The BEST episodes of Adam-12 season 5
Every episode of Adam-12 season 5, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Adam-12 season 5!
Follow two Los Angeles police officers as they patrol the streets of Southern California. Adam-12 was the first series to realistically portray the joys/frustrations of being a police officer in the late 1960's-early 1970's. This attention to detail made the show a catalyst for uncounted numbers of people to enter public service as adults. "1-Adam-12" was the radio call number of the unit that Malloy & Reed worked: "1" was the division assigned, "Adam" was LA Phonetic for "A" designating a 2-person patrol unit, and "12" was the beat area assigned. (Although, Malloy & Reed could be seen patrolling the streets anywhere in L.A. from Downtown to the Valley, they retained the number division #1, no matter where they were). The police station used throughout the series was the newly-built (at the time) Rampart Station.
#1 - Badge Heavy
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/25/1972
Officer Charlie Burnside pulls a prank on Officer Albert Porter, a friend of Reed's, who does not take the joke, and Porter lets Reed know that he feels Burnside is being a little "badge heavy" (rough) on his suspects. After dealing with an inept would-be robber whose car won't start, Malloy and Reed are handling backup on a call when Reed observes Burnside choke a suspect. Reed reports it but nothing is done by the Captain because the victim wouldn't admit Burnside was the aggressor. Burnside turns cocky on Reed saying he has "an ace in the hole" and that Reed was mad about the prank he pulled on Porter. During a foot pursuit of two robbers, Burnside got to one of them and this results in charges brought against the officer, who confronts Reed but this time the other officers back Reed.
#2 - Lost and Found
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/4/1972
Reed and Malloy rush 8-year old Jimmy to Rampart Emergency Hospital with an as yet undiagnosed illness. Upon arrival, the immediate conclusion, and diagnosis are the same: Diabetes. Scared of the hospital, Jimmy runs off, and it's up to Reed and Malloy to find him before he goes into a diabetic coma. They follow the only lead they have, to the one happy place he was before the attack began, at the pet store, to buy a puppy. Elsewhere, Malloy's new girlfriend Cathy mans a hospital telephone hotline which is about to go under due to lack of funds. One call has her worried, that from Sherry, a 15-year old junkie threatening suicide to escape her troubled life. Sherry won't discloes where she is while she takes some "reds," supplied by her similary junike mother. Malloy and Reed need to find her fast, before she OD's. NOTE: This episode is a crossover with "Emergency!", featuring Doctor Bracket and Nurse McCall but also featuring cameos of Dr. Early and Firemen Gage and DeSoto.
#3 - Killing Ground
Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/7/1973
Malloy and Reed pull over a car on a routine traffic stop and are taken hostage by two robbers escaping from their heist. The officers have to use all their skills to escape the situation.
#4 - Suspended
Season 5 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/21/1973
Reed spends an evening on the firing range, then stops by a all-night grocery store. When Reed leaves, a man approaches him as if he knew him, then points out another man in a green Beetle holding a gun on the officer. Reed drops his groceries, pushes the man, jumps and fires at the man in the Beetle, hitting the car, but the man in the Beetle shot and hit his accomplice. The grocer swears he only heard one shot, and the accomplice gave a dying declaration that Reed was trigger-happy and shot him. Reed (as per standard procedure) is assigned desk duty until the Review Board completed its findings, but the accomplice's death makes it look more and more like Reed could face a murder charge until Malloy (along with his by-the-book replacement partner) locates the green Beetle after going through numerous DMV checks, and locates the other man, exonerating Reed with both the courts and the department, who cleared him in the shooting.
#5 - The Chaser
Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/6/1972
An out-of-state armed private investigator is inside a bar, Malloy and Reed arrive and determine the PI is legally allowed to carry but takes him to his car to stow the gun, and find he is in town looking for a bail jumper. Later the PI is in the middle of an altercation with two black men, one of which is seriously injured. The PI claims the men tried to rob him, later the men tell a different story, and Sgt. MacDonald orders the PI arrested. The PI is found after catching (and roughing up) the bail jumper, and is arrested. Other calls include an elderly man wanting a group of cars driven by hippies ticketed for illegal parking, and a woman who demands the officers ticket her husband's car because he refuses to replace the balding tires on it.
#6 - Keeping Tabs
Season 5 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/14/1973
Malloy and Reed pull over a speeding car full of teenagers, including Sgt. MacDonald's son, and Malloy finds himself in the middle between father and son on how to handle it. Other calls include a burglar who tries to run up the fire escape unsuccessfully, complaints about a woman feeding ducks interrupting two men and a chess game; Malloy suggests she join them when she comments that they are poor chess players, two boyfriends fight at knifepoint over a woman, who leaves with a third man after the two combatants are arrested, and Reed has to save a drunk (played by Pat Buttram) who is trying to direct traffic at a busy intersection.
