- Title: Spenser: For Hire – In a Safe Place
- IMDb: link
Throwback Tuessday takes us back to the mean streets of Boston and the travails of a smart ass private detective. In an episode that tackles themes of illegal immigration, political corruption, violence towards undocumented workers, racism, and questionable treatment towards immigrants under the law, Spenser (Robert Urich) is hired to find the missing father of a young boy killed in a hit-and-run. After witnessing the incident, and seeing the mother (Victoria Racimo) forced to abandon her dying child in the street, Susan (Barbara Stock) joins a local group looking to help provide help to illegal immigrants. While Spenser and Susan disagree initially on the politics of the situation, after seeing how the system has been corrupted to purposefully hurt refugees, and deny them protection under the law, it doesn’t take long for him to wholeheartedly embrace the job.
Nancy Marchand and Jeffrey DeMunn guest-star as the leaders of the organization who try to convince the missing man’s friend (Jimmy Smits), who Spenser discovers was deported illegally without trial, to organize the workers against the corrupt dock owner (Joe Silver) and his thugs who have a local politician in their pocket. The episode is notable for the climax in which Spencer goes toe-to-toe with a former boxer turned professional thug (Gerry Cooney) in an attempt to stand-up corruption on the docks. Although he gets his clock cleaned, his refusal to give up finally inspires others to do the same.
