I think in many ways this a very real episode and still relevant today. Police are under the microscope 24/7 nowadays, back then not as much.
The story goes black militants lie and falsely accuse 2 cops of murder of an innocent black man. When in fact the black man ambushed the police.
In this episode in 1971 the cops were actually seen as the good guys. Back then the media wasn't near as quick to condemn the police. Nowadays there would be a thousand microphones in their faces and marching and rioting in the street.
No way this would air today with that storyline. There would be demands to boycott the show.
5 Reviews
Uneasy Lies The Truth
chashans5 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This is not an easy episode to provide a review for. The episode acknowledges real world problems - major problems - between police and the Black communities of large cities and urban areas of the time. Of course, those same problems still exist 50 years later as I write this in 2023.
The episode most definitely takes the side of the Police, as the story as written dictates. Two Black militants, brothers, brutally ambush two Los Angeles Police Officers. One cop is white, the other is black. The black Officer remains conscious at the scene of the ambush and provide Malloy, Reed and other Police with the information that he believes he wounded one of the attackers who then got away. The other attacker has been killed.
The episode makes it clear that the Police are in the right. A group of militants, written to emulate the real Black Panthers group, show up at a Police News Conference and their Leader proceeds to lie about what had occurred. Media present are written to immediately take more interest in the side of the militants.
Another Black man is written so as to be in the middle of everything. He's a past friend of Officer Reed, but he's Black so is torn as to siding with the Black militants. But this character is also "in the middle" of the two men who ambushed the police. His younger brother was the one killed at the ambush site and his older brother is the one who was wounded and got away.
The Middle Man ends up turning on his old friend, Jim Reed, even though Reed assures him of what truthfully occurred. Eventually the Middle Man is presented with the honest truth by his found, wounded older brother. But the older brother still wants the Middle Man to side against the cops regardless.
So the moral of this story, which again is seemingly attempting to acknowledge events of the real world, is it's better to believe the police because they're always honest. Which the real world knows is most certainly not always true. The real world knows that now and the real world definitely knew it in the 1970s. The vast number of Police are honest, good people. As are the vast number of Black citizens and indeed, all citizens. It's the very small number of the dishonest - amongst all human beings - who make life difficult for everyone.
It's easy to say with 50 years hindsight, that it perhaps would have been better had the Adam-12 writers/producers aimed this episode toward a moreso "Gray Area". That is, instead of the decidedly "Black and White" or perhaps "Black vs. White/White Cops" story this ended up being.
It is surprising that the production chose to have the conscious Officer at the ambush scene be a Black man himself. Surprising, that is, in that this is never actually referred to further in the episode. No one from the Police ever confronts the militant group that their members had in fact attempted to kill an Officer who was himself Black.
Stepping aside from all this potential controversy of the episode, it is in fact a very good production. Terrific direction, excellent settings and very good acting from the series regulars and guest cast. The actor portraying the Militant Leader is exceptionally chilling in his performance.
On a lighter sider - a much needed lighter side - wonderful character actor Burt Mustin shows up as an elderly driver pulled over by Malloy and Reed for speeding. He informs Malloy that it's his birthday and is then entirely incensed that Malloy has the gall to write him a ticket. And on his birthday! Malloy responds with a great line which puts a look of surprised understanding on the old coot's previously crusty-mooded face.
The episode most definitely takes the side of the Police, as the story as written dictates. Two Black militants, brothers, brutally ambush two Los Angeles Police Officers. One cop is white, the other is black. The black Officer remains conscious at the scene of the ambush and provide Malloy, Reed and other Police with the information that he believes he wounded one of the attackers who then got away. The other attacker has been killed.
The episode makes it clear that the Police are in the right. A group of militants, written to emulate the real Black Panthers group, show up at a Police News Conference and their Leader proceeds to lie about what had occurred. Media present are written to immediately take more interest in the side of the militants.
Another Black man is written so as to be in the middle of everything. He's a past friend of Officer Reed, but he's Black so is torn as to siding with the Black militants. But this character is also "in the middle" of the two men who ambushed the police. His younger brother was the one killed at the ambush site and his older brother is the one who was wounded and got away.
The Middle Man ends up turning on his old friend, Jim Reed, even though Reed assures him of what truthfully occurred. Eventually the Middle Man is presented with the honest truth by his found, wounded older brother. But the older brother still wants the Middle Man to side against the cops regardless.
