Starsky and Hutch (1975–1979): Season 1, Episode 10 - Lady Blue - full transcript

What do you mean,

you don't have me
listed as a member?

My name is Hutchinson, H-U-T...

What?

Well, look, fella,
it didn't bother you

when I signed the
bottom of the check.

Now, all I want to do
is to get my car fixed.

You understand?

So let's take it
again from the top.

My membership
number is 694-272-4...

dash A.



Yes, I'll hold.

I've been holding
for 20 minutes.

I'm getting good at it.

Sure.

Yeah.

No, I understand.

I understand completely.

No, no. No bother at all.

What was the name
of that friend of yours?

Sneaky Pete.

Sneaky Pete...

What's the matter?

Listen, do you think

that he can fix my car for me?



Yeah, your car club's
not coming, huh?

How can they?

Computer says I don't exist.

Cancel my membership...

What were you doing in there?

I just want to get my car fixed!

I've been in there on
the phone for 20 minutes

trying to prove to
the guy I exist. Oh.

Did you ever think
about it, Starsky?

What?

Here we go, another
day, another dollar.

10-4. Five-Six. Tack
Two, Zebra Three.

They're trying to
make us into digits,

and I'm tired of it.

Hey, hey, hey,

you know, it's important.

I enjoy being Zebra Three.

I don't think I
could sleep at night

if they took that away from us.

Starsky...

What?

They feed us
numbers all day long.

They try to make
us into one of them.

You see, Zebra Three,

10-4, 40 buffalo, and
a gaggle of geese.

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Sounds like Christmas.
That's not funny.

I know it's not funny,

but it's not the end
of the world either.

I mean, look at it this way...

They could've made
us "Weimaraner four."

Zebra Three...

You see? Isn't that beautiful?

Ah, let me take it.

No, I got it.

I'll take it. Okay.

Hello, there, fellow person.

Nice human being,
are you calling us?

Zebra three, come in please.

10-4's? 40 zebras?

What are you talking,
200 antelopes?

What are we, a zoo?

Who is this?

This is Detectives
Hutchinson and Starsky.

No numbers today.

What do you wish, warm person?

Please talk now.

There's a 187.

That's a dead body

in Lincoln Gardens,
near the museum.

10-f...

We're rolling.

Hey, Marty.

Fellas.

The, uh, corpse is over there.

Those people were on a picnic,
and they were right next to it.

They, uh, threw
their blanket down,

turned around,
and there she was.

Did you call in the crime lab?

No, sir.

Coroner's wagon?

Not yet.

I'll get it.

You all right?

Wow...

Whoever did this was just
really some kind of psycho.

After he killed her,

he wrapped her
up in antenna wire.

Zebra Three, Zebra Three...

We got confirmation
on that dead body

in Lincoln Gardens.

You want to send
a coroner's wagon

and a crime lab team?

Roger, Zebra Three.

Thank you.

Uh, Starsk?

What?

Come here.

What? What's the matter?

Hey, you okay?

It's Helen.

Starsky, it's Helen.

She's been dead for two days.

She was killed in one location

and dropped where we found here.

Whoever did this,
Starsky, was sick.

She had multiple
puncture wounds.

She was wrapped in
television antenna wire.

Oh, Starsky...

It's all right.

When Helen was first assigned,

she rode with us
for about a week.

After that, she and
Starsky were pretty close...

for a while.

I'm supposed to see

her old lieutenant later,

but according to this,

she quit the force
about three months ago.

Was that before or after

you two broke up?

After, by a couple of months.

Says here she was
a fine police officer...

until the end.

Absenteeism, insubordination,

and drunk once.

What happened to her?

How'd she end up a go-go dancer

in a joint like the
Mellow Yellow?

I don't know, cap.

Her roommate worked
at the Mellow Yellow.

We thought we'd check that out.

I don't think you will.

What do you mean?

I'm taking you off the case.

Look, cap...

You look!

I want that psycho
nailed and put away!

So do we.

That's why I'm not
taking any chances

on you getting
yourself suspended.

Hey...

