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KITT meets The Cannonball Run in this episode, Give Me Liberty… or Give Me Death. The best Knight Rider episodes so far tend to be the ones that put KITT front and center, and this is another fine example. When the car gets to steal the spotlight, the show is usually firing on all cylinders.
The Plot
Michael and KITT go undercover as participants in a cross-country race when a series of increasingly dangerous accidents suggests that someone is sabotaging the event. While Michael investigates the motives behind the attacks, KITT must keep his futuristic abilities under wraps to avoid blowing their cover. But as the sabotage escalates and the lives of the racers are put at risk, Michael and KITT find themselves in a race against time to stop a ruthless killer before he strikes again.
My thoughts
The previous few episodes felt like a bit of a mid-season slump. Many of them had Michael carrying out a mission while KITT was mostly relegated to playing second fiddle. For me, the better episodes tend to put more focus on KITT rather than simply using him as Michael’s personal deus ex machina. Slammin’ Sammy’s Stunt Show Spectacular, for instance, is a perfect example.
Give Me Liberty… or Give Me Death feels like a spiritual sequel to that episode. Michael and KITT go undercover in a cross-country race to track down a saboteur, with the biggest difference between the two episodes being the venue.
This is certainly a fun episode, putting KITT front and center as most of the action takes place on the road, with our favorite supercar racing against other vehicles. Despite being billed as a cross-country race, the episode never actually leaves California, which feels like a missed opportunity. Apparently, Michael and KITT operate in one state and one state only. But hey, that’s what television budgets allow for.
While this is a fun episode, it’s also the most gruesome one so far. There have been other fatalities in the show, though most occurred during the cold opens. Here, we get a scene in which one of the race cars is blown up with both drivers still inside, and the episode doesn’t shy away from showing the vehicle fully engulfed in flames. You never see the bodies, of course, but your imagination fills in the blanks. It’s a remarkably brutal moment for a show that had such enormous appeal among kids back in the day. No wonder I turned out this way.
Along for the ride is a reporter with a name that sounds suspiciously like a porn alias: Liberty Cox. She’s the typical nosy investigator, albeit a very attractive one, so it should come as no surprise that she becomes Michael’s love interest for the episode. They even spend the night together in a hotel room. Naturally, she also becomes the obligatory damsel in distress, at one point finding herself tied up next to a large boulder with dynamite underneath it. Did I mention this was a pretty ruthless episode?
The plot is fairly straightforward, and the saboteur’s motivation hardly comes as a surprising revelation. I did like that, once his identity is revealed, he turns out to be even more ruthless than his employer, who has clearly gotten in way over his head.
When it comes to the stunt work, this episode features one of the most epic turbo boosts we’ve seen so far. I love how KITT jumps over a Dodge Charger, and the way the stunt is shot makes it even more impressive. Other than that, the stunt drivers mostly get to show off their driving skills, as the race itself doesn’t leave much room for the usual jumps, two-wheel driving, and other spectacular shenanigans.
Give Me Liberty… or Give Me Death is one of the more enjoyable episodes so far. It has a straightforward plot that doesn’t require too much attention, plenty of action, and, most importantly, lots of screen time devoted to the show’s real star: KITT.
Knight Rider tropes
KITT shenanigans
I’m not sure if cars can catch a cold, but KITT certainly sounds like he has one in this episode. He also teases Bonnie by giving her a little electric shock while she’s working on him. When Liberty Cox, the nosy reporter that she is, tries to photograph his futuristic dashboard, KITT responds by tinting his windows black. This is the first time we see this feature in action, and I assume it’s what inspired everyone to start tinting their car windows from that point onward.
Damsel in distress
Robin Dearden in Knight Rider: Give Me Liberty… or Give Me Death plays Liberty Cox, the classic damsel in distress. At one point, the saboteur abducts her and ties her up next to a boulder, with a lit stick of dynamite placed conveniently nearby. Naturally, it’s up to Michael and KITT to come to the rescue before she gets blown to kingdom come.
Child in peril
None of the drivers is under 18, so there are no kids in danger in this episode.
Michael’s undercover identity
This is one of those episodes where Michael goes undercover, but not really. He uses his own name and is simply a driver participating in a race. If anyone is truly undercover in this episode, it’s KITT. He could easily win the race, being the car of the future, as he so confidently points out, but has to limit his abilities to what’s required of an ordinary race car so he doesn’t draw attention to himself. For once, KITT has to deliberately hold back rather than show off everything he can do.
The Villains
There are two of them, but one is clearly in over his head while the other is pure evil. The cable station manager simply wants to boost his ratings by making the race more exciting for viewers at home, hiring someone to cause a few minor accidents. Unfortunately, the man he hires has a very different idea of how far things should go. He turns the danger up several notches, putting the racers’ lives at risk, murdering two of them, and even attempting to kill a third.
When it comes to ruthlessness, this guy gives Tanya from Knight of the Phoenix a run for her money. And considering what she put Michael through in the pilot, that’s saying something.
Notable gadgets
At the beginning of the episode, KITT is equipped with an infrared scanner, which just so happens to come in handy later on. Unfortunately, it’s a rather underwhelming feature, as it’s represented by little more than a graphic on KITT’s monitor. It doesn’t really stand out from the other graphics displayed on his screen.
The other gadget comes as a bit of a surprise. In one scene, we see a small, round opening in the center of KITT’s rear lights, which apparently houses a grappling hook. This is a previously unseen feature, and Bonnie doesn’t even bother explaining where it came from. KITT uses it to pull another car out of a dangerous position on the side of a cliff. Because apparently, a grappling hook was just another item on the options list.
And then there’s possibly the coolest gadget of them all: KITT’s ability to darken his windows. It makes him look even more badass and presumably inspired an entire generation to start tinting their car windows.
Memorable guest stars
Despite the large ensemble cast, none of the guest stars are familiar faces.
Random observations
KITT seems to be suffering from a cold. Even supercars aren’t immune to the occasional sniffle.
One of the tropes I’m only now beginning to notice is that the final showdown often involves a chase in which KITT has to evade or smash through various obstacles to reach the villains. Apparently, no Knight Rider finale is complete without putting the car through an obstacle course.
KITT saving the day by positioning himself over an explosive device was also featured in the episode this one serves as a spiritual successor to: Slammin’ Sammy’s Stunt Show Spectacular. Recycling a good idea? In this case, I’m not complaining.
The relationship between Bonnie and Michael also seems to be warming up. In previous episodes, she was constantly scolding him for abusing KITT, but here she seems to appreciate him a lot more and even smiles at his jokes.
One of the participants who gets blown up drives an orange Dodge Charger. The drivers are a pair of hillbillies—one blonde, one dark-haired—who sport Confederate flags on their jackets and run their Charger on moonshine. Clearly, this is a nod to that other famous show featuring a car: The Dukes of Hazzard.
