Keep Back! I'm warning you.
First Aired - September 14th, 1967
Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon are working Juvenile division. Friday and Gannon get a call that a teenager named Rick Schneiderman has been burned with acid while watching a movie by a fellow teenager named Gerald Paulson.
After talking with Gerald, he returns with his parents but runs away from home with a live grenade. Friday and Gannon are in a race against time to try and locate Gerald as they fear that he is now out to kill his fellow classmates.
The episode is the first episode of the second season, with the series renamed "Dragnet 1968".
Just the Tropes, ma'am:
- Acid Attack: Gerald pours acid on Rick's back while he was watching a movie. This destroyed his jacket and also burned him. Gannon points out that Rick was lucky in that he was wearing the jacket as that is what absorbed most of the acid.
- Adults Are Useless: Played With. Gerald's mother and step-father are unaware that their child is being bullied but also do not approve of his violent actions.
- Author Filibuster: A rare one by Gannon about how kids are being peer pressured and bullied.Gannon: Kids today are missing out on the best thing; growing up as kids, not teenaged adults.
- Bomb Disposal: The grenade pin is pulled when trying to push it away from Gerald. Friday is forced to hold onto it tight while Gannon tries to put the pin back into the grenade.Friday: The pin, Bill, put it in!
Gannon: Give me a minute.
Friday: We may not have a minute, put it in! - Extreme Close-Up: During the stand off with the the grenade, the camera zooms in between the grenade, Gerald's eyes and Friday & Gannon's faces.
- Fight Scene: Once Friday is able to distract Gerald, he runs up to him to try and pull the grenade away from him.
- Hostage Situation: Friday and Gannon accidentally walk in on Gerald holding his classmates hostage in the backyard with a live grenade.
- Kids Are Cruel: The main theme of the episode. Gerald is bullied in school by his classmates to the point that he wants to physically hurt them.
- Left the Background Music On: During the standoff with Gerald. The background music is played on a record player. Gerald turns it on and off every time he wants to talk. Friday also manages to unplug the record player, causing the music to stop.
- Parents as People: Gerald's mother and step-father are trying their best to control Gerald and want to give him the help he needs, however they also feel as if they are in a loosing battle.
- Within Arm's Reach: As everyone is staying still in the back yard by Gerald, Friday notices that the plug to the record player is next to him. He carefully unplugs the record long enough for Gerald to be distracted.
- You're Not My Father: Gerald would not listen to his step-father as he is not his real father. Gerald's real father died when he was 5. His step-father knows this but still tries his best.
