Starsky and Hutch - "Silence"

by Mark Murton

Original Airdate: January 21, 1976

Directed by: George McCowan

Cat Out Of The Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode.

Synopsis: Two deaf-mute ex-cons, amiable child-like Larry (Chuck McCann) and his friend RC (Jason Bernard), are being framed for a series of burglaries and the murder of a security guard and it’s up to Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and Hutch (David Soul) to catch the real criminal and prevent the two vulnerable men from coming to harm.

Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): Arriving on the scene as the robber makes his escape, Starsky and Hutch set off in pursuit, but soon lose sight of the car. Finding it parked up, they spot a man disappearing through a side door down an alley. They enter the building and follow the man down to the basement where he is kneeling over a cardboard box. As they approach with guns drawn they realise it is Larry (who they encountered at the start of the episode when he was accused of stealing sweets). Larry is pleased to see them and even more pleased to show them the contents of the box: a tuxedo mother cat with three kittens.

Starsky & Hutch - Silence - tuxedo mama cat with kittens in cardboard box

Larry reaches into the box and gently removes a black kitten . . .

Starsky & Hutch - Silence - black kitten being lifted out of cardboard box

. . . which he proudly shows to the detectives . . .

Starsky & Hutch - Silence - Larry Chuck McCann holding black kitten

Starsky & Hutch - Silence - Larry Chuck McCann taking black kitten from box with mother cat and kittens animated gif

. . . before handing it to Hutch to hold.

Starsky & Hutch - Silence - Larry Chuck McCann holding black kitten out to David Soul with Paul Michael Glaser

Starsky & Hutch - Silence - David Soul holding black kitten

The building they are in turns out to be the Dismas Center, a halfway house for parolees run by Father Ignatious (Carl Betz), but later we learn the father is a phony and he is behind the robberies. Realising Starsky and Hutch are getting too close to the truth he decides to use Larry to buy time to get out of town. He visits Larry in the basement where once again Larry is tending to the kitties.

Starsky & Hutch - Silence - Larry Chuck McCann holding black kitten with Father Ignatious Carl Betz

Ignatius convinces Larry that the police will use him to pin the blame on his friend RC and Larry agrees to disappear. But not before carefully returning the kitten to the box.

Purr Blurs: Realising the danger Larry is in, Starsky and Hutch team up with RC to visit places where Larry may have gone. These include a pet shop where we see cats in cages inside the window as Hutch questions the store owner.

Starsky & Hutch - Silence - David Soul inside pet shop with gray cats in window cage

With everything resolved, the episode’s tag sees Larry and RC visiting the detectives at the station. Larry is carrying a box marked “Starsky and Hutch” which contains two kittens (even though we only ever see one). At first the duo think he’s brought the kittens to give to them and each start making excuses as to why he can’t look after a cat, but then they realise Larry’s keeping the kittens himself and has just brought them to show them because he’s named them Starsky and Hutch in their honour. They start bickering as to which one is “Starsky” and which one is “Hutch”, with Hutch lifting out the tabby they both want named after them (and which is different than any of the kittens seen in the box at the Dismas Center!).