#7 - Hot Spell
Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/13/1972
Malloy and Reed have to wear their long-sleeved uniforms despite a hot forecast, then later found out they could have changed to short sleeves but missed the radio notification. The officers receive a tip about a bicycle pump that contains drugs, later the find a woman experiencing withdrawal symptoms, and they find the supplier and the pump. Other cases include a man complaining about his grass being trampled during his yard sale, only to find he was selling stolen property from another man who gave him the items from his job as a repo man. After arresting the repo man, they get a tip on a murder suspect which leads to the suspect's arrest.
#8 - Vendetta
Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/22/1972
A World War II survivor (and bar owner) sets an ambush for an unidentified intruder when Malloy and Reed intervene. R&I determines the owner is clean and emigrated to the US 17 years earlier from Eastern Europe. The officers speak with a local priest who knows the owner, who complains to Sgt. MacDonald about what he feels is the officers' interference. Later shots are fired at the bar and an intruder is unconscious with no one else in the bar. Malloy and Reed find the owner with the priest, who informs them that the intruder is a former Nazi soldier and did not want to surrender.
#9 - Gifts and Long Letters
Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/20/1972
Malloy and Reed are called to a hotel to stop a suicide attempt, which they do and the woman leaves a note for another patron of the hotel, a parolee with ties to organized crime who refuses to speak with the woman because he thinks someone from the mob is after him. Later the officers are called back to the hotel because the manager wants the parolee evicted because he's up typing until the wee hours of the morning, then another call to the hotel results in a shootout between the officers and the parolee, who was having delusions the mob was after him. In another case, the officers offer assistance to a man whose car needed a tire change and the man declined; the officers receive a radio report of a robbery which involved the same man and car. Detectives later apprehend the man; Malloy and Reed verify the suspect's identity.
#10 - The Late Baby
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/20/1972
Malloy goes on a date with Officer Wells' niece, and Malloy learns just how over-protective her uncle is. Patrol calls include a prowler in a heavily wooded neighborhood, a flower vendor with a stack of unpaid tickets, check on a suspicious gardener, and a high-speed pursuit with a green Corvette leads to an unexpected ending.
#11 - Citizen's Arrest - 484
Season 5 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/24/1973
A woman is arrested for shoplifting, on the way to the station she stops at a car and picks up her baby, then escapes from custody during a disruption at the station, later another call regarding a stolen baby involves their missing shoplifter, which leads to a disturbance call at an apartment complex during which they re-capture the shoplifter, and the apartment manager claims the woman's husband stole his car, and the woman claims the manager made an extortion call demanding $2000 for the baby. The officers pursue, then catch the man at a rail yard. Another call resulted in a brief hostage situation between Reed and the suspected B&E of a warehouse; Reed manages to trick his way out and capture the suspect.
#12 - Anatomy of a 415
Season 5 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/7/1973
The officers spot a runaway young boy hiding in the woods and prepare to take him home. En route, they get a 415 (disturbance) call from the boy's address and find his mother and step-father quiet, and are warned by the officers. They return a second time with the couple throwing things at each other and is broken up. Officer Woods lets Malloy and Reed know he has tangled with them before. A third call to the same address forces the officers to send the husband to his sister's house, but he returns to the apartment and when he does, shots ring out just as the officers arrive for the fourth time. Other incidents include a man waiting for his wife encounters a girl who jumps into his cars offering him drugs and a man trying to break into his truck after his dog locked him out.
#13 - The Beast
Season 5 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/31/1973
Malloy and Reed are given a different police car which has 300 miles to go until retirement, and also inherit the problems--the car suddenly surges power, the glove compartment door constantly drops on Reed's knees, the water hose breaks while they are sneaking up on a prowler suspect who it turns out used to live there, a busted taillight prevents them from writing a ticket to a citizen whose car had the same problem, the distributor cap fails when trying to respond to another call, and finally, after capturing a suspect in a pursuit, the car's emergency brake fails and the unmanned car runs into a tree. Another call regarding warehouse activity (for the first time in eight years) results in the capture of a some burglary suspects.
#14 - A Fool and His Money
Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/28/1973
Malloy wins $10,000 in a women's shampoo naming contest and intends to buy a boat despite the rest of the squad suggesting he invest it, avalanches of mail offers, etc. Calls include an elderly male tenant complaining that a new elderly female tenant's Irish music is too loud, and the officers leave them together to "work it out", then a sniper wreaks havoc until he is shot trying to escape in a car, a reported theft turned out to be a broke man whose three wives stripped the expensive house he was in clean except for the stolen items, and a wino is killed by another wino for his new tennis shoes.
#15 - Training Wheels
Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/12/1972
The officers undergo their driver refresher courses to hone their pursuit and driving skills, but a rash of car strippers brings about a new approach suggested by Officer Wells: going undercover as paperboys riding bicycles to find the thieves. Hilarity ensues; Wells wrecks his bicycle that belonged to a young girl, Malloy deals with an irate newspaper customer, and Reed and Malloy pull over a VW Microbus on a traffic violation where the driver's parrot chanted "Down with Pigs!", but the tactics work and the officers break up the car stripping ring.