I'm a cop, not a vigilante,

and especially
because this was Helen,

what'll go down

will be the most professional
homicide investigation

ever conducted
by this department.

I'm gonna walk
that guy into a court,

and a judge is
gonna imprison him

or institutionalize him
for the rest of his life,

so help me, God.

Okay,

but no false moves.

We're closed. Beat it.

You just re-opened.

Not without a warrant.

Used to be a door man.

Cindy?

Cindy?

I already talked
to the other cops.

I got nothing to
say to you guys.

We think maybe you do.

You were her roommate.

So what? Look, I
already told you.

We know you already talked

to the other cops.

We want to hear it again.

You see, there
might be something

that wouldn't mean
anything to anybody else.

Did you guys know Helen?

Yeah...

a long time ago.

You're Dave...

Dave Starsky, aren't you?

She told you about me?

She never said you were a cop.

She only said that... maybe
once she made a mistake.

Cindy, we need your help.

How well did you know her?

What can I tell you?

She was my best friend...

like a kid sister
that I never had.

I used to get into jams,

and she'd be
there to bail me out.

I never had anybody
like that in my whole life.

How was she feeling
lately? Was she happy?

Was she down? What?

I don't know.

With Helen, it was hard to tell.

She'd keep things to herself
rather than bother other people.

Was she seeing
anybody in particular?

She was going out
with the owner, here.

What was his name?

Ruby. Ruby Solenko.

Anybody ever bother her?

Half the customers hassled her.

The other half
are just weirdoes,

if you know what I mean.

Helen and me.

He loved her, didn't he?

Yeah.

Listen, anything I can do

to help you get the
people who did this...

You can give us a
call at this number...

if you need us.

Thank you.

You okay?

Yeah.

The picture threw me.

You're holding
yourself responsible

because the two of
you busted up, huh?

Yeah... something like that.

Starsky, that's ridiculous.

Helen wouldn't let
it happen that way.

I don't know how
to break this to you,

but you're just
not the kind of man

a woman's going
to kill herself over.

I don't care what
your mother says,

you're not Rudolph Valentino.

My mother never said I
was Rudolph Valentino.

No?

No...

Said I was more
the Paul Muni type.

Okay, look,

we've got a psycho
on our hands, huh?

Yeah.

Okay, yeah.

Where do we start?

What do you say to
a trip to San Leone?

You got it.

You know something, Starsk?

It's too bad that
Polly went crackers.

He was a good snitch.

Hey, if he can point
us where we want to go,

he's still a good snitch.

What can I do for you?

I'm busy!

Polly, we're
looking for a psycho,

a man who killed a girl

and then wrapped her
in television antenna wire.

Ah...

There's a couple of guys
in here that'd fit that jacket.

They're not going anywhere.

They can't bust
out of the joint.

No, no. On the street.

Walking on the street, Polly.

On the street...

Oh, yeah. Commander Jim.

Yeah, he's into waveform energy.

Oh, but look, he's cured.

He got out a couple
of months ago.

Polly, do you know his name?

Yeah, James March Wrightwood.

Put down my calculator!

Put down his calculator.

Polly, you were talking
about... waveforms.

Yeah...

Video signals, radio waves,
sonic booms, that kind of stuff.

Well, the ether, it's
full of magnetic energy,

which go into waves,
communicate intelligence.

Well, Colonel Jim, he was
sensitive to these waves,

to the magnetic vibrations.

Thanks, Polly.

What are you drawing?

I'm not drawing.

I'm making dials,

and when I'm
finished with the dials,

tape them on the wall,

and we'll all get out of here.

You see, you can't
get out of this joint,

so I'm blasting
the whole building

off the planet Earth.

Where you gonna go?

Well, where else?

Canal. Where I came from.

James Wrightwood...

That's him on the
torch over there.

Want to turn it off?

Huh?

Turn off your torch!

What can I do for you?

You want to put that down?

Yeah, sure.

Now, what can I
do for you fellas?

We're friends of Polly.

Oh, yeah?

You been looking for me, huh?

Hey, listen, I want
to tell you guys,

I been taking my tranquilizers,
just like the doctor told me.

