CBS enthralled millions of American viewers as well as international audiences with the airing of Airwolf in 1984. With Jan-Michael Vincent as the show’s hero Stringfellow Hawke, the lead pilot of the titular advanced combat helicopter (for that era), the show remained a sensation for three seasons. Hawke’s co-pilot Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine) along with fellow teammates Archangel (Alex Cord) and Caitlin O’Shannessy (Jean Bruce Scott) all became beloved members of the Airwolf magic. As happens with all screen sensations, when the show ended in 1986, fans were left wishing for another season. But when the fourth season aired in 1987, it got more frowns than smiles from the show’s die-hard fans.
Produced on a much smaller budget and in Canada instead of the U.S., the fourth season became an instant turn-off for a lot of Airwolf fans mainly because the show’s characters were replaced with a new team played by different actors. String’s character was replaced with his brother St. John Hawke (Barry Van Dyke); Dom with a much younger Air Force officer Mike Rivers (Geraint Wyn Davies); Caitlin with an equally gorgeous and talented Jo (Michele Scarabelli), and Archangel with Jason Locke (Anthony Sherwood). The background story was slightly modified to accommodate the change in characters and other details. The theme music was lightly updated too and everything seemed to be in place for the new season. But many of viewers and critics shook their heads in disappointment as the season played.
In fact, this rejection of the show’s fourth season continues to date. In a recent article on GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT, Joshua Tyler and Jonathan Klotz wrote that the fourth season of Airwolf isn’t even the same show. In their words:
“Luckily, the original show is available on free streaming, and it’s still worth a watch. Just make sure to eject before the start of season 4.”
IMDb had agreed with Tyler and Klotz already by excluding the fourth season as its own show of the same title while the first three seasons remain as the original series. And if that wasn’t enough of a putdown, the site has an image of Season 2–3 team as its poster.
Growing up with Season 2 & 3 of Airwolf, I had my share of loss when one evening the show transitioned into the fourth season with Dom’s character killed off and String seriously injured, leading to his reunion with St. John and subsequent retirement into obscurity. Caitlin was never mentioned so I assumed she had retired and joined something else. But I soon got used to the new team and enjoyed the new episodes. It was considerate of the fourth season’s writers to make good effort on keeping consistency with the original story and characters, making it a fourth season and not a total reboot.
The individual episodes, like the previous seasons, continued to carry the Cold War period’s politics: Soviets against Americans. In the ninth episode titled Stavograd, however, this cliché was dropped and the Airwolf team was shown helping a team of Soviet scientists prevent a nuclear disaster. A Piece of Cake (episode 6), On the Double (episode 17), and X-Virus (episode 12) were outstanding for healthy doses of adventure, thrill, and mystery respectively. Other episodes had reasonably good to pretty cool plots that kept the team involved in rescue work on local and national levels.
The major shift in terms of characters involved the age and chemistry between team members. The first three seasons were teeming with String’s internal emotional conflict that amplified the charm of his character in his fight against the bad guys. In the fourth season, the emotional moments were mainly assigned to Jo’s character, culminating in the 23rd episode, Flying Home, while St. John operated stoically throughout the season. Also, with two young men on the team, the female lead had more of a potential for romantic chemistry and it showed at times, most notably in The Key (episode 16) where Mike and Jo share a kiss in a flashback scene. In the footsteps of the previous seasons, however, romance with Jo wasn’t allowed much of a chance with either of the two guys.
On the whole, the fourth season of Airwolf kept the show going for another 24 episodes and let the Lady fly with a few advanced add-ons, entertaining the show’s fans. It is understandable for those Airwolf lovers who couldn’t live without the original team but totally discarding the merits of the final season and deny the new team’s talent and contribution to the show’s spirit isn’t fair. It’s about time to acknowledge the fourth season as an integral part of the show. And IMDb needs to update the fourth season’s info accordingly. I’m sure the Lady agrees.
About the Author
Screenwriter, editor, blogger, and reviewer Ernest Dempsey (pen name of Karim Khan), is the author of ScreenScope with Ernie, a critique of 50 movies in the sci-fi, horror, mystery, and thriller genres. He runs the movie review site Filmospheric and puts together the newsletter Filmphernalia.
More to enjoy here at The Retro Network…
- Street Hawk and the Era of Turbo‑Charged TV Action
- The A-Team Was ’80s Action At It’s Best
- Knight Rider: The Duo That Defined ’80s Cool
- Superstations: How Local Television Quietly Went National
- M.A.N.T.I.S.: The ’90s Superhero Show You Forgot
Discover more from The Retro Network
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
