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Knight of the Phoenix is the pilot episode of Knight Rider and serves as the series’ introduction. Originally broadcast as a single feature-length episode, it has often been split into two parts in syndication. My Blu-ray presents it as one continuous episode, but labels it as Episodes 1 and 2. That makes the numbering a little confusing, since what is commonly referred to as the second episode is technically the third. For this retrospective, I’ll treat feature-length two-parters like Knight of the Phoenix as a single story while retaining the official episode numbering. As a result, my second review will cover Episode 3.
The Plot
Police detective Michael Long is left for dead after being betrayed and shot in the face while investigating corporate corruption. Rescued by billionaire Wilton Knight, he receives a new face, a new identity as Michael Knight, and an extraordinary partner: KITT, a highly advanced, artificially intelligent supercar. Tasked with bringing down the criminals behind the conspiracy, Michael and KITT uncover a web of murder, greed, and industrial espionage. Along the way, they form the unlikely partnership that will become the foundation of Knight Rider.
My thoughts
The first two episodes essentially function as a feature-length pilot and tell the series’ complete origin story, something that’s surprisingly uncommon for episodic television. Shows like The A-Team opened with the team already fully formed, relying on a brief narration to establish the premise. Knight Rider would eventually adopt a similar opening narration, but not until the third episode. Knight of the Phoenix instead spends its entire first act showing how Michael Long becomes Michael Knight, before introducing the first meeting between Michael and KITT. Their relationship is anything but love at first sight. The constant bickering and KITT’s delightfully sassy attitude are easily the highlight of the episode, laying the foundation for a partnership that becomes far more engaging than simply a cool car performing incredible stunts.
Once Michael and KITT arrive in Silicon Valley, Knight of the Phoenix settles into the formula that would define the rest of Knight Rider. There’s an attractive young woman caught up in the case Michael is investigating, several opportunities for KITT to show off his impressive capabilities, and at least one memorable action sequence, including a demolition derby that KITT emerges from completely unscathed thanks to his indestructible armor. As both an origin story and the series pilot, the episode understandably puts KITT’s extraordinary abilities front and center. It’s easy to imagine audiences in 1982 being amazed by a talking car that could drive itself. More than four decades later, that’s no longer science fiction. Now all we need are features like Turbo Boost.
I was a young kid in the ’80s, and a show like Knight Rider had enormous appeal to me and just about everyone my age. What surprised me most on this rewatch is how dark this pilot actually is. Unlike The A-Team, where nobody ever seems capable of hitting their target, Michael Long is cold-bloodedly shot in the face and left for dead, while his partner is murdered by an assassin. And that’s all within the first fifteen minutes. The tone becomes lighter after that, but the violence never completely disappears. Tanya, the woman who shot Michael, ultimately dies herself when she fires at KITT in another attempt to kill him, only for the bullet to ricochet off KITT’s armor and kill her instead. Meanwhile, Michael is still driving around in KITT with a gunshot wound. For a fun, family-friendly action series, there are a surprising number of gunshot wounds and on-screen deaths in this opening episode.
Knight of the Phoenix is an excellent pilot and a thoroughly entertaining introduction to Knight Rider. It establishes the premise in a smart way by making Michael our point-of-view character, allowing both him and the audience to discover KITT’s capabilities together. The investigation involving Comtron and Tanya is probably the least compelling aspect of the story, although Tanya still makes for a memorable villain, especially since she’s indirectly responsible for the creation of Michael Knight. The real highlights are the chemistry between Michael and KITT, the constant banter between them, KITT’s seemingly endless bag of tricks, and the lighter comedic moments, such as the recurring gag involving two hapless car thieves who repeatedly try to steal the one car that simply can’t be stolen.
Knight Rider tropes
KITT shenanigans
Being a feature-length pilot that has to introduce KITT to the audience, the episode gives him plenty of opportunities to steal the show. When Michael falls asleep at the wheel, KITT takes over the driving until they’re pulled over by two police officers. He then instructs Michael to pretend he’s deaf and has a stiff neck, leading to a genuinely funny exchange. KITT’s best moments, however, come from his repeated encounters with two hapless car thieves. After several failed attempts, they finally manage to steal him—only for KITT to take them on the ride of their lives before using his ejector seats to launch them straight onto a waiting police car. It’s a classic sequence and one of the episode’s funniest running gags.
