Title:

"Retribution"

Airdate:

November 30, 1994

Synopsis:

Paul is framed for murder by two members of the Falcon's Wing, an elite mercenary unit he once led.

Paul's Scenes:

He's in practically the entire episode.  As painful as it is to watch, my favorite scene is the one where he says goodbye to the gang at the precinct.  They said there wasn't a dry eye on the set after that scene was filmed.

Comments:

This episode aired about a month after RL passed away and was dedicated to his memory.  It was the last episode of the second season, and Sloan wrote it knowing that RL would probably be too ill to return to the show once it resumed production.  However, he wanted to leave it open so that Paul could return in case RL's health improved.

According to the script I have, there was supposed to be a scene where Annie is helping Paul with his cuff links before their dinner with Caine.  I wish they would have left that in.

The scene where Paul runs back to the dining room when he realizes his family is being attacked is too cool.  I loved how it was filmed in slow motion.  I also liked how he protected Carolyn by dragging her out of her chair and covering her with his body.  And this is completely irrelevant, but if you look really close, you can see that he's wearing red socks.

The stupidest question in this episode (maybe in the entire series) has to be when Jody asks Peter if he knew Paul before the precinct.  Everybody knew Peter was his foster son.  It doesn't make any sense that she would ask that.

I liked the way Paul was rubbing Annie's shoulders and looking at her before he went in to say goodbye to Peter.

Favorite Quotes:

Paul: "You look beautiful."

Annie: "Ah, thanks, sweetheart.  So do you."

* * * * *

Paul: "You got any idea who's going to take my place?"

Strenlich: "There's no one who could take your place, Captain."

* * * * *

Annie (to Paul): "I know you won't forget where home is."

Pet Peeves:

Paul's entire reason for leaving.  It didn't even sound like something he would say.  Surely to goodness they could have come up with a more logical explanation.  Personally, I believe he went off on a top secret mission, and no one will ever be able to convince me otherwise. <g>

RL Factor:

Obviously, he was very ill and he looks it.  That doesn't take away from the fact that this was a great episode.  As much as I complain about Sloan's writing sometimes, I will always be grateful to him for paying such a wonderful tribute to RL.