I haven't touched any alcohol,

no more magic mushrooms.

No dope.

I been keeping
myself out of trouble.

You ever go to
bars or go-go joints?

Zebra Three,

switch to tack two
for Captain Dobey.

Hey...

What have you got
under your pant legs?

Aluminum foil.

Come again?

Aluminum foil.

It's my shield.

For the acid bath?

Uh-uh... cosmic rays.

Starsky!

Dobey just talked to Berkowitz.

Helen never quit.
She was undercover.

Her cover was broken,

and that's why they
think she was killed.

All right. Here it is.

Helen was running
a dangerous cover.

That explains for
her go-go dancing

at that Mellow Yellow.

She was trying to
crack a burglary ring.

Burglary?

Yeah, burglary.

They're real sweethearts.

They only deal in
six-figure jewel robberies.

Their M.O. was
to ring the doorbell,

bust into the house,

and get the folks to
hand over their goodies

by brutalizing them.

One lady got her finger broke.

They were trying
to get the ring.

These things have names?

Nah, the only positive thing

is that...

the Mellow Yellow seems
to be their headquarters.

Two days before she was killed,

Helen spotted a tail.

She feared she'd
blown her cover.

In the meantime,

her lieutenant was
trying to bring her in

from the cold.

She wouldn't come.

Well, the rest
of it, we all know.

Yeah...

We all know the rest.

Hutch, I'm with Starsk.

If they had done
that to my girl,

I think I'd take that
Mellow Yellow joint apart,

piece by piece.

A lot of good that's
gonna do, Hug.

Well, it may not do any good,

but it'd sure make me feel

a hell of a lot better.

You know, Helen
worked to break that ring

for two months,

and she was a good cop.

We go in there now,

they're going to get scared.

Well, maybe you scared
them away already.

No, if they were going to run,

they wouldn't have bothered

to make Helen's death

look like the work
of a psychopath.

Huggy, you got some salt, there?

You know, I'll lay you odds

that they're still in
there and operating.

Well, then we gotta do
what Burglary couldn't.

Find them.

Uh, these guys
don't sound too cool.

Going straight at them...

Maybe you ought
to go around them

by talking to some
of their colleagues.

Fifth Avenue.

No, he won't talk
to you. He's retired.

No, no, no.

He's got a brother, doesn't he?

Oh, um...

The slimy creep

who gets his kicks out
of peeping at women.

What's his name?

Sounds like floor,
window, wall...

Wally.

Wally.

Wally. Has a nickel and
dime car lot at Madison.

Wally.

Hey!

Hey, these are my hands.

Hey, good morning, fellas.

Good morning.

You know this car
is a classic now?

They don't make
them like this no more.

No sirree, Bob. No sirree, Bob.

That's real nice.
Beautiful. I love it.

It's quiet dignity,

but it appeals to him.

Well, baby blue, this
car could be for you.

You know, his little
beauty has reverb radio,

a power antenna.

It has sentinel light,

it's got automatic door locks,

it's got cruise control

and six-way... count them...

Six-way power seats.

I'll tell you something.

This car is you.

I got the keys right here.

What do you say
we go for a little run?

Well, I don't
know. I don't know.

I'll tell you one thing
up front, though,

I'm warning you.

I'm gonna sell you
this here chariot.

Come on, huh? Let's go.

Come on, you too. Let's go.

You're a pushover.

Thank you.

Uh, no problem.

The service department
will take care of that.

Hey, you got a relative
named Fifth Avenue?

Fifth Avenue?

Naw, never heard of him.

Never heard of him.

D is for Drive, right?

Yes, sirree, Bob.

Take it, blue eyes.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Hey, where you going?

Straighten out.

No, no, no!

You sure you don't
know Fifth Avenue?

That's too bad.

Mm.

R is for reverse?

Honest, I never
heard of Fifth Avenue.

Stop!

Whoa!

Stop!

Look out!

Fifth Avenue.

We wanna talk with him.

I told you! I...

Hold it. Hold it!

Hold it.

Hold it, hold it.

All right.

All right. I'll call him.

Yes, sirree, Bob.

