Original Airdate: November 26. 1976
Written by: David Chase
Directed by: Meta Rosenberg
Jim is called in at the last minute to be the best man at Angel’s (Stuart Margolin) wedding, and drags Rocky along. After Angel makes the even more last-minute purchase of a wedding ring from a shady vendor (Stanley Brock), the ceremony begins. It’s immediately interrupted by Bobby Boyajian, who shouts threats and accusations at both the groom and his best man.
True to form, Angel’s marriage and general involvement with the Boyajians is the result of a con, one in which he has involved an unwitting Jim Rockford. Both are now on the bad side of local boss Azie Boyajian (Avery Schreiber), one that gets even worse when Bobby turns up murdered. Azie and his boys are determined to bring Jim and Angel to justice if the police won’t.
Jim interviews Leo Kale (John Durren), a construction worker with whom Bobby worked. Kale is a little too familiar with the details of the murder. Jim traces the crime back to Kale and Gene Chechik (James Wainwright), a prominent used car salesman, who buried a body on the land Angel and his real (now dead) partner expressed an interest in buying.
To flush Kale and Chechik out into the open, Jim pretends to be a realtor looking to buy the land for a new trailer park. Kale and Chechik do attack Jim and Angel in a mobile home Jim has borrowed from a friend of Rocky’s. Due to Angel’s carelessness they’re able to blow the vehicle up. In the aftermath of the explosion Angel has a final talk with his erstwhile bride (Elayne Heilveil).
Tropes present in this episode include:
- All Bikers are Hells Angels: The Rattlers gang to which Leo Kale and Gene Chechik belonged were definitely of the bad news variety, and Becker has thick files on them.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Angel and Regine get their marriage annulled and presumably never see each other again. Angel is hurt by this, having liked her even though romancing her was part of a con.
- Downer Ending: Even aside from the Did Not Get the Girl aspect, Jim is deeply in debt for the destroyed camper, Rocky won’t talk to him because of it, and he’s had it with Angel. (Okay, this last part is pretty standard.)
- Frame-Up: Somebody breaks into Angel’s apartment and plants a shotgun in his bathtub.
- Generic Ethnic Crime Gang: The Boyajians are Armenian-American gangsters, albeit pretty small time. Actually killing a guy, as Azie wants to do with Angel and Jim, is a pretty big deal.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Talking about Bobby, Leo tells Jim that he deserved better than a face full of birdshot. Jim hadn’t mentioned birdshot, which is an unusual form of ammo outside of duck hunting, so this tips him off.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Angel says that they have to find Bobby’s killer themselves if they want both the Boyajians and the police off their backs. Beth balks, but Jim reluctantly admits that he’s right.
