The Checklist: Booker (S1 Ep4) “High Rise”

The holiday season is almost here and that means that Die Hard Season is almost here too!

I decided to get a jump on Die Hard Season and check out an episode of the 21 Jump Street spin off, Booker starring Richard Grieco. You may be wondering why I would watch an episode of a short-lived television series to celebrate Die Hard Season?!

Well, I had it on a good authority (friend of the site, Andrew Babcock) that “High Rise” was a Die Hard inspired episode. That made it the perfect episode of a short-lived television series to watch in honor of Die Hard Season!

And what better way to find out just how Die Hard that “High Rise” was, then to put it to The Checklist test?!?!

#1. Where did the Die Hard action take place?

As we have learned over the years, Die Hard like scenarios can happen virtually everywhere… arenas, schools, ski resorts, malls, the White House, planes, trains, buses and boats. That means that there’s really no way that “High Rise” isn’t going to get the point here!

But “High Rise” as the title implies, takes place in the purest of Die Hard locations… the high rise office of a multinational corporation, in this case the Teshima building… not unlike the famed Nakatomi Plaza. Not only is “High Rise” getting the point, I’m going to give a 1.5 points for shamelessly copying the Die Hard formula.

Before I move on with The Checklist, for those unfamiliar with Booker, Teshima is the company that employs former police detective, Dennis Booker (Richard Grieco). Booker is an insurance investigator for Teshima, although we learn early on in the episode that his job may be in jeopardy. It is also clear that Booker and Teshima’s head honcho in the States, Chick Sterling (Carmen Argenziano), don’t exactly get along so that’s not exactly beneficial to Booker’s future at Teshima. 1.5/1

#2. Was there a quality villain?

There’s no question that Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber, is one of the all-time great villains in movie history. And having a top tier baddie is one of the many reasons that Die Hard is as beloved as it is. So does “High Rise” deliver in the villain department?

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!

Ed Lauter (Death Wish 3 and Raw Deal) played Mr. Kendall. Kendall had previously served as chief of security for Teshima and continued to have dealings of the illegal variety with his former Teshima boss, Thomas Bournville. When Bournville screws Kendall out of $15 million dollars, Kendall and some mercenaries come looking for Bournville and the money at the Teshima building… unfortunately for them, they end up having to shoot Bournville before they can figure out where he hid the money. The money Bournville planned on taking with him when he transferred to Teshima’s Central American office.

Kendall and his team infiltrate the building, then tie the building security alarms to a claymore mine that is on the conference table of the boardroom. Everyone facing the mine (including Chick Sterling and his right hand woman, Alicia Rudd) will die if anyone tries to get in or get out of the building. 2.5/2

#3. Did Booker crawl around in the air ducts?

The shot of John McClane crawling around the Nakatomi ventilation system is so iconic, it was turned into a Christmas ornament… so did Dennis Booker get to have his John McClane HVAC moment?

Unfortunately, no. However, the ventilation system does play a major part in the episode and explains how Bournville was able to hide $15 million dollars in a matter of minutes. Bournville, who had the ability to control the building’s ventilation system, used the air ducts to send all $15 million dollars down to the basement. Booker figures this out and uses that knowledge as power, in order to lure Kendall and the hostages down to the basement. So while Booker didn’t have a John McClane HVAC moment, he had an HVAC moment of his own, which is good for partial credit in my book. 3/3

#4. Did Booker have some help?

John McClane had Sgt. Al Powell, Dennis Booker had Elaine Grazzo, his friend/co-worker at Teshima. Elaine proves to be invaluable thanks to her tech skills. She’s able to tap into the phone in the boardroom so Booker can hear what is going on, she’s also able to access Chick’s computer so she can make it appear that Chick fired Booker (which again seemed like a very real possibility when the episode began). This helped convince Kendall that Booker wasn’t the proverbial “fly in the ointment” and instead he was someone with an ax to grind with the Teshima brass, just like him… which is just the opening Booker needed to help save the day.

Elaine also gets a moment where she overcomes her fears, much like Al Powell did at the end of Die Hard. 4/4

#5. Did the events of “High Rise” take place during the Christmas season?

There is nothing in “High Rise” to indicate that it took place during the Christmas season. Also, the show originally aired on Fox on October 22, 1989… not exactly the time of year that networks have Christmas themed episodes. So, while Die Hard is a Christmas movie, “High Rise” is not a Christmas episode. 4/5

• Final Score = 4/5 (80%) “High Rise” once again proved that the Die Hard formula is a winning one. The only thing that would have made it better is if this was the Christmas episode of the show. Richard Grieco made a great rebellious hero, who ends up on much stronger ground employment wise by the end of the show thanks to his heroics. Ed Lauter always elevates anything he is, plus there was a “bastard”… easily my favorite episode of Booker so far.