Popular Culture Review Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1993 | Page 83

Reflections on the A-Team

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problematically, if not atypically, the stereotyping of the female
lead is somewhat obnoxious. These points notwithstanding, this
episode may highlight some of the series’ strengths, particularly its
sensible apprehension of the activities of the national security state.
Cannell's screenplay, and the actors' performances, leaves little
doubt as to who is playing "Mind Games" on whom.
The episode opens with a televised announcement reporting that
new evidence has surfaced clearing Templeton Peck of all charges
held against him. With characteristic panache. Face tries to smooth
things over with the rest of the team, who suspect a trap: "What can
I say, guys? . . . I'll be with you in spirit. . . Come on, this will be my
chance to go out into the world and use my heaven-sent gift of gab to
accumulate all of these shallow, purposeless toys that mankind lusts
for!" The scene shifts to the office of General Harlan Fulbright,
Colonel Decker’s replacement: "How could they pardon that lying,
stealing piece of spit? When Peck hits the streets. I'm going to be on
him like stiitk on a boot." Fulbright's face hardens as he instructs his
underling: "Fulbright’s law: Never wait; attack."
By acquiring new clothes, new mannerisms, "and especially my
new hair," role-conscious Murdock sets out to fill Face's "able but
slimy shoes." Face warns "Howling Mad" not to "try and be me, it'll
just get you in trouble." The scene briefly settles on an office where
three Vietnamese men are conferring; it then shifts to a government
building plaza, where Face is speaking to the press. General
Fulbright tries to block his passage, but the A-Team's PR maestro
simply smiles, calling himself "a war hero, unjustly charged with
crimes he didn’t even commit." Prior to entering the building he is
approached by a well-spoken Brit, E.G. Fowler (played by Shelagh
McLeod), who offers to be his press secretary. "The stage is set for
farce, action, and conspiracy.
After the commercial break, we find a bemused Hannibal reading
about Peck's "brilliant" leadership of the A-Team in a newspaper.
Murdock shows up sporting a new hairstyle, insisting that he be
called "The Hunker." Some of "Hunk-Man'"s inanities are rather
porno: when B.A. and Hannibal are pulled over by armed men in
expensive suits and unmarked cars, he mutters "Oh, we're in real
trouble now, boys and girls." Despite Murdock's overdeterminations,
he somehow manages to rescue B.A. and Hannibal from the group that
have taken them to an underground garage. The wallet of one of the