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Knight Rider was never a show that invited you to take it too seriously, but with The Final Verdict it veers headfirst into outright silliness. One of the central characters is essentially a live-action cartoon, blatantly modeled after a famous actor, making this an over-the-top episode.
The Plot
When an old friend of Michael’s is wrongfully imprisoned and awaiting trial, he sets out to prove her innocence by finding Marty King, a timid accountant caught between a corrupt businessman, the mob, and the FBI. As Michael and KITT try to protect Marty and convince him to reveal what he knows, they must stay one step ahead of the criminals trying to silence him while avoiding interference from the authorities investigating the case.
My thoughts
The Final Verdict is an episode that seems to forget the very premise on which Knight Rider was built: “A man who does not exist. A young loner on a crusade.” It’s right there in the opening narration every week, and the closing narration still reminds us who Michael Knight is and what his mission is. Yet here Michael suddenly reunites with an old friend, Cheryl, who has been wrongfully convicted and thrown in jail. The problem? Michael Knight has only existed for a few months, while Michael Long is officially dead. So how can Cheryl be an old friend? Does she know about his new identity? The episode never even bothers to address it, presumably because the writers never stopped to think about it. It’s simply a convenient hook to give Michael a personal stake in a mission that he brings to Devon.
Then again, this isn’t Breaking Bad, where every plot point is meticulously planned. Knight Rider is an episodic series where each week stands on its own, and once you accept that, it’s easier to overlook these kinds of continuity hiccups.
Instead, this week’s focus is Marty King, a cartoonishly cowardly accountant who looks and acts like he wandered in from another show altogether. He’s an obvious Woody Allen caricature, but he also reminded me of characters like Steve Urkel, Melvin from The Toxic Avenger, and the stereotypical nerd found in films like Revenge of the Nerds or just about any ’80s teen comedy.
Marty is essentially this week’s MacGuffin. Everybody wants something from him, which means everybody is chasing him. His mob boss wants him to keep cooking the books, the feds are pressuring him to become an informant, and, to make matters even more confusing, a mysterious man dressed in black driving a sleek sports car suddenly enters his life demanding his cooperation.
Michael’s arrival completely throws the existing balance out of whack. The FBI assumes he’s working for the mob and interfering with their investigation. The mob is convinced he’s law enforcement. Marty doesn’t know what to believe anymore, other than that he’d rather disappear altogether. As a result, Michael becomes the unlikely center of the comedy, constantly staying one step ahead of the feds, the mob, and Marty himself.
It’s an unusually lighthearted episode that fully embraces its comedic tone. There is even an attractive female personal trainer sporting a gloriously ’80s workout outfit, while several scenes venture into outright slapstick. The highlight is KITT pretending to be a police officer over his external speaker while Michael and Marty are being held at gunpoint by the mob.
Another great KITT moment comes when a stationary garbage truck blocks the road, prompting KITT to casually shove the much larger vehicle aside as if it weighs nothing. It’s a fun reminder of his immense strength. Moments like these help compensate for an episode that is otherwise surprisingly light on the spectacular stunt work Knight Rider is known for.
Knight Rider tropes
KITT shenanigans
Aside from KITT pretending to be a police car, he doesn’t get to indulge in his usual hilarious shenanigans. He does, however, get one memorable moment when a garbage truck blocks his path, prompting him to effortlessly push the much larger vehicle aside.
Damsel in distress
The damsel in distress takes on an unusual form in this episode. Cheryl Burns spends almost the entire story behind bars, only appearing at the beginning and end of the episode. That’s a departure from the show’s usual formula, where the female guest star is actively involved in the unfolding events alongside Michael. As a result, Cheryl ends up being one of the more forgettable women of the week. She does, however, earn a place in the small club of guest stars who get to share a kiss with Michael before the credits roll.
Child in peril
Another episode that doesn’t feature any children.
Michael’s undercover identity
To get close to Marty, Michael goes undercover as an employee of the power company. The disguise doesn’t accomplish much, however, as Marty recognizes him almost immediately after they met in the previous scene. The mob boss is equally suspicious, so Michael’s undercover identity once again proves to be very short-lived.
The Villains
The villains are fairly unremarkable this time around. The main bad guy is simply a mobster who relies on some creative accounting to launder his money, which is where Marty comes in. Beyond that, he’s just another generic Knight Rider villain surrounded by a handful of equally forgettable henchmen, with no distinctive traits to make them stand out.
Notable gadgets
KITT is equipped with a computerized facial composite system that can generate artist’s impressions from verbal descriptions. The results look like gloriously dated pixel art, but naturally the technology proves invaluable when Michael has to identify Marty based on nothing more than a witness description.
Memorable guest stars
Eleven episodes in, I would have expected Knight Rider to feature more recognizable ’80s character actors. The A-Team was packed with familiar faces, but Knight Rider has been surprisingly sparse in that department. This is another episode where none of the guest stars stand out.
Random observations
The stakes also feel unusually low, at least for Michael and KITT. Previous episodes have pitted them against missile attacks and even KITT’s evil twin, KARR. Here, the villains simply fire bullets at KITT, which barely register as a threat given his indestructible shell.
While Knight Rider has featured its fair share of larger-than-life personalities, Marty is the first character who feels like he has wandered in from a cartoon. His exaggerated mannerisms, awkward movements, and wildly over-the-top behavior make him feel less like a real person and more like a caricature that could only exist in a fictional world.
Like in the previous episode, the stunt team has KITT launch off and land on ramps—a relatively safe way to pull off these spectacular jumps while keeping the car intact. They try to disguise the landing ramp here by obscuring it with foreground objects, but it remains painfully obvious that KITT is touching down on one.
