Season openers

I re-watched "A Thousand Pardons--You're Dead!" last night and as it started, (and don't ask, this is how my brain works) I thought about Mr. Mike's review of "The Sleeper" calling that episode the weakest of the season openers in the series (I agree with that assessment). So I wondered how "A Thousand Pardons" ranked: it's pretty strong story-wise and the production values are pretty good.

So...how would you rank the 12 season openers? Here's mine:

1. Hookman (S06)
2. Nine Dragons (S09)
3. Highest Castle, Deepest Grave (S04)
4. The Young Assassins (S07)
5. Murder--Eyes Only (S08)
6. A Thousand Pardons--You're Dead! (S02)
7. A Lion In The Streets (S12)
8. And A Time To Die… (S03)
9. Full Fathom Five (S01)
10. Up The Rebels (S10)
11. Death Is A Company Policy (S05)
12. The Sleeper (S11)

Everything from strong stories, shooting on location, including the military in a couple of aspects, and throw in some international intrigue with varying success.

Some of the middle rankings for me are tough because Full Fathom Five has the disadvantage of being the first episode and the series didn't necessarily have its feet under it yet. Up The Rebels is tough too but there is a lot of the episode, especially with Casey that seems contrived and forced. This is the same problem with Death Is A Company Policy. The Sleeper had the promise of being an intriguing story but it fell flat.

On the the other hand, Hookman is one of the series' best as is Nine Dragons. Highest Castle, Deepest Grave also had a good story, a bit of creepiness and a nice twist at the end. The Young Assassins had tension throughout too.

An interesting note: three of the 12 season openers were episodes concerning Wo Fat.

One of the reasons The Sleeper sucks is the score by John Cacavas, which is BOR-ING!! Morton Stevens wrote the scores for all of the season openers except for this one and season three, which was by Shores.

By the way, I have just re-viewed S08E15, Deadly Persuasion. My rating went up minimally...

http://fiveohomepage.com/5-0log8.htm#183

I just read that review Mr. Mike. Excellent as always :cool:

The airport scene where Danno is hauled in is one of my favorites throughout the series. :) Poor guy.