"Sharks" Part 2
(Original air date 09/18/77)
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Steve is the Marine's last hope to disarm a submarine armed with
nuclear warheads
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Story: Arthur Weingarten
Teleplay: Fred Freiberger
Director: Alan J. Levi
Inside the bathysphere, air is running dangerously low. Rudy picks up a wrench and taps a Morse coded message against the wall in a last-ditch effort to send an SOS to the ship. The message reaches Parker’s ears and he urges Morgan to eliminate the nuisance before he alerts the coastguard of their exact position. Exasperated by his associate’s impetuousness, Morgan orders him to sit tight and wait them out. The Marine is aware of the risks involved to Austin and Wells if they launch their grenades and therefore is not about to carry out their threat.
The radioman deciphers Rudy’s message assuring that both he and Steve are alive; news that rejoices Oscar but he worries about them being held hostages as Grayland’s crew completes the repairs. Admiral Prescott received strict orders to prevent the hostile takeover and is prepared to resort to extreme measures, regardless of the consequences to human lives.
Oscar suggests using an old WWII method of trapping enemy ships, which consists of dropping magnetic mines around the submarine to keep it at bay, while they figure the proper course of action to undertake in order to defeat the adversary with no human casualty.
The request is approved. While the mines are being armed into canons, Oscar temporizes by giving Parker a thirty-minute ultimatum: halt the repairs or they will be bombarded. He offers the jury’s leniency and a light jail sentence in exchange for their cooperation.
The destroyers begin launching the mines at strategic points around the Stingray. Parker reports the tactic to Grayland who sees no other alternative but to concede defeat. Parker won’t hear of it. He proposes pushing the sub out of the minefield and away from the hydrophone so they can finish the repairs out of earshot.
Grayland scorns the idea. As he angrily lunges at Parker he is struck by a debilitating heart attack. Luckily Steve and Cynthia succeed in reviving him, but weakened, Grayland is overtaken by his former associate who threatens Steve to do the job in exchange for Rudy’s life. He orders Cynthia to manipulate her sharks accordingly while Steve performs the task.
Steve is escorted under heavy gun to the tail of the sub and begins pushing. Parker hooks up the communication cable to Edward’s (Larry Delaney) helmet in order to dupe the ship’s crew into thinking that Grayland’s team is still inside the sub. Oscar reiterates his threat to shower them with grenades but his warning falls on deaf ears.
With no one being the wiser, save for Cynthia, Steve discreetly puts a hole into the sub’s oil tank. The droplets will gradually reach the surface to form an oil slick that he hopes will alert the ship of their new position.
Oscar suspects something is amiss. He sends divers down to investigate. Edward is caught and forced back to the surface where he is assailed with questions on Grayland’s plans, but he remains tight-lipped.
Admiral Prescott is faced with no other alternative but to throw the grenades in order to disable the sub wherever it might have been moved.
Inside the cave, Cynthia and Grayland offer their sincere apologies to Steve for the mess they created. Morgan urges Steve to save himself and his daughter, but Parker has other plans for the threesome. Once the sub is fully operational he intends to leave them behind by blocking the entrance to the cave.
Steve’s signature surfaces on the water. The admiral orders the immediate launch of the grenades to ground the sub and luckily no one is injured during the shelling. Parker panics and orders Steve to follow him aboard the Stingray where he warns Oscar to cease fire or they will launch the first nuclear war-head on a teeming town. Steve confirms the missile is armed and ready to fire.
The admiral heeds Parker’s warning and reluctantly calls for an immediate cease-fire. He and Oscar ponder their next move while Parker orders his men to set explosives at the entrance of the cave. Grayland makes an attempt to disarm Parker. The struggle allows Steve to overpower Parker and his right-handed man Walker (Gene Jackson), after which he, Cynthia and Morgan flee the cave. Outside Steve gets busy dislodging boulders to block the entrance, trapping Parker and his band of merry men inside.
Parker’s last resort is to send the sharks after them. A few bionic struggles and punches later, the sharks retreat. Steve connects his air supply to the bathysphere then swims to the surface with father and daughter.
A few hours in the decompression chamber and Steve joins Rudy, Oscar and the admiral to get a report on the arrests and the situation with the Stingray. Cynthia shows up to offer Steve her apologies with the hopes that once out of jail he might consider getting better acquainted.
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