I don't know if anyone saw the episodes on Thursday and Friday (Jan 9 and 10) "Downhill All the Way Pts. 1 & 2." If you didn't see it, you missed another magnificent acting performance from Raymond Burr. At times, I thought that the Chief was drinking himself to death and shunning his friends and coworkers. I don't want to give away the ending, but I urge you to view this 2-part episode.
shareJust seeing the end of it now. Good episode! And made me look up the identity of one of the bad guys, that's why I came to imdb.
William Smith, (the guy who beats up the chief's muggers) look at that guy's bio. He's so badass he makes Chuck Norris look like a guy kids made up on the internet.
Oh, wait...
I know you are but what am I?
But William Smith was amazing in that he was able to lift Raymond Burr back into the wheelchair after he was mugged. That was no small feat. I was really surprised that he was the man who tried to kill Ironside after the kindness he showed the Chief. I thought it was William Devine's character, since he was not very kind to the Chief when they first met.
I felt so bad for Mark when Ironside rejected his help. After everything that Mark did for the Chief, I had tears in my eyes when I saw Mark's expression. From a man that hated Ironside when they first met, Mark made the great change of all of the characters to a man who would give his life to protect Ironside. Ed and Fran also shared in Ironside verbal barbs. At least at the end, Ironside apologized to his friends for what he put them through, which he admitted was against his character. At least his friends stuck by him.
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That would be sad, because Mark would never have been part of his life. Eve and Ed knew him from before, so I would hope that they would have kept in touch with him. The transition with the wheelchair probably would have been more difficult as well. Having Mark around, I think, helped Ironside make the transition easier to the point where he became independent. Not knowing if he would have made the type of friends that he had in the episodes, I would afraid that either he would depend more on alcohol, or be threaten with some of his enemies. Thankfully, it didn't happen that way, and his "family" stuck by him.
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