What time you got?

Uh... 10:00.

Why?

Because I'm a famous dude,

or because you like
breaking up cars?

We'll pay for the car.

Well, that's okay.
The car's taken care of.

Well, I heard what they did

to your girl.

Do you know who "they" are?

Their names are Solenko,

Ritlin, and Touhy,

a punk named Touhy.
Now, he's the sicky.

Solenko owns the
Mellow Yellow, right?

Yeah, that's right.

You guys wouldn't happen
to have a cigarette on you,

would you?

Now, look, don't
get the wrong idea.

You see, the reason I'm
helping you find these guys is...

well, they're not thieves,
they're hoodlums.

Now, a professional thief
like myself, he gets out,

he works for a living.

You know, it's hard work.

It takes a lot of skill.

You know, I never carried
a piece in my whole life.

Is that right?

No, I didn't have to.

Well, the guys you're
after are degenerates.

They're bums.

Give an honest thief
like me a bad name.

So you want a lead?

Yeah.

Let me work on it.

Pushover.

Hello. How are you
today, Mr. Solenko?

Not bad.

I got heartburn again...

Listen, Touhy,

you get the wide
kind of tape this time?

Yeah.

All right.

Any trouble with the people,

Harvey will take care of them.

Now, uh, Boyle's got
the flower truck set,

Sam's gonna fence the ice.

Now, we go in the
front door as usual.

There'll probably be servants,

which means we gotta
sweep the place careful

so none get left behind
to set off an alarm.

You got the pieces?

Right here.

And two more.

All right, uniforms
are in the truck...

and I'm not kidding,

take it easy on the
people this time!

Is Detective Hutchinson there?

All right.

Well, look, it's very important

that I talk to either Detective
Starsky or Hutchinson.

Yeah, would you ask
them to call me, please?

My name's Cindy.

No, they'll know.

She was phoning the police.

Uh. Tsk-tsk.

That's very unfortunate, Cindy.

Touhy...

see that she can never make

that same mistake again.

♪ I know where my head is at ♪

♪ Won't somebody find my body? ♪

♪ I know where My head is at ♪

♪ Won't somebody Find my body? ♪

Cindy...

♪ I know where My head is at ♪

Who did it?

♪ Won't somebody Find my body? ♪

♪ I know where my head is at ♪

Cindy, what did
you want to tell us

on the telephone?

♪ I know where my head is at ♪

♪ Won't somebody Find my body? ♪

♪ I know... ♪

How long is she
gonna be like that?

I don't know.

Maybe a day, a month...

She didn't get a full dose,

or she'd be dead.

What'd they do to her?

Some sort of
narco-hallucinogenic highball.

♪ I know where my head is at
Won't somebody find my body? ♪♪

Well, at least
she's still alive.

I woke up in the middle
of the night last night

thinking about Helen,

the way we used to argue.

Remember the fights
we used to have?

Yeah.

We'd make up in
good ways, though.

Yeah, we'd take
a walk in the park.

Pack a picnic,

sit under a tree in the grass.

Watch the kids.

You know...

we used to talk
about having kids,

getting married...

That surprise you?

For the Paul Muni type?

No.

Zebra Three, from Control...

Zebra Three, from Control...

Zebra Three, from Control.

Zebra Three, Hutchinson here.

Zebra Three,

call the man named Fifth Avenue.

He said it was urgent.

Number is 555...

Patch me in, will you?

Roger, Zebra Three.

Fifth Avenue?
This is Hutchinson.

You have an address?

That's gold. Thanks a lot.

What?

It's Fifth Avenue.

He heard from Solenko's fence.

They're going to
hit something big

in Bel Plaine
tomorrow afternoon,

but he doesn't have an address.

Well, that's terrific.

The question is,
how do we find it?

Insurance companies.

Huh.

We can have them check
out the homes in the area

that insure for
that much jewelry.

Can't be that many.

We narrow it down,
we can stake them out.

House One, all clear.

10-4, House One.

House Two, this is
Zebra Three. Over.

Zebra, this is House Two.

Nothing yet. Over.

House Three,
this is Zebra Three.

