- Title: Scarecrow and Mrs. King – The ACM Kid
- IMDb: link
Wayback Wednesday takes us to 80s Washington, D.C. and the unusual partnership between a housewife and a spy. Witnessing a kidnapping and the gunning down of an agent by spies, Lee (Bruce Boxleitner) discovers a single witness to the crime in the kidnapped couple’s teenage son Aleksei (Meeno Peluce). However, Aleksei proves difficult to control. Soon in over his head with the boy, who neither he nor the agency know is the wiz kid the spies were after this entire time to break into the computers of a secure facility involved in the launch of a new satellite, Scarecrow enlists Amanda (Kate Jackson) for help.
While they both know Aleksei is keeping something from them, neither suspect the truth until both he and Amanda are kidnapped on one of his forays sneaking out of the house. The episode is also notable for Scarecrow going undercover as a degenerate gambler who the spies ply to get further access into the company for Aleksei, and Amanda walking into the con and having to play his ex-wife (of course after their kidnapping the entire ruse is blown). The episode ends in a fight in the middle of a classic 80s arcade with lights and games blaring and a short car chase where Lee proves Amanda’s earlier assertions about him to Aleksei to be true.
Fun stuff all around, most of it centering on the struggles of both Amanda and Lee to try and connect with the boy while his story, separate from either of them, informs the audience on what is really going on. There’s also some good casting in terms of the episode’s baddies with Robert O’Reilly as one of the dangerous foot soldiers and Jay Robinson as the mastermind behind the plot. The end of the episode is notable for one of the few times Dean’s (Thomas Babson) face is shown on-camera and the gift Scarecrow leaves his partner to Amanda’s delight.
