Mannix (TV Series) The Ragged Edge (1974) User Reviews

I liked it!

[nbrice18 · 9/10 · 3 June 2018]

I usually agree with the other reviewer, however I must disagree about this episode. Obviously Mannix never injected any heroin, the whole thing was a set up. He only made himself up to look strung out to fool the hotel clerk and everyone else.

The most interesting thing about this episode was that I swear Linda Evans' character's house was the Brady Bunch house. The exterior was different and there were no stairs, but the kitchen was identical!

Joe undercover

[Guad42 · 8/10 · 20 May 2021]

Initially, I was skeptical of Joe being undercover as a heroin addict. They explain it well in that he is not addicted and was supposedly forced into it by bad guys. Story is straight forward with the only twist being who are the traitorous bad guys hiding among the good guys. With the use of makeup and skill, Mike Connors pulls off the addiction act rather well. As with most Mannix episodes, don't think about this one too much. Why did he need to "kill" Lt Malcolm. It was obviously a loyalty test but one that the good guys saw coming and so were prepared to easily fake it. It would be better to take Mannix along and have him watch while someone else shoots Malcolm. See if he can keep quiet through the whole thing. When you come right down to it, why do the bad guys need Joe at all? They can set up a heroin sale without him. When Lorna (Linda Evans) decides to run away, why does she need Joe? Just switch the money and go. She was going to leave Joe high and dry so clearly didn't want him around.

Great cast. I do think Don Gordon as the head bad guy was on autopilot a bit. I've seen him better. Roger Perry is good. Bill Fetcher as a bad guy is menacing. He always reminds me of James Coburn. Linda Evans is beautiful and in top form. Robert Ito is a doctor in on the plan. He's been a doctor on Mannix before and will move on to "Quincy" soon after this. Paul Carr is on hand so you know he is one of the bad guys, mostly because he is always one of the bad guys. For a change, he doesn't get killed, only wounded.

Of course, there is the usual Mannix trademark of superior shooting with a hand gun. Joe gets paid and Peggy must have gotten the time off so win-win here. Recommended viewing.

Beauty Linda Evans steals the show

[belanger75 · 9/10 · 21 February 2019]

Between Big Valley (when she looked her most beautiful) and Dynasty (when she proved middle aged ladies could be totally hot) Miss. Evans did this superb episode of Mannix. Her role ( of druggie dealer's moll and girlfriend) starts out seemingly marginal but it believably grows longer and deeper. I almost cannot believe it is just because the way it was written and directed as Evans adds much to it herself. She was a very, very interesting as well as beautiful lady in her roles and this is no exception.

Lady Is a Scamp

[DAshton1918 · 9/10 · 20 August 2020]

I TOTALLY agree with the last two reviewers...given some very mediocre eps this season Mannix left on a high note.

Any episode that involved a strung-out, sweaty Joe, the vivacious Linda Evans AND the FULL Brady Bunch set starts out as a 10 and works its way backward.

Deduct one star for Mike's (very slight) hamminess and another for the "police saves his bacon" cliche but add a full one for Mike and Linda's chemistry and a 1/2 one (which IMDB won't let me do) because no one knocks Joe unconscious.

Would I have skipped the meeting and taken the goods and Linda to Acapulco with me? I think you know the answer!

One of the best eps IMHO...what say you?

JOE THE DRUGGIE ON THE EDGE?

[tcchelsey · 9/10 · 12 November 2022]

What a way to close out the last episode of the season --Joe a heroin addict? OR is HE?

Malcolm (Ward Wood) is just as surprised as we are to learn this, or is he onto the charade? Daniel Ullman put this all together, a specialist in adventure, though his pet projects were generally movie and tv westerns. The catch here is the audience is left more in the dark about Mannix's serious condition than the bad guys? Watch very carefully.

Ullman also adds a touch of dark comedy; the drug dealer's gal friend (well played by Linda Evans) is residing in the wholesome Brady Bunch house (or whats left of the set since the show was cancelled).

Evans took some time off from THE BIG VALLEY tv show when it ended, returning in the early 1970s to appear in cops shows, also MCCLOUD and BANACEK. She followed this episode with an appearance on HARRY O, starring David Janssen. A very beautiful and talented actress, soon to go on to tv super stardom.

One curious thing that's been bantered about. Lorna (Evans) buys a suitcase for the drug mastermind to carry five million bucks in heroin cash money. It's unlikely, unless you had uncirculated 100,000 dollar bills in there, or other exceptionally large notes. Poetic license 101 strikes once again, though it's kind of cool to watch the whole thing. That mistake has been made in several movies also --just how much cash can you (believably) squeeze into a briefcase or suitcase?

Regis Cordic is excellent as the creepy drug dealer who slips Mannix heroin. Cordic was a popular Hollywood DJ, who replaced Bob Crane on KNX Radio when he joined HOGANS HEROES. Reliable heavy Don Gordon co-stars as Frank. Also in the cast is Roger Perry as Sgt. Fletcher and Robert Ito, making a second series appearance, playing a doctor.

Super Classic scene; Mannix and Malcolm on the bridge. DON'T miss it. All in all, well worth your viewing time as this is something different.

SEASON 7 finale remastered color CBS dvd box set.

Strange Twists

[ldlinda · 10/10 · 9 May 2024]

Mannix on heroin? Noooo! He played an addict damn well. Crooked cops, played by Paul Carr and Roger Perry. Don Gordon is a typical bad guy. Mannix did quite a setup with his cop buddy ,Art. Linda Evans was stunning. But deceitful. Used Mannix for the money. But Lt. Malcolm came backfrom the dead from his backflip off the bridge AFTER Joe shot him . Mannix recovered quickly for being strung out. That usually takes months. But ,to my shock, all this chaos going on in the #BradyBunchHouse! What would Alice think? As usual Mike Connors ,Gail Fisher and Ward( Lt. Malcom were a fantastic trio. Nice.

