Reporter Amy Allan, concerned about a fellow newsman, Al Massey, who has disappeared on a trip to Mexico, looks up the files on a mysterious team of vigilantes who went on the run after being accused of a crime by the army some years ago. With effort, she locates the A-Team and explains her problem. After a bit of negotiating, they agree to take the case.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- The Alcoholic: Apparently Al Massey is heavy on the bottle, to the point where at least once he failed to turn in a story. Amy tells their mutual editor that he's reacting to his wife's death, but the editor says he's through being patient.
- Da Chief: Amy's editor is this.
- Description Cut: Amy wonders what the A-Team are doing now. Cut to Hannibal filming a monster movie.
- Gilligan Cut: When cornered by the bandits, Massey tries to say that he's just on vacation. Cut to the paper's office, where Amy is telling the editor that he is not just on vacation; he's in trouble.
- Handshake Refusal: B.A. does this upon being introduced to Amy. They warm up to each other later.
- Napoleon Delusion: Alluded to, though not played straight. When Murdock meets with Colonel Lynch in the V.A. mental hospital, he wears a shirt with "Napoleon" written on it. When Lynch asks him who he thinks he is this week, one of his suggestions is "Napoleon's parrot".
- Obfuscating Insanity: Murdock's sanity or lack thereof is ambiguous, but given that the whole "ammonia" bit only happens once Lynch shows up to interrogate him, it seems that it was very likely put on.
- Old Beggar Test: A non-magical variation; Hannibal tests Amy's character by appearing to her as a beggar who needs money. Amy has compassion on the beggar, even going so far as to give him a 20 dollar bill (the equivalent of 50 dollars in today's money), which convinces Hannibal she is a good person after all.
- Over-the-Shoulder Carry: Hannibal has to drug B.A. to take him on the airplane and because of this, he has to carry him over one shoulder for the rest of the way.
- Pilot: The first episode of the series.
- Something Only They Would Say: During the Secret Test of Character he pulls on her by disguising himself as a beggar, Hannibal calls Amy "a princess in a world full of dragons." Later, after she's convinced them to take the case, he repeats the phrase, presumably to let her in on the test.
- Took the Bad Film Seriously: When Face and B.A. turn up to warn Hannibal that Lynch has found them again, Hannibal is in the middle of filming a B-movie about a monster called the Aquamaniac. He tells the others to hold on a moment, as he's just gotten a hold on his character and proceeds to reel off a description that is much more complex than the filmmakers probably had in mind.