Como esta usted?

Zebra, this is House Three.

Nada, Pancho Villa.

Your Spanish stinks. Over.

Zebra, this is House Two.

What do you got, Angie?

A flower truck just
pulled up in the driveway.

Hold tight, Angie.
We're on our way.

Let's go.

Police! Freeze!

Hold it!

We're walking!

Oh, man, we were set up.

We're going! She's going too!

You, move!

We're backing out. Now!

Try something, she's first!

And you're a close second.

Hold it!

Pull that trigger,
you're a dead man.

All right...

Hey, don't shoot!

It's all right. It's all right!

Come out of there!

Okay...

you're under arrest
for illegal trespass,

carrying concealed weapons,

and half a dozen other
things I can think of...

and the murder of
policewoman Helen Davidson.

You got the right to
remain silent... Helen?

What are you talking
about? I never touched her.

Don't jive me.

You blew her cover
and had Touhy do her.

You... you mean she was a cop?

Hey...

that's Helen's car.

Yeah, they towed it in

off the street this morning.

Come on, partner.

Time to let go.

What do you mean,
you're not quite sure?

Just that.

Something's missing.

It doesn't all fit.

You didn't see the look
on Ruby Solenko's face

when he found out
Helen was a cop.

Well, if Solenko
didn't kill her,

we're right back
where we started.

Captain Dobey's office.

What?

Hold on a second,
will you, Bill?

Well, it looks like
Solenko's off the hook.

We just got ourselves
another cocktail waitress.

Skimpy costume,
sequins, very dead,

same M.O. as Helen's...

Wrapped up in TV antenna wire.

Johnson's handling it.

Maybe that's a copycat killing.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

Hello, Bill? Hutch.

Is the victim's car still there?

Listen, turn the car radio on,

punch all the buttons
and tell me what happens.

Just do it.

All right.

All the buttons on the
dead girl's car radio...

were set at 97.4.

So were all the
buttons on Helen's car

down in the garage.

The media didn't know or
carry all that information.

So it has to be the
same guy, right?

Yeah.

Can't be Ruby Solenko.

So therefore,

Helen's murder had nothing
to do with her being undercover.

What we are looking for

is a psycho killing
cocktail waitresses.

Coincidentally,
Helen was killed.

She played the part
and was killed for it.

But what does the radio
station have to do with that?

Commander Jim of the Airwaves.

Radio!

Oh, man.

What?

Put out an APB on
James March Wrightwood.

Did two years

at the San Leone
Medical Institute

for the Criminally Insane

with priors going
back, uh... 10 years.

Thanks.

Yeah, Bob, look,
give me the call letters

for a radio station at 97.4 FM.

That's right.

Wrightwood's that
psycho we talked to.

He's into radio waves.

Commander Jim is
out and about the town.

Well, see you tomorrow, Annie.

Hey, come on up to my place

for a quick drink.

Gee, I wish I could,

but my mom's watching the baby.

Promised I'd be home early.

Oh, well...

Okay, good night.

See you tomorrow.

Karen!

And then the microwave dishes

revolve and revolve,

and... and they seek me out
and turn and... and find me,

and then they zap me

until my head is
going to explode,

and they still squeeze,

and my eyes...

my eyes bleed green...

and that's...

That's when everything
turns white-hot and pink, and...

they've got me.

That's when they
make me do evil things.

That's when they make
me take off my shields.

Where do you think

these waves are coming from?

Alpha Centauri.

And what do you do after?

I... I hate myself

for the bad things I've done.

That's all of it.

That's nothing.

Doctor...

why does he tie up his victims

with TV antenna wire
after he kills them?

Probably to deflect
these incoming rays

from Alpha Centauri

away from him into them.

To take away the
pain in his head?

Yeah.

Uh, what's he gonna do now?

Well, first,

we have to analyze
the carrier signals.

See, now, the 1940's music...

Probably... nostalgia for
an age of moral certainty.

The trombones...

No, no, let's worry
about the significance

of the music later.

What we want to know

is what these waves
from Alpha Centauri

are telling him
to do with a girl.