Damsel in distress
Maggie is Buddy’s widowed mother. Her husband worked for Comtron but was murdered after uncovering information that made him a liability. Since his death, Maggie has been supporting herself by waiting tables at a bar frequented by Comtron employees. She also serves as Michael’s romantic interest throughout the episode, although that relationship is pushed far more enthusiastically by her housekeeper than by either of them.
Child in peril
Neither Maggie nor her son Buddy is ever in much real danger. Buddy does secretly climb into KITT and unexpectedly finds himself caught up in the demolition derby, but because KITT is virtually indestructible, there’s never any genuine sense that he’s at risk. What is harder to explain is why KITT never bothers to tell Michael he has a stowaway on board, forcing Michael to discover Buddy’s presence himself in the middle of the derby. It makes for a fun moment, but it doesn’t make much sense.
Michael’s undercover identity
As the pilot episode, Knight of the Phoenix also establishes Michael Long’s new undercover identity as Michael Knight. He meets the woman who betrayed him, who unsurprisingly doesn’t recognize his new face, though she also doesn’t seem to register his voice. Michael approaches her posing as someone trying to sell top-secret technology, but she never really takes the bait and remains suspicious of him from the outset.
The Villains
Tanya is probably one of the coldest and most ruthless villains to ever appear on the show. She has absolutely no regard for human life, which makes her eventual demise all the more satisfying. The rest of the antagonists are fairly standard stock characters—greedy businessmen looking to steal and sell secret data and their henchmen. What sets Tanya apart, though, is that she is partially responsible for the creation of Michael Knight, making her one of the most significant figures in the entire series, even beyond this episode.
Notable gadgets
As the very first episode, there’s plenty on display here to establish KITT’s capabilities.
- KITT is sentient, or at least convincingly so, functioning as an early version of an AI companion.
- He is virtually impenetrable and even capable of bursting through walls.
- Fully self-driving, of course, long before that was a real-world concept.
- Pursuit Mode, enhancing speed and handling during chases.
- Turbo Boost for clearing obstacles and making dramatic leaps.
- Ski Mode for driving on two wheels.
- Oil and smoke dispensers for evasive maneuvers.
- Ejector seats, which are as dangerous as they are entertaining.
Memorable guest stars
Lance LeGault, who would later become familiar to viewers as Colonel Decker, the relentless pursuer of The A-Team, appears here in a smaller role as one of Tanya’s henchmen and is responsible for killing Michael Long’s partner. Another recognizable face is Charles Napier, known for roles in films such as Rambo: First Blood Part II, The Silence of the Lambs, and The Blues Brothers, as well as a number of earlier collaborations with Russ Meyer in the 1970s.
Random observations
KITT’s front bumper constantly changes throughout the episode, switching between a more armored-looking plate and the familiar production design with the exposed headlights that would become his standard appearance.
KITT’s voice box also looks noticeably different in this pilot. Instead of the iconic equalizer-style display that would become one of the car’s defining visual features, it’s simply a red square with a light shining behind it.
Before being shot, Michael Long is seen driving a black Pontiac Trans Am, and the episode makes it clear that KITT only resembles his original car rather than being a direct refurbishment of it. I had always assumed KITT was entirely designed from scratch by Wilton Knight, rather than being based on Michael Long’s own vehicle and then rebuilt into something entirely new.
Watching the show in HD, it’s also pretty obvious that the person behind the wheel during KITT’s more daring stunts isn’t David Hasselhoff. There’s plenty of B-roll footage of KITT simply driving where it’s clear a stunt driver is at the wheel. The A-Team has the same issue, where stunt doubles are quite noticeable between shots, and even simple driving shots of the van sometimes feature an obviously fake B.A. Baracus.
