Title:
"Return of the Shadow Assassin"
Airdate:
January 26, 1994
Synopsis:
The Shadow Assassin, who has returned with his master, is determined to
get revenge on the Caines. He begins killing Peter's acquaintances in order to force Caine, who has been wandering
for six months, to return for a final showdown.
Paul's Scenes:
He's in four scenes and they're all within the first 20 minutes of the episode.
My favorite, by far, is the last one when he's in the hospital and Peter tells him how much he means to him.
Comments:
George Lazenby, who played James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service,
plays Stone, the older shadow assassin. He is now married to former tennis great Pam Shriver.
I have an early draft of this script and there are several major differences in
it and in the version that finally aired:
1) Paul and Stone were both mercenaries working for the CIA and had been
on a mission together in Zagreb. Stone had betrayed the unit and left Paul, who had been shot three times, to die.
2) The scene where Paul and Peter are in the car and are attacked
by the shadow assassins is much different. There are too many changes to list, but if you are interested, you can
get a copy of the script (or any KF:TLC script, for that matter) from Jan Kraft. Contact me and I'll give
you her email address.
3) Annie and both girls were at the hospital and there is a sweet little scene
between Paul and Annie.
I really wish they would have stuck with the earlier version - it had so much more
Paul in it.
Paul uses his favorite coffee cup, the one also seen in "The Lacquered Box" and "Straightjacket",
in this episode.
Like in several previous episodes, he's wearing his gun backward on his right hip.
He's back to wearing the dark gray trench coat instead of the long parka, thank
God.
I liked how Kermit was so obviously worried about Paul. During the course
of the series, several comments are made about the close bond they share, but this is probably the strongest example
of it.
Paul is not wearing his seat belt when the car crashes and he goes through
the windshield. Yet, when it shows a close-up of him lying on the ground, there is not one scratch on him.
He's driving a completely different car in this episode - not the red Taurus, not
the Crown Vic. It's some old sedan. I think they mention in the script that it's a Pontiac, but I'm not sure if
that's what they ended up using.
Favorite Quotes:
Paul (to Peter): "I don't like being in the dark. I didn't
like it when I was five-years-old and I don't like it now."
* * * * *
Paul (to Peter): "Revenge is not so pure and it's not so simple."
* * * * *
Peter (talking to Paul in the hospital after the attack): "You
count'em up, the great moments in your life, and see if you can get to double figures by the end of it. That was one
of them. That lecture. You changed my life. Forever. I spend a lot of time talking about my father
and how much it meant to have him back in my life. I guess I just forgot to say how much it means to me to
have my foster father still in my life. I love you, Dad."
* * * * *
Kermit (storming into the hospital after finding out that Paul has
been hurt): "Any change?"
Strenlich: "No."
Kermit: "He'll pull through."
Strenlich: "He's bad."
Kermit (yelling): "I said he'll make it!"
* * * * *
Caine: "Will Blaisdell be all right?"
Peter: "Yeah. Old mercenaries don't die, they just get meaner."
Pet Peeves:
The fact that Annie and the girls were not at the hospital when Paul was hurt.
They really should have left that scene in, but I guess it was too much to ask.
I also didn't like the scene between Peter and Caine outside the hospital when
they are discussing Caine's return. Peter tells him that he's afraid of being alone again, like the Blaisdells don't
even exist. It was statements like that one that made me want to throw a brick through the TV. What makes it even
worse is that it came immediately after the scene where Peter told Paul how much he loved him.
RL Factor:
His appearance is really starting to deteriorate.
