Where’s The Saint?, 3 June 2020
Simon isn’t very happy with a hoodlum getting off free or his win-at-all-costs attorney. So, Simon decides to take matters into his own hands in the name of justice.
There’s nothing really wrong with The Element of Doubt, but (and I’m starting to sound like a broken record) it doesn’t feel like an episode of The Saint. In this case, Roger Moore’s Simon Templar isn’t even involved until there are only about 15 minutes left. There are at least 30 minutes of runtime where I all but forgot Moore was even in the show. The courtroom drama is fine and reasonably entertaining, but without Simon, it’s not really The Saint.
A couple other things that bothered me: (1) Everyone seems upset by defence attorney Carlton Rood’s (a nice performance from David Bauer, by the way) courtroom tactics. I don’t get it. He doesn’t do anything any other competent attorney wouldn’t do. His role is to represent his client to the best of his ability and, if possible, get the charges dropped against, And at that, he’s successful. Does he do anything illegal? No. Does he do anything unethical? Maybe, but it’s up to the prosecuting attorney to object and deal with. Rood shouldn’t be blamed because he out-foxed and out-maneuvered the prosecuting attorney while he sat on his hands. (2) Once Simon finally does make an appearance, his plan to seek justice is so obvious and so juvenile that there’s no way it should have worked. A smart guy like Rood would have seen through Simon’s plan and that ridiculous accent straight away. I just wasn’t impressed with anything The Saint did in this episode.
5/10
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