- Title: Spenser: For Hire – Original Sin
- IMDb: link
For Throwback Tuesday we turn we turn our attention back to the mean streets of Boston. A pushy Catholic priest (Jay O. Sanders) guilts Spenser (Robert Urich) into investigating the death of a young girl who was about to become a nun. No one, includin the girl’s parents (Elizabeth Franz and Eddie Jones) and Spenser himself, wants him on the case which uncovers the fact that the young woman was pregnant and gets Spenser squared off against local scumbag Tommy Flaherty (David O’Brien) evicting people from property in dispute with ties to the archdiocese. Spenser’s run-in with Flaherty puts him temporarily at odds with Hawk (Avery Brooks), but his decision to save Spenser from a bullet shows where his friend’s loyalty’s truly lie (although, to be safe, Spenser does call in a favor to make sure Hawk is sidelined when it comes time to confront Flaherty).
The investigation into Flaherty leads Spenser to cross paths with a pair of do-gooders attacked (Erica Gimpel and Jonathan Moore) by the man’s goons. This story ends tragically as Flaherty avoids justice and forces someone else to take matters into their own hands. Tying up loose ends, Spenser uncovers the events behind the young woman’s unfortunate death for the case he was hired to investigate in the first place which explains why her parents were adamant the detective stop snooping around. Although Flaherty’s reign of terror is halted, there’s no silver lining to either story, only the wreckage of the lives of those left behind.