#16 - Easy Rap
Season 5 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/21/1973
Reed loses a case against a young car thief in juvenile court, who is later spotted in his dad's car. Later, a robbery leads to a high-speed pursuit which ends in a traffic accident; the teen car thief is killed in the crash. Other incidents include a girl whose boyfriend died from a heroin "hot shot", and she provides the name and address of his supplier, but the officers need more, so she buys drugs from the supplier and provides the serial number of the $10 bill she used to buy them. The officers stakeout the house and arrest the supplier. An elderly woman insists on being arrested rather than ticketed for a traffic violation.
#17 - Airdrop
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/27/1972
Malloy and Reed are patrolling the countryside around Los Angeles (and finishing up a call on a drunk driver) when a girl on horseback alerts them to a small plane that landed in a secluded area. When the officers investigate, a Jeep is seen leaving the area and the pilot has an excuse for his landing there. Malloy and Reed find out from Detectives and DEA agent Edwards that a Mexican smuggling ring is behind the landings, with the pilot instructed to "play dumb" if caught. The officers find the pilot and trace the Jeep's location, whereupon the detectives and DEA bring down the entire smuggling operation after tracking the Jeep to the landing area.
#18 - Dirt Duel
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/13/1972
A series of purse snatchings involving motorcyclists is causing problems with the police, as they cannot follow them down the off-road trails they take. Reed holds a community meeting with the various motorcycle clubs (one of which is suspected in the snatchings), but one of the club leaders challenges Malloy to a race on one of the off-trails. Reed teaches Malloy the secrets of off-road cycling, however Malloy loses the race but gains the respect of the club's leader, who helps them apprehend the suspects by blocking their escape route after another crime.
#19 - Clear with a Civilian (1)
Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/10/1973
Reed spreads his flu to several other officers, leaving the station undermanned. Reed has a shootout with a rifle-toting man and finds he is wanted for bookmaking. Malloy has an argument with a storekeeper and a customer of the quality of merchandise while Reed writes a speeding ticket, later the officers catch a man on a rooftop of a store after Reed noticed flashing lights there, later another suspect gets away from a foot pursuit with Reed. Due to the understaffing situation, Malloy and Reed are asked to do double shifts, and Malloy tickets a woman for failing to stop at a stop sign, later when Sgt. MacDonald asks the officers to escort the police commissioner they get a surprise--it's the woman Malloy stopped earlier for running a stop sign!
#20 - Clear with a Civilian (2)
Season 5 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/17/1973
While on second shift, Malloy and Reed take Police Commissioner Dixon on a ride-along. They encounter a bar owner who locked a naked, elderly man inside, a fight with a knife-wielding man and another man with a gun, and a missing 17-year-old deaf boy with mental instabilities, which Reed recognizes as the boy that escaped his foot pursuit earlier. The officers and Commissioner Dixon observe the boy in a car running from another police unit, and they join in to alert the pursuing unit to the boy's condition.
#21 - Night Watch
Season 5 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/14/1973
Reed spends a Saturday night talking about buying a used car, during the watch the officers handle a possible DUI but the driver passes the field sobriety tests, a shooting during which a man kills his recently paroled son-in-law, a car stripper, trick a man into revealing his name after pulling him over for speeding and finding the car has over $900 of unpaid tickets, and two beatings at motels.
#22 - The Surprise
Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/15/1972
It's Malloy's birthday and he makes it known to Reed, "no surprise parties". Sgt. MacDonald warns the officers about a rash of robberies using milk crates to break store windows. During a routine traffic stop, Reed notices a milk crate in the back of a car and surreptitiously marks it for identification later, and the thief is apprehended later using the same milk crate. Other calls include backing up a jewelry store robbery when the officers pull over for DUI the owner of said store, an embarrassed male purse snatching victim inside a negligee shop, a phony gas station worker at a closed gas station, a shootout in the police garage resulting from a drunk suspect officers failed to handcuff, and Officer Wells captures a B&E suspect based on a hunch by Malloy, who despite Reed's denials, continues to suspect a party is afoot until Reed gives his partner a present: a leather purse.
#23 - O'Brien's Stand
Season 5 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/3/1973
Malloy's fiesty landlady, Mrs. O'Brien, has her purse stolen and refuses to leave the station until her case is settled. O'Brien resorts to other means, including hounding detectives and setting up a picket line to vent her frustrations. Malloy determines that there may be a connection between O'Brien's theft and a string of purse snatchings involving Social Security checks, and suggests using a decoy to put an end to the heists, which works and the ring is brought down. Another incident involved two men arousing suspicion for their erratic behavior; in the ensuing pursuit the men are arrested and heroin is found in their car; later a call to a home where a man killed his son with a shovel, during the murder investigation they find candy wrappers and tire tracks that link with the two men arrested earlier.
#24 - Harry Nobody
Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/1972
A hotel janitor (and wino) named Harry witnesses a murder in a hotel room, but refuses to talk until Reed shows him compassion and respect, both of which are lacking from his family and friends, but his testimony is clouded by his alcoholic past. Malloy relives his childhood by telling the story of his chaperoning a junior high dance.