Well, if I knew that...

Well, when were your tapes made?

Three months ago.

Three months ago...

and you let him
back on the streets?

James March Wrightwood
left this institution

a very healthy, sane individual.

He couldn't have
killed those girls.

How can you be so sure?

Because we gave
him the Wisconsin...

Multi-facet Index Test,
in which he scored 76%.

72% is sane.

He is therefore...

free of any significant
psychotic disturbance.

Hey, hey, wait a second.

Wait just one lovely moment.

You let him out because
he passed a test, huh?

How did you get this job?

I wouldn't let you fix
a sewing machine.

That's really rather abusive.

These test scores...

Test scores!

Man, we're talking about lives!

Lives, man!

Dead mutilated girls!

Their lives! His life!

He's a victim too.

He's got electricity
and chemistry

running around in his head.

He's all screwed up!

You talk about test scores?

You let him out because
he passed a test?

We rely very heavily
on data just like that.

That man received
psychiatric therapy,

chemotherapy.

Hogwash!

Electro-shock...

Electro-shock?

You gave him electricity?

After what he told you he
thought about being zapped?

Oh...

Well...

There is such a
thing as a relapse.

A relapse?

He's been out of
here now for, what?

Four weeks? That's no relapse.

That's somebody's who's sick.

Who's never been un-sick!

I don't think I want to
go any farther with this

without benefit of
legal representation,

and I should not have
shown you these tapes.

Well, I want to tell
you something, doctor.

If I'm not mistaken,

this test data
that you talk about

is supposed to be used as an aid

by a competent professional

in making his judgments.

Not mechanically!

Not by test scores!

You're a robot.

You ought to be
busted out of here!

Where do you get
your waves from, huh?

Waves!

What?

We know that
Wrightwood gets his waves

from Alpha Centauri.

So what?

But where is he
when he gets them?

Radio transmitter.

K-L-O-W. That's where he goes.

Beautiful.

It is now 6:00 a.m.

on a beautiful Sunday morning
as we end our broadcast night...

No, no!

Let me go. Please, let me go!

K-L-O-W, for the
glow that's mellow.

Oh, please, please.

Jim!

Jim!

Put down your gun, Jim!

Jim...

Jim, we'll go see Polly.

I had them build a whole
new room for you, Jim.

Polly helped me. He designed it.

He said you'd like it.

Shh, shh. You okay? Huh?

Jim!

I'm coming out now.

I'm unarmed.

Jim...

Look.

Let me tell you
about the room, Jim.

It's a very special room.

It's your very own place.

We've lined it with lead, so
the waves from outer space,

from Alpha Centauri,

can't get to you there.

You'll be okay, Jim.

Listen, you're gonna
be peaceful there.

You're gonna be okay, Jim.

You're gonna be calm.

Jim...

You'll have a smiling face.

Not like now.

You'll be happy.

Put down your gun, Jim.

Please.

Please...

Jim, don't go up there!

Jim...

Jim!

Climb down!

Get away from me!

I'm coming, damn
it all! I'm coming!

Jim...

Don't go out there, Jim!

Get away from me!

Let me help you, Jim.

Please, get away!

Jim, there are other
ways people can help you.

Jim, give me your hand.

Come on. Come on.

Hey, Starsk, you
see that sunset?

No, that's okay.

You really ought
to take a look at it.

Why? They happen every night.

It's beautiful.

Every color of the spectrum
constantly changing.

Blue and gold and
red and purple...

You been keeping Reader's Digest

in the john again?

"Ways to More Colorful Speech"?

No, I'm serious.

It's always changing.

It only exists
for a little while

and then goes away.

I guess it's like
most things beautiful.

It's part of their
nature, like Helen.

She existed...

and then she went away.

Yeah...

Did you ever think
of taking up the violin?

What are the candles for?

You expecting someone?

Yeah, that's why
we're eating early.

Oh.

What time am I leaving?

Look at this.

Hey!

Hey, hey!

Hey, that's my favorite.
How'd you know?

I called your mother up.

You called my mother?

Yeah, she calls it
the Paul Muni special.

Eat your vegetables.