Match Point
(original air date  11/06/94)

Storyline:  Joey takes money from Mick's wallet, so Mick starts selling Joey's stuff.  Joey calls Gordon to earn some money.  They go undercover at a tennis match where one of the players is getting death threats.  The player in question knows Mick from when he was a cop and her mother committed suicide.  All of it tied into a gambling ring.

Guest Stars: Kevin Wilson (Sarah's father), Ross Girven (Tommy Farr), Simone Kessell (Sarah Farr)
Note: This is the second guest appearance by Ross Girven (It Takes a Thief) and Simone Kessell (Party Time)

Episode takes place in Malibu, CA

According to US

I found this episode somewhat boring this time around, not a lot of buff from either Rick or Yannick (or even of the female kind) and the plot was really thin (um, more so than usual) so I'll start off with a disclaimer that I paid more attention to wardrobe and one-liners so as to keep myself entertained while viewing.

The story opens with Joey in a kayak race, and he loses the race and $100 to the winner. Mick is having dinner with a typical comely blonde always found in this series, and he is wearing a god-awful flowered shirt and showing way too much forehead. Obviously the hair & wardrobe had that theme for the first season, as per my previous reviews. Mick goes to pay for the dinner, and his wallet is empty. The exasperated blonde finally pays after Mick stutters out he swore he had money in there earlier. She goes to leave and he asks her, "What about dessert?" To which she replies, "I'll leave that in your hand". Bada bump, koosh...

The scene switches to a female tennis player in training, Sarah. The guy who just won the money off of Joey comes out onto the court and says there is another letter. He is her brother, Tommy. She is training with her father, who tells Tommy that they cannot take these letters seriously. Tommy is upset, but the father demands Sarah get back to practicing for the upcoming Open.

Back to Mick...he is having a garage sale, wearing another god-awful Hawaiian shirt, but at least it's open. Joey comes up and realizes all the stuff is his....Mick tells him he will stop selling his things when he reaches the amount that was taken from his wallet. Joey tells him it was just borrowed, "You know, a bro to bro loan". Joey then calls Gordon to ask him for some money. Gordon offers him money and tells him that Mick's former police partner called him about Sarah Farr and her death threats. Apparently Mick took the call when Sarah's mother committed suicide when Sarah was a young girl. He tells Joey to tell Mick that Sarah needs his help.

After the commercial, Mick and Joey are entering the tennis venue. Mick has been given the cover as a sports writer for Tennis Monthly Magazine, and Joey is a Ball Boy. (too many jokes on this one, go ahead make up your own) Mick's shirt has gone from god-awful to just plain ugly, and long sleeved. His hair is in quite the pompadour-you can check this out on the clip Renata put up on the website. He sees Sarah in the locker room and tells her he is there to protect her. The match starts, and Mick sits with the other press. Sarah's Dad yells at the referee (is it a ref in tennis?) repeatedly until he is warned he will be ejected. The reporter sitting next to Mick indicates that the father pushes her too hard. Sarah wins the match, and the reporters follow her to the locker room. Her father is talking with the reporters as she is toweling off, and she puts on headphones to listen to while she changes. Suddenly, she screams and rips off the headphones and runs out of the locker room. The father kicks everyone out. Mick goes over to the headphones, and listens to the tape. It is a voice saying she will be killed if she plays in the finals. 

Another commercial (sorry, when I taped these long ago it was on at like 2am so I wasn't editing commercials) Mick and Joey come in from surfing and are discussing the case. Mick goes to unzip his wet suit, and lo and behold - there's another one under it?? What's up with that? Anyway, Mick goes back to the venue and talks with the 2nd ranked player on her opinion of the death threats. Meanwhile, the Dad is yelling at Sarah and shaking her violently that she is not concentrating enough to win. Joey goes to intervene and the Dad punches him in the nose and walks off. Sarah then apologizes and runs off also. Mick & Joey find her later to make sure she is okay. While they are talking, she is shot at from an unseen gunman. Mick & Joey run off after the gunman, and chase him thru an outdoor market. They separate, and Joey follows while Mick tries to cut him off. Mick shoves him into a vegetable stand, they dig him out from under the vegetables, and it's Tommy, Sarah's brother. Joey starts yelling at him, "What's the matter with you? Are you bored or something? Don't you have cable TV?" Tommy tries to explain, and says just come back to my house so I can show you. They go to leave and someone shoots him.

 

After the next break, Mick & Joey are at Tommy's funeral. After it is over, the reporters in attendance are questioning the father whether Sarah will be playing in the Open. He states that she will still be there. Mick & Joey decide to ask around about what Tommy was into, what kind of circles he ran in. He was heavily into gambling, so the guys call Gordon and ask for an expensive car & clothes so they can attend a high-stakes match at this guys' house that I was too bored to rewind and to hear exactly who he was. They arrive in a limo, and Mick finally has some non-print wardrobe, but lord almighty he looks like a dark haired Uncle Sam. White dress pants (which did fit rather nicely) a red shirt, and a blue blazer. Sigh...let's hope the 2nd season spends more $ on wardrobe. Joey starts playing cards with the high roller while Mick snoops thru the house. Joey has the best line of this episode right here....the dealer is a blonde wearing a strapless white low cut dress. Joey is gazing at her ta-tas when she asks him, "How many?" He replies, "Two! Uh, I mean Three!". Mick finds a ledger that shows that Tommy owed $50,000 to this man. He comes back out to find that Joey has lost Gordon's Rolex and $25,000. The high roller guy then admits he knows who Mick & Joey are, and that he has a bet on the 2nd rank player to win, so they have to "work off" Joey's debt. Mick is to kill Sarah. Joey is tied up and kept in the house while Rick goes to the venue with two goons. After they arrive, Mick does some Tae Kwon Do moves on the goons and gets away. Joey is shown watching the match that has started between Sarah and Olga. He's yelling, "Go Olga" to the TV. Sarah wins the match, and Joey now has a gun pointed at him, and the high roller tells him his brother must not love him very much. Mick then comes crashing thru the window (Go Rick!) and kicks the gun out of the guy's hand. The guy tries to run, and Mick knocks him into the pool. He makes Joey jump in to retrieve the guy, as the guy is now wearing Gordon's Rolex.

