"THE PARTNER" Groin Attack March 14, 2001

by
Gordon Hom

In the previous episode, the Bad Guy of the Week was a corrupt lawyer. This week it's a burnt out Parole Officer turned vigilante. Edward Bender has never gotten over the murder of his wife, which he blames on his parolees belonging to the 12th Street gang. For a peace officer, he is awfully adept at weaponry and hardware. Bender is an expert rifleman, snipering members of the gang with a sound suppressed rifle. He builds bombs, and is into polishing his car. From heavy psycho drama, the episode then takes a wild turn to wacky comedy.

Hagen Bridges, of whom Nash hopes is a very distant cousin, is an Inspector Clouseau of sorts (remember Peter Sellers from the Pink Panther films?) Hagen is a walking disaster area: he sets his jacket on fire with his pipe; he pokes himself in the eye with a pointer (and then almost impales himself); he stabs himself in the foot with the dirk. He's a bumbling incompetent, but somehow everything seems to go his way.

NASH BRIDGES has always had a clown figure; at first, it was Joe (Cheech Marin) by virtue of his comedic past. Here, it is clearly Hagen with his Scottish contortion of language - he speaks in a bizarre accent and cadence not heard of since the likes of Sean Connery.

And there's no stopping the over-the-top slapstick in "The Partner." Jenna Lewis (an original SURVIVOR) as Janice makes her second appearance as Harvey's new romantic interest with quite literally, bite. The shot of Harvey's legs with the Chihuahua hanging from his groin is gut-splitting, snot-blowing hilarious. This is the second groin attack in the series - remember Evan shot himself in the testicles? And that's not counting the time Cassidy got shot in the butt, and oh yes, Nash himself was shot in the butt too. The nether regions have been fair game for the writers of NASH BRIDGES.

For more, see synopsis for Episode 116

Copyright © 1996-2022 Gordon Hom. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy