I’m tired of shows where the heroes shoot everyone and
everything in sight while the villains can’t target a single thing. Thank goodness
for The A-Team. Nobody has worse aim than our heroic group; Hannibal Smith (the
leader), Murdock (the insane pilot), "Face" Templeton (the con man), and B.A.
Baracus (MR. T.). They get shot more than the villains do. Somehow though, in the crazy
logic of 80s television world, this all kind of makes sense. The A-Team isn’t
about firepower, it’s about mind power – at least that’s what Mr. T., who
acts like every dramatic moment is an after school special, would tell ya. Over the course
of 22 action-packed episodes I have to admit that I was vastly entertained by The
A-Team’s increasingly bizarre strategies to defeat the enemy.
The story is simple. The A-Team was an elite squad of Vietnam vets who were
imprisoned for a crime they didn’t commit. After escaping from prison, they went to
Los Angeles and became soldiers of fortune, fighting against injustice everywhere. They
are wanted men however, and the army is constantly on their trail. The second season sees
the introduction of main A-Team bad guy Col. Decker who is always outsmarted at the
last minute. It also unfortunately sees the departure of spunky Melinda Culea as Amy
Allen, a reporter who befriended the team in the first season, but was never really given
that much to do. She’s "creatively" replaced by another journalist, Tawnia
Baker (Marla Heasley) who is also given nothing to do. All in all, that’s about as
much narrative momentum as you’ll get this season. The A-Team is too busy
blowing stuff up to care about trivial facts like plot development.
This all makes The A-Team extremely formulaic, but the actors and filmmakers
know they aren’t making art and everyone seems to be having a good time. There’s
a campy sense of humor throughout the show which leads to many cheesy, yet funny moments
(the final musical montage of the season really got me chuckling). But, what ultimately
gives this show its edge are the pretty impressive action sequences. The A-Team
always devises some kind of weapon to help them out and then puts it into action just in
time for the explosive finale. Personally I thought the home-made train was rather nifty
while the cabbage cannon left something to be desired. Either way, cool or campy, The
A-Team is a fun way to spend an hour as long as you aren’t looking for anything
with too much, or any, depth.
The new DVD set is okay, although the lack of special features is disappointing. They
throw in a bonus episode of Knight Rider, essentially so you’ll buy that box
set as well. The image looks fine, and considering The A-Team wasn’t really
about first class cinematography the few scratches here and there kind of fit. The audio
fares better, revving up during each of the action sequences and making sure the
explosions sound just right.