So the moral of this story, which again is seemingly attempting to acknowledge events of the real world, is it's better to believe the police because they're always honest. Which the real world knows is most certainly not always true. The real world knows that now and the real world definitely knew it in the 1970s. The vast number of Police are honest, good people. As are the vast number of Black citizens and indeed, all citizens. It's the very small number of the dishonest - amongst all human beings - who make life difficult for everyone.
It's easy to say with 50 years hindsight, that it perhaps would have been better had the Adam-12 writers/producers aimed this episode toward a moreso "Gray Area". That is, instead of the decidedly "Black and White" or perhaps "Black vs. White/White Cops" story this ended up being.
It is surprising that the production chose to have the conscious Officer at the ambush scene be a Black man himself. Surprising, that is, in that this is never actually referred to further in the episode. No one from the Police ever confronts the militant group that their members had in fact attempted to kill an Officer who was himself Black.
Stepping aside from all this potential controversy of the episode, it is in fact a very good production. Terrific direction, excellent settings and very good acting from the series regulars and guest cast. The actor portraying the Militant Leader is exceptionally chilling in his performance.
On a lighter sider - a much needed lighter side - wonderful character actor Burt Mustin shows up as an elderly driver pulled over by Malloy and Reed for speeding. He informs Malloy that it's his birthday and is then entirely incensed that Malloy has the gall to write him a ticket. And on his birthday! Malloy responds with a great line which puts a look of surprised understanding on the old coot's previously crusty-mooded face.
Foster & Laurie
seaslug-5358911 October 2023
Eleven months after this episode, a Black Police officer and a White Police officer were ambushed by a black militant group in NYC known as the Black Liberation Army. Unlike this episode, Officers Foster and Laurie were shot multiple times and killed on a sidewalk walking their beat. I wonder if the BLA watched Adam-12 and got the idea to ambush two police officers, one black and one white. A made for TV movie was produced in 1975 appropriately titled "Foster & Laurie" and I recommended fans of Adam-12 to view it if possible out of respect to those officers who left young wives and children behind. Even worse, both Foster and Laurie survived combat in Vietnam as Marines just a few years before they were gunned down; to survive that only to be shot and killed in your own country is sickening irony.
The Brotherhood And The L.A. Police Froce
StrictlyConfidential3 January 2021
(*Kenny James quote*) - "I can't believe he would do anything like that."
This episode of TV's "Adam-12" is all about racism where a fierce group of African-American militants say that they are right and the police are wrong.
I didn't care for this episode at all.
This episode of TV's "Adam-12" is all about racism where a fierce group of African-American militants say that they are right and the police are wrong.
I didn't care for this episode at all.
Vaguely Well Meaning but Weak Episode
hypestyle16 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This episode attempted to address issues of allegations of police brutality among black city residents in Los Angeles.
The Adam-12 police officers are tracking a man suspected of killing two police officers. "Cleo" was ambushing two cops but the street-activists (styled like the Black Panthers) portray the event as aggression initiated by the police.
Circa 1971, this story attempted to take into account real life events surrounding the civil rights movement and the black power movement, and ongoing tensions between black citizens in urban areas and predominately white police officers who still patrolled these cities.
Creators Robert Cinader and Jack Webb's influence is never far from Adam 12's stories. The police department is presented as an inherently noble institution, though not without vaguely-alluded to faults.
A very 'mainstream' black male character is the brother of one one the "bad guys" in the episode. The 'mainstream' character is presented as initially friendly and cooperative to the main Adam-12 officers. The relationship gets strained, however, and an increasingly escalating set of confrontations takes place, with a near-deadly climax.
The episode tries to address the social chasms of the time with extremely limited results. The acting itself is fine by 1971 television standards, but most of the black characters just aren't portrayed beyond caricature.
The Adam-12 police officers are tracking a man suspected of killing two police officers. "Cleo" was ambushing two cops but the street-activists (styled like the Black Panthers) portray the event as aggression initiated by the police.
Circa 1971, this story attempted to take into account real life events surrounding the civil rights movement and the black power movement, and ongoing tensions between black citizens in urban areas and predominately white police officers who still patrolled these cities.
Creators Robert Cinader and Jack Webb's influence is never far from Adam 12's stories. The police department is presented as an inherently noble institution, though not without vaguely-alluded to faults.
A very 'mainstream' black male character is the brother of one one the "bad guys" in the episode. The 'mainstream' character is presented as initially friendly and cooperative to the main Adam-12 officers. The relationship gets strained, however, and an increasingly escalating set of confrontations takes place, with a near-deadly climax.
The episode tries to address the social chasms of the time with extremely limited results. The acting itself is fine by 1971 television standards, but most of the black characters just aren't portrayed beyond caricature.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
