The Checklist: The Master (S1 Ep6) “Fat Tuesday”
The more episodes of The Master I revisit, the more I wish this series would have gotten a longer run.
In this edition of The Checklist, I will put another episode of the short lived series to The Checklist test… but unlike most times when I randomly select an episode… this time I purposely picked Episode 6 from the one and only season of The Master, entitled “Fat Tuesday”.
- Synopsis: John Peter McAllister and Max Keller find themselves in New Orleans during Mardi Gras as they assist a newspaper reporter prove a respected member of the community has a darkside.
#1- Was this a Shô Kosugi episode?
It took no time at all to find out if this episode was one of the dreaded “credit only” episodes for the great Shô Kosugi or if his character, Okasa, would actually appear on the episode.
As “Fat Tuesday” begins, Okasa is hot on the trail of The Master aka John Peter McAllister (Lee Van Cleef) and Max Keller (Timothy Van Patten). As a reminder, the overarching storyline in the series has Okasa hunting down John Peter McAllister, after McAllister left Japan and the ninja clan that taught him the ways of the ninja, in order to find the daughter he never knew he had back in the United States.
Okasa makes his way to a martial arts school that McAllister and Keller had recently visited. Okasa speaks to the school’s sensei, presenting himself as a student of The Master, and asks if McAllister indicated where he was heading next. The sensei wants to verify that Okasa really is a student of McAllister before he spills the beans and there’s only way to find out… from there Okasa proceeds to kick the ass of every student at the school! The sensei then tells Okasa that McAllister and Keller were on their way to New Orleans. 1/1
#2- Were there any notable guest stars?
The reason that McAllister and Keller are headed to New Orleans is McAllister got wind that a woman, who he believes may be the daughter he is looking for was leaking information to newspaper reporter for the New Orleans Globe about a Senatorial candidate that is involved in some shady deals.
Mr. Beaumont, the shady Senatorial candidate in question who is dealing arms and drugs, was played by Robert Pine. Pine is most known for his role as Sgt. Joseph Getraer on the series CHiPs and for being the father of Chris Pine (Wonder Woman 1984).
Another notable guest star came in the form of Beaumont’s right hand man Cole. Cole was played by Mike Genovese in a rare non-cop role for Genovese. Personally, I’ll alway remember Genovese from the Billy Blanks flick, Showdown. 2/2
#3- Were there obvious stunt doubles?
When Okasa catches up with McAllister in New Orleans, we get a one on one battle between Shô Kosugi and Lee Van Cleef’s skull cap wearing stunt double, with various LVC close ups spliced in. It is scenes like this that it is painfully obvious that Lee Van Cleef is no ninja. While my memories of watching The Master during its original run are fuzzy, I can’t imagine even back in the day watching this fight scene on my old 19″ television, that I did not notice the ol’ switcheroo. 3/3
#4- Did we get any shurikens?
Both McAllister and Okasa use some of the tools of the ninja trade in this episode, but sadly no shuriken are thrown. 3/4
#5- Did Max Keller get the girl?
Max makes quite an impression on newspaper reporter Eve Michaels, after he ends up saving her from certain death on more than one occasion. So it is really no surprise when Eve falls heads over heels for The Master’s apprentice. Max even gets a little side action when he and McAllister crash a party being held at Beaumont’s estate and Max and a beautiful blonde end up in Beaumont’s swimming pool. 4/5
- Final Score = 4/5 (80%) This episode was Shô Kosugi heavy and because of that, “Fat Tuesday” has been my favorite episode as I continue to revisit this short lived series.
