Bobbi has been guiding my Five-O viewing. When she posts a "50th anniversary" thread, it inspires me to go watch the episode again -- some of which I haven't seen in 25+ years.

You can count me among the people who liked this episode. Sorry, Mike! (He gave it 2.5 stars.)

Actually, I see Mike really liked the episode, yet penalized it 1.5 stars because of the continuity screwup with the name of Joey Collins/Thad Vaughn. In the words of a certain President... "C'mon, man!" That deserves a deduction of a half-star at most!

I really do think this is a 3.5 star episode, but not because of the Thad Vaughn thing (which I admit is annoying for diehard fans, and a head-scratcher as to how they could have let that happen, just two seasons after the original episode.) I agree with Mike that the ending was too cliche, and not particularly suspenseful. I never enjoyed "cut the bomb wire before the deadline" scenes in any show or movie. You always know how it's going to end, and there's really not a lot of suspense or action in these sequences, other than the characters looking nervous as they cut wires. Lame!

When Marty Collins was shot, and there were about 6 minutes left in the episode, I cringed, knowing most of the remaining time would be bomb-wire-cutting. Also, there was a big hole in this sequence. Why didn't they just lower Marty's body off the balcony, drag it to a safe spot in the open, and let it blow up? The cutting wasn't even necessary!

I did enjoy the standoff, the ever-changing situation, the various attempts by Five-O to end the situation (some of which failed), and Mrs. Maroney's cantankerous attitude. When she went in to ask if her relatives could force her to live in a nursing home, the answer was definitely NO! Mrs. Maroney was clearly both physically and mentally capable! Sometimes the bitter old ladies on shows like these are insufferable, but Mrs. Maroney was charming, and perfect for the episode.

I also really enjoyed Danny's taunting of Marty at the end, to bait him to get near the window. However, Danny was taking a huge risk getting as offensive as he was to Marty, as Marty could have shot him at any time. I guess Danny had a vest on, and figured he'd be okay if shot anywhere but the head.

To be honest, the bomb strapped to Marty wasn't necessary. It would have been a better episode if he set a deadline to start shooting people at a certain point, and with that deadline approaching, Danny baited him to the window in the same fashion shown, and the episode ending shortly after that. The same ending (of Jenny answering the phone, indicating business as usual) would have been even more powerful.

They should have consulted me on this, when filming this in 1970. Too bad I wasn't going to be conceived until June of the following year!

Mark Jenkins, who played Marty, is still alive, but is close to 78 years old. Hope Summers, who played Mrs. Maroney, obviously isn't alive anymore, as she was born in 1896! She did live for about 8 years after this episode aired, before passing away in 1979 at age 83, of heart failure.