I'm one that likes this one!

[barnettjoshua-70531 · 9/10 · 9 May 2024]

This episode, final episode of Season 7, is a pretty neat episode. What impressed me the most was that The Brady Bunch (1969) house was used yet again and what was ironic is that in the previous season finale, the house was used then and in the next season finale or the final episode of the series. The house is used then too. Pretty cool.

Anyways, in this episode, Mannix poses as a drug addict to infiltrate a crime ring and while this episode makes sense somewhat, some of it here and there confuses me, but this episode however was still highly enjoyable, mainly because of the acting from beautiful Linda Evans and Don Gordon.

And there's a lot of action, suspense music and much more! I believe it is well worth seeing and an interesting, decent way to close out Season 7.

This one just doesn't make any sense....none whatsoever

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 15 April 2017]

I have watched seven of the eight seasons of "Mannix" and would have to say that "The Ragged Edge" is the worst episode...so far. It makes zero sense.

When the show begins, Mannix has been missing for 17 days and when Art Malcolm and his men find him, Mannix is a heroin addicted mess. It seems that someone kidnapped him and have been forcing him to take injections of horse for some time. Mannix has track marks all over his arms and he lives for his next fix.

Soon after being taken to the hospital, Mannix attacks the cop keeping an eye on him and he heads in search of heroin. No one will sell him any, however, as the folks who got him addicted want him to be REAL desperate for his next fix...so desperate that he's willing to murder Art Malcolm! After seeming to do this, Mannix is ushered into the world of drugs and hot women (Linda Evans).

By the end of all this, you learn that SOMEHOW Mannix really is immune to heroin and kicking it is easier than my addiction to Doritos....and he's been working with Malcolm all along to find a dirty cop. Huh?! What in the world is this? Are they saying that Mannix CHOSE to become an addict for the sake of the case? Or were they saying because he IS Mannix he is super-human? All I know is that this made no sense at all and the folks who make "The Ragged Edge" stole 50 minutes of my life!

Jump the White Horse

[pwgilmartin · 2/10 · 11 August 2021]

Just wanted to add, I love how they use the Brady Bunch sets for Madame Linda Evens home.

Episode is a dud and makes no sense whatsoever!

[imdb-25288 · 4/10 · 19 May 2021]

Even worse than when Mannix goes all "Mission Impossible' to a "hostile nation", at the Waikiki Hilton, this showcases Mannix all strung out with needle marks on his arm crook. He assaults a cop to go get his next fix and then he goes to the bridge to shoot his BFF, best friend forever, the mustachioed dude whose name no one knows. The guy looks horrified when Mannix pulls out a gun but then they talk like old buddies, as if this were a set-up. Ok, so I've been deceived? Why pull the horrified face when he points a gun atcha? Bad acting, methinks.

This is just a rip-off of Hutch's The Fix from Starksy and Hutch. And don't give me that nonsense that this aired a year before, I know that. But Let me tell you something: if I have to take it from this production, then they get it from me. This time-traveled to plagiarize David Soul because Hutch is blond and handsome and did it better. (Starsky's the ugly one, in case you were wondering.)

Then here comes Linda Evans already with her plastic surgery and bangs. Let me tell you something else: Evans was gorgeous in the Great Vally without bangs. Tawyn Kitaen could wear bangs. Evans? Heavens, no! She had a gorgeous forhead. But that guy who turned her into Bo Derek, changed her face so they looked like twin. Linda is wearing peach. I hate peach.

Anyway, David Soul did it better. This episode stank up to high hell. It made no sense. Did they expect the bad guys to believe that make up on the crook of his arm worked to deceive the drug pushers that he was strung out?? At least Hutch really got strung out. DId I mention this made no sense? To top it all off another reviewer time-traveled to read my review and stole my title. UGH! 4 stars cos this is one boring show but there's worse: have you seen the crap they air these days? No thanks! I belong somewhere between 1970 and 1989. The end.

If you think about anything you're lost

[bupdaddy · 5/10 · 17 February 2022]

I'm stupid or this makes no sense. Possibly both.

1. When the episode opens, Joe's been missing for 17 days, and Peggy herself called the police.

2. Dr. Ito confirms Joe's addicted to heroin.

3. But it's all a setup! He's not a heroin addict! He's (big flourish) ACT-ING! It's all an elaborate MASQUERADE!

4. He fooled a doctor who did lab tests? He didn't tell Peggy, who probably thought Joe was dead?

5. Joe pulled a gun on a cop to escape from his withdrawal bed. The cop turns out to be a dealer later in the episode, which was a surprise to Joe. But wait - if the cop wasn't in on THE MASQUERADE, why pull such a stupid risky stunt as part of THE MASQUERADE? As far as Joe knew at the time, he was a legit cop WHOSE FIREARM Joe had to TAKE AND USE AGAINST HIM. Part of any MASQUERADE involving escaping from a hospital should be not having to take firearms from people who are there to guard you.

6. The bad guy uses Joe to deliver one message to the guy they're buying heroin from. There are much easier ways to deliver a message.

7. Why send a guy who's been part of your operation for one day to be the guy bringing the money and receiving the heroin?

8. WHO'S PAYING JOE FOR THIS WHOLE THING? THIS IS LIKE A THREE WEEK MASQUERADE.

In sum, life is a MASQUERADE. That we don't know who being billed for.