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The Deadly Circle was the 43th episode of Airwolf and the 10th episode of Season 3. It first aired on 11/30/1985.
A lot of action for the entire F.I.R.M. crew again. Archangel actually gets to fly as WSO for Airwolf and he gets a new aide by the name of Francesca.
Plot synopsis[]
The families of Hawke's Vietnam war buddies are kidnapped and then Dominic and Caitlin too. Archangel and Hawke try to piece together connection and then they discover it has to do with a village which his squadron destroyed due to an intelligence mistake. Hawke gets some help from a Vietnamese woman named Lia but then he discovers that she came from the village also. [1]
Episode summary[]
(spoiler alert - click on expand to read)
Hawke, Dominic and Caitlin are having lunch at a cafe when they see a waitress Lia being harassed by Art Bonart. Hawke comes over to help her and he and the bartender throw the man out.
The scene shifts to the home of Jimmy Oshiro, one of Hawke's Vietnam buddies. A group of masked men bust in with Uzis and kidnap Mrs Oshiro and all the children.
Archangel arrives at Santini Air with news for Hawke. It's not just the Oshiro family. The families of two other of Hawke's Vietnam squadron mates, Ralph Kovac and Brad Miller have also been kidnapped. Archangel asks Hawke to think what the link is but he has no idea. But Archangel says Hawke and the other three are very close--they still keep in touch and get together once in a while. If Hawke had a family, they would be next in the kidnappers' list. So Hawke should think hard to see what the connection is.
Hawke gets a call from Lia who says she still feels threatened by Art so he goes over to her place. There, Lia tells Hawke how Art had known her in Vietnam and had tracked her down in America and doesn't leave her alone. Hawke calls Santini Air and asks Caitlin if Lia could stay with Caitlin for a while but while he is on the phone, he hears something startling: a bunch of gunman come into Santini Air, shoot up the place and drag Dominic and Caitlin away! Dominic and Caitlin are brought to some fenced compound done up like a prison camp. They meet the Oshiro family who tell them the Miller and Kovacs are there also. They have all been told that if they stay out of trouble and they should all be released in three days time.
Archangel thinks the attacks are retaliatory--for something that happened in Vietnam. He gathers Hawke and the other three men. They watch a videotape sent by the kidnappers of the hostages. But Hawke and his buddies have no idea why their families had been kidnapped.
At Hawke's cabin, Hawke keeps watching the videotape of the hostages. Lia seems, strangely, very moved by the tape also and tells him she thinks she should leave as Hawke has enough troubles on his mind.
Dominic, of course, doesn't accept this business of staying quiet for three days, so he makes an attempt to escape by prising out a floorboard. But he gets caught by Art Bonart and beaten up.
The man behind the kidnappings is a wealthy Vietnamese businessman named Tran. He praises deputy Dao for a successful operation and tells him they will soon be able to have their revenge. We now see that Lia is also part of the conspiracy, and she is Trans lover. But Lia doesn't seem as enthusiastic about the prospect of vengeance as Tran. She tells him she has seen the tape of the hostages, especially the image of Kelly, Oshiro's daughter. She had the same eyes of fear Lia once had in Vietnam. Tran is puzzled about Lia's reluctance. He makes Lia call Hawke to tell him she knows someone who has some information to give Hawke about the kidnappings and wants to meet.
Hawke accepts the offer but Lia takes him to a dark alleyway where Dao and some other men attack him. Hawke beats them off and asks Lia what is going on. He is getting the impression that this has all been a set up. But Tran has been watching in the shadows. He now confronts Hawke and wants him to think about the past, about a place called village 108.
Hawke remembers village 108. It was a search and destroy mission. Hawke was rostered for the mission with Oshiro, Miller and Kovac but Hawke didn't go because he stayed back to question a prisoner about Saint John. From the F.I.R.M. computers, he learns that the strike was based on an intelligence error--there were few enemies there, and many innocent civilians were killed. Lia, Tran and Dao were listed among the survivors of the attack.
Archangel and Hawke go to Tran's office for some answers. They come across the body of Lia--she has been killed by Tran for trying to speak up for Hawke's innocence. Inside Tran's room, they see charts and maps. Hawke thinks he knows what is happening, The next morning would be the 10th anniversary of the strike on village 108. Tran plans to reenact the attack, on the families of the original pilots! Time to get Airwolf!
Next morning, Dominic wakes up and finds the prison camp deserted. He wakes everybody up and gets them outside. Airwolf arrives on scene but so do two Hueys which start shooting up the camp. There isn't much time. Caitlin hotwires a van and they get all the families on board and crash the van through the gate. Hawke goes after the first Huey, piloted by Art Bonart and shoots it down. The second Huey, flown by Tran and Dao has been pursuing the van. Hawke blows it up but not before the Huey has managed to overturn the van with a near miss from a rocket.
Hawke lands and pulls Dominic from the van. But he is alone Where are the women and children? What women and children, asks Dominic, slightly a dazed.
Over at a celebratory lunch with the families, Dominic explains what happened. When the van disappeared from view under a big tree, Caitlin had suggested that all the passengers get off. Dominic then drove the van off as a decoy, giving Hawke the time to catch up and shoot down Tran's and Dao's Huey.
Story locations[]
Aircraft seen[]
- Airwolf
- Bell 205 - dressed up as US Army UH-1H
- Bell 206L LongRanger - Angel 1
Firearms seen[]
Research notes[]
- Talking to Archangel at Santini Air, Hawke mentions "Pete" as Miller's first name. Later the computer at the F.I.R.M. shows it is really "Brad". But the closing credits list the character as "Ray"!
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- Kim Miyori as Lia Van Luong
- Robert Ito as Tran Van Hieu
- Irene Tsu as Carol Oshiro
- George Kee Cheung as Dao Van Lat
- Joe La Due as Arthur Bonart
- Branscombe Richmond as Jimmy R. Oshiro
- Dawn Mangrum as Francesca
- John Kirby as Ralph C. Kovac
- Courtney Chu as Billy Oshiro
- Kyle Nakamura as Brennan Oshiro
- Corina Liang as Kelly Oshiro
- Frank Pesce as Ray (should be Brad F. Miller)
- Bob Jarvis as Detective
- Ed McCready as Bartender
- Uncredited appearances
- Jeff Imada - one of Tran's man
Gallery[]
