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Michael goes to the Playboy Mansion! Or at least the Knight Rider universe’s fictional equivalent, which presumably means plenty of scantily clad women will be on display in this episode. Let’s find out!
The Plot
When the publisher of the men’s magazine Escape is murdered, Michael is called in to investigate after discovering that the victim had been working on a secret expose codenamed “Topaz”. With the file locked behind a six-digit password, Michael teams up with the publisher’s daughter Lauren to uncover what her father was investigating. Their search takes them from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, where they find themselves targeted by increasingly determined killers who clearly want the Topaz story buried.
My thoughts
The previous episode saw two men burn alive in a car; this episode treats us to multiple bodies. For a show that struck a chord with kids, Knight Rider was certainly much more violent than its contemporary The A-Team. The Topaz Connection is a more serious episode, especially compared to last week’s Give Me Liberty… or Give Me Death, which was a fun and entertaining Cannonball Run-inspired episode. This time, the focus shifts back to Michael as he investigates who murdered a publisher and, more importantly, why. He also has to crack a six-digit code to access a computer file named Topaz, hence the episode’s title.
This code is actually the silliest part of the episode. It’s a six-digit code, split into three sets of two digits. According to both Bonnie and KITT, the possibilities are infinite, which is a rather surprising statement coming from the smartest person and computer in the cast. Even I can tell you that there are exactly one million possibilities, from 000000 to 999999. While that may take some time to crack, considering the code is conveniently divided into three pairs of digits, trying dates seems like a pretty safe bet. KITT could probably crack it in 20 seconds. But then we wouldn’t have an episode, so “infinite possibilities” it is.
That’s just some nitpicking about an episode that feels rather refreshing for a change. For once, Michael actually leaves the state, giving us some welcome scenery beyond the usual California locations, and there is finally a genuinely interesting villain. Jack Starrett, also memorable from First Blood, gets a juicy role that allows him to monologue, intimidate people and, most importantly, worry about his groceries. Michael clocks him during the finale and leaves him unconscious at the scene, but we never see him being apprehended by the police, so for all we know, Hagen actually got away with everything.
A major setting is Las Vegas, which gives KITT the opportunity to help an old lady win at a slot machine. The Vegas setting isn’t quite as flashy as it could have been, though, with much of the episode taking place indoors in hotels and casinos. Michael also gets to woo this episode’s love interest, Lauren, but this is handled through a montage that relies heavily on stock footage of Las Vegas, resulting in a scene that is unintentionally goofy rather than particularly romantic.
A bit of a letdown is the whole Playboy aspect of the episode. While the opening teaser mentions centerfolds, this is hardly the sexy episode you might expect from that setup. There is a brief moment where Michael finds himself surrounded by dozens of Playboy bunnies, but the scene is over almost as quickly as it starts, and the bunnies are never seen again. It’s a bit of a wasted opportunity. Maybe even Hasselhoff thought the same thing, which eventually led to the creation of Baywatch—a show that essentially turned Playboy centerfolds into leading ladies and had them run down the beach in tight bathing suits.
There are two major stunt sequences in the episode. The first is relatively basic, featuring Michael and KITT driving at high speed to the upper deck of a parking garage. It does feature some nifty driving through a relatively small space filled with parked cars. It might look easy on screen, but at the speed they’re going, most people would probably end up bumping into one or more of those cars.
The other stunt feels almost like something out of a James Bond movie, as Michael and KITT pursue a plane on a runway. Michael climbs out of KITT and onto the plane in an attempt to jam its rear rudder. In plenty of shots it’s obvious that a stunt double is doing the heavy lifting—thanks, HD—but it’s still an impressive sequence, especially considering it was done practically. Michael’s eventual fall from the plane onto the hood of KITT is particularly impressive.
All in all, this is a decent and entertaining episode with some cool stunt work and a welcome change of scenery. It takes itself a little more seriously than some of the previous episodes, but Jack Starrett’s entertaining performance keeps things lively. It might have been even more fun, though, if those promised centerfolds had actually played a bigger part in the story.
Knight Rider tropes
KITT shenanigans
KITT helps an old lady win at a one-armed bandit, as his surveillance mode is apparently capable of triggering jackpots on slot machines. Naturally, this opens up the possibility of Michael getting rich quick. Forget the Foundation—KITT has discovered the true path to financial freedom.
Damsel in distress
Lauren Royce (Jeanna Michaels) is the daughter of murdered publisher Phillip Royce and a classic Knight Rider damsel in distress. At one point, she is tied up and gagged in a chair, a shot that currently serves as the poster image for the episode on IMDb. Lauren is in constant danger and needs to be rescued by Michael on multiple occasions. She also serves as Michael’s love interest, with the episode even treating us to a montage of the two going out on the town, complete with the kind of cheesy shots you’d expect from an 80s TV romance.
Child in peril
Another childless episode.
Michael’s undercover identity
None, actually, which is something of a novelty for a Knight Rider episode.
The Villains
There are a few villains in the mix, but assassin Hagen is the one who stands out. He’s played by veteran character actor Jack Starrett, whose unmistakably deep, gravelly voice immediately gives Hagen that rough, hard-boiled quality Starrett was so good at. He’s also surprisingly funny, giving the character a layer of personality that Knight Rider villains don’t usually get. Hagen delivers a lengthy monologue about food consumption, instructs his kidnap victim on how to answer yes and no using head movements, and even asks if they’re leaving because he has $60 worth of groceries in the fridge. It’s an amusing performance in an otherwise fairly standard villain role.
Notable gadgets
KITT has a printer on board, and it’s gloriously 80s. It’s one of those black-and-white laser printers that produces a surprisingly low-detail printout, because apparently even a supercomputer on wheels has to make do with office equipment from 1983.
Memorable guest stars
It’s been a while, but we finally get a familiar face. Jack Starrett plays Hagen, a ruthless gun-for-hire who kills multiple people over the course of the episode. Starrett had a lengthy career in movies and television, including a memorable role in First Blood, where he plays Deputy Art Galt—the only person Rambo kills in the film. He frequently played tough guys and villains, and he’s easily one of the best things about this episode.
Random observations
When KITT is racing through the desert toward Las Vegas, you can clearly see the two flaps in front of his retractable headlights waving around loosely. Not exactly the kind of robustness you’d expect from an indestructible car.
KITT can apparently travel from California to Las Vegas faster than a private plane. Either KITT is considerably faster than we’ve been led to believe, or someone seriously underestimated the speed of that plane.
There are plenty of classic computers on display in this episode, and those keyboards are a painful reminder of just how far we’ve come in terms of ergonomics. Looking at them now, it’s a wonder anyone managed to type anything without developing permanent wrist damage.
That photo of the centerfold posing next to KITT really should have been one of the promotional photos for the show. It’s basically Knight Rider distilled into a single image: a beautiful woman, a ridiculously cool car and the 80s.
