mode” which gave K.I.T.T. some Transformers like features and allowed him to reach speeds of nearly 300 mph courtesy of some sped up footage.
When Michael and K.I.T.T. figure out that Bonnie is being held in Cactus, Arizona they go into “Super Pursuit Mode” and make it from California to Arizona in what seems like a blink of an eye. 3/3
#4. Did RC3 make an appearance?
Season 4 saw the addition of a new cast member in the form of Reginald Cornelius III or RC3 to his friends. RC3 (played by Peter Parros) does make an appearance in “Sky Night”… but really adds nothing to this episode… 4 episodes into the season and they already have nothing for their brand new character to do!??! C’mon Knight Rider! The A-Team managed to keep 4/4
#5. Does K.I.T.T. parachute from a plane?
The answer to this very episode specific and ridiculous question is YES. Was this Knight Rider’s equivalent of “jumping the shark”? Quite possibly… in fact this Checklist has put a spotlight on all the things a show does in its latter seasons… add new characters, go the “new and improved” route and in order to top the previous seasons go more and more over the top. 5/5
- Final Score = 5/5 (100%) With the exception of a lack of RC3, “Sky Knight” really encapsulated what Season 4 of Knight Rider was all about.
