Recap / Knight Rider S 1 E 5 Just My Bill

Series: Knight Rider
Episode: Season 1, Episode 5
Title: Just My Bill
Previous: Slammin' Sammy's Stuntshow Spectacular
Next: Not A Drop To Drink
Recapper: Scooter007

An outspoken state senator is opposing a corporate-sponsored bill which could have disastrous ramifications, even in the face of death threats, rigged accidents and outright assassination attempts. Michael and KITT are assigned to protect her but find her to be quite the handful because she refuses to go quietly into hiding — or, really, to do anything quietly.

Tropes peculiar to this episode:

• Black-and-White Morality: Invoked by Senator Maggie as she describes the exaggeratedly Evil Bill she's opposing. She's likely speaking in hyperbole, but the Bill's true purpose and potential impact (good or bad) are never made very clear.
• Cool Old Lady: Senator Maggie is opinionated and brassy but never mean-spirited. When she speaks to her constituents, she addresses them by name and treats them like actual people, and she's not afraid to stand up for what's right no matter the risk to herself (in stark contrast to her rival who's totally on the take).
• Destination Defenestration: Michael tosses a couple guys out of a helicopter. Fortuitously, there's a lake.
• First-Name Basis: She does prefer to be addressed as "Maggie" and not as "Senator".
• For the Evulz: Maggie's description of the Evil Bill states that its sole, specific and explicit purpose is to destroy the environment and put good people out of work. You'd think the Bill's sponsors were rejects from a Captain Planet and the Planeteers script.
• Good Is Not Soft: Senator Maggie is stubborn and maybe just a little bit abrasive, but she has only the best interests of her district in mind and will not be deterred. If there's any pushing to be done around here, she will be the one to do it.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: The first couple of attempts at Senator Maggie's life are staged to look like accidents, but afterward the killers just drop the pretense and go after her directly.
• Offscreen Crash: In accordance with contemporary special effects standards, a pilotless helicopter dips behind a hill before it explodes.
• Properly Paranoid: At the start of the episode, Senator Maggie chides Devon for being overly worried for her safety whilst visiting a construction site and hobnobbing. Thirty seconds later, a piece of heavy equipment very nearly flattens her.
• Race Against the Clock:
  • While Maggie is hidden in a private retreat, her rival Senator moves the vote on the Evil Bill to coincide with her absence. Michael and KITT have to get her back to the city in time to oppose the vote.
  • Sort of a 'race within a race': During the above, they have to cross a certain bridge before the bad guys can blow it up, because the distance is too great for KITT to jump. Subverted when Michael simply disposes of the bad guys en route.
• There Was a Door: When Michael has to smuggle Maggie out of the besieged retreat and get her back to the city, he drives through the fence and into the countryside to throw off her pursuers.