The last bit shows Mick & Joey at the cemetery with Sarah. She is holding her trophy and talking to Tommy's grave. The father shows up and demands she get back to training for the French Open. She hands him the trophy and leaves with Mick & Joey. They go surfing. The very last scene is Mick & Joey on the beach, shirtless -finally! Mick is teasing Joey about Gordon's watch, and Joey explains he's got it covered... Fritz is then shown giving the watch back to Gordon. Gordon is amazed he didn't have to ask Joey for the watch back. He looks at it and comments to Fritz that there is no "K" in Rolex.

As I said, not too much of anything in this episode. The previews for the next one look a bit more exciting though. - Michelle P.
I  noticed  that the actor that played Tommy, also played "Cecil" (guy with the ponytail), in the It Takes a Thief episode. Apparently his name is Ross Gruen. They sure do recycle guest stars a lot on this show.

I also thought one of the best lines in the show was when Mick asked his date "what about dessert?" and she said "I'll leave that in your hands"......that was way too funny. My question, hasn't Mick Barrett ever heard of credit cards? Hey Mick, don't leave home without it.

I didn't go back and double check this, but I swear that Joey was wearing the same shirt at the Gamblers house that Mick wore to the funeral.

This wasn't one of my favorite episodes either, although it did have some good one liners. I'll give it 2 waves. - rlh
This was an okay episode for me. I liked it pretty well, but it wasn't awesome all the way through (like some). At least, not for me. I adore Rick as always…I mean, how can you not??…but I suppose the writing can really swing from show to show. Some of the other stories had my interest peaked more than this one.

My favorite part would have to be the opening scenes. Joey races a guy in a boat (a kayak?) and loses. They had bet on the race…so Joey pays up. Next we see Mick, all lovey-dovey with some chick at the seaside café, appearing as though they may go off for `desert' afterwards. But as a smiling Mick goes in his wallet so he can pay the bill and split the scene with this girl…he is pissed to find that Joey has taken all of his money!!! LOL The woman says that lunch is on her. He says, "what about desert?" and she tells him that it is "in his hands", and off she goes. Awww…poor Mick. She ditched him! 

Then we see Mick having a `yardsale' on the beach selling ALL of Joey's junk! Lol This scene was pretty comical to me! Joey catches him and the squabble begins. Mick is bargaining with the customers, acting like a `real' salesman, talking it up, showing off the goods, shirt blowing open in the breeze. (YOW!) He tells Joey that when he reaches $60, he'll stop. I can't blame him. Joey put him in an awkward situation by borrowing money without telling him.

I found Joey's "boss," the young kid, to be pretty funny. Or maybe it was the expressions on Joey's face when the boy told Joey he'd become the `ball boy.' LOL 
Another scene I thought was cute was when Joey and Mick had just finished surfing and Joey is jealous because Mick gets to go undercover as a `big sports writer' and Joey is stuck as the ball boy. {Again, I know I've probably said this before….I could literally gaze for hours at Mick pulling in and out of wet suits, hair dripping wet. Someone needs to teach Rick how to surf in real life. Yeah right! LOL Isn't he someone who does NOT go into the ocean? Ok then Rick, just wear the wetsuit!} Mick tells Joey he got that job because HE knows how to spell. Joey argues that a lot of great writers couldn't spell, such as Shakespeare! The humor and cutting up between the brothers is what really makes this show for me. The great-to-look-at Barrett brothers, another plus. But really, I think Yannick and Rick had such an awesome chemistry on screen. The brother relationship is actually very believable. And the writing per show was pretty good too…usually.

The poker match was kind of cute. Joey was funny playing cards against the "big dogs," and squirming all the while, going deeper in the hole. I especially got a kick out of Mick telling Gordon they needed a Ferrari (so they could have `the right image' and `come on with some flash') sent to them before they go for the poker game, along with fine clothes, a nice ring, gold watches, etc….so they would really look like high rollers. Gordon sends a limo instead! That shirt Rick had on in this one (the long-sleeved blue one with the odd patterns all over it), is hideous. YUCK! Please please tell me that Rick really didn't pick out his own wardrobe for this show. Now the jeans are a different story ;-) The outfit Gordon sent him was much better…a red shirt, tan slacks & a blue sports coat. I didn't say it was great-looking, just better! But it reminded me of something Don Johnson wore on Miami Vice. Ok, so this was the style in the early 90's. I guess that explains it. LOL

Another thing I enjoy is watching Mick in the fight scenes. He is so cool-looking in those scenes, like a man to be reckoned with. He always manages to `whip' the bad guys and bring them to justice. Two thumbs up for Mick Barrett. Hey, his little bro Joey is pretty tough too! 

This was not a bad episode, but story-wise, there are others I like a lot better. What is it with Rick always having a convertible caddy anyway? He certainly looks great driving it! He drove a caddy in Nick Knight also.  - Kelley Pearson