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Recap / The A Team S 2 E 7 The Taxicab Wars

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The Lone Star taxicab company hires the A-Team when their rival, Love cabs, keeps beating up their drivers and destroying their taxis. Hannibal initially gives the head of the rival company a chance to pay up damages to the "new owner", Clarence Wickersham III, but when the man refuses, the A-Team declares war on the Love cab company.

This episode includes examples of the following tropes:

  • 555: The cabs operated by the Love Cab Company have 555 numbers printed on their side. Averted with the Lone Star company's cabs; the only one we see with a number has a 714 number on it.
  • Appeal to Familial Wisdom: Hannibal, as Clarence Wickersham III, regularly quotes his father's proverbs.
  • Beleaguered Assistant: Face does not have a fun time being part of Hannibal's act. During Hannibal's stint as Clarence Wickersham III, he introduces Face as his nephew Harold, who is mildly slow and has quirks like wanting to wear his football helmet all the time. With each new indignity, Face protests, but Hannibal never seems to hear.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Face expresses concern that Murdock is going to get distracted with his new superheroic identity and not do his part of the job. Hannibal expresses complete faith that Murdock will do it and says that he's reliable; he's just a little different. Murdock proves him right on both counts.
  • Captain Superhero: Murdock's latest quirk is a superhero identity called Captain Cab.
  • Clark Kenting: The only difference between Dr. Vern and Captain Cab is a different accent and a cape and domino mask. They even both have the same sock-puppet dog. Murdock (as Dr. Vern) says he understands that people say they look alike, but he doesn't see the resemblance.
  • Consulting Mr Puppet: Murdock's quirk-of-the-week includes him having a talking dog, Socky...who happens to be a sock puppet. He talks to Murdock, both as Captain Cab and Dr. Vern. This annoys B.A., who grabs the sock off his hand at least twice.
  • Friend of Masked Self: Socky refers to Captain Cab as Dr. Vern's "friend."
  • Hand Puppet: Murdock's latest tic is having a sock puppet named Socky on one of his hands giving a running commentary to the team's latest job. BA gets so annoyed that he threatens both puppet and puppeteer to introduce them to his talking fist, Knockout.
  • I Always Wanted to Say That: On a mission, Face radios in to inform the rest of the team that "It's Quiet… Too Quiet", and then notes he always wanted to say that.
  • Ironic Name: The villain's business is called the Love cab company.
  • Meet My Good Friends Lefty and Righty: Murdock annoys B.A. by introducing himself as Dr. Vern, and his assistant Socky. B.A. grabs him and says "This is my talking fist. His name is Knock-Out. Would you like to hear Knock-Out speak?"
  • Out of the Frying Pan: From the perspective of the British passengers in B.A.'s cab. Terrified by the cab getting attacked and the Scary Black Man driving it saying something about a war, they change to a different cab, saying "that man is quite mad!" The cab they choose happens to belong to Murdock, who immediately starts talking to his Hand Puppet Socky. They immediately get out and remark that next time they're just going to stay in London.
  • Shout-Out: After refusing Hannibal's offer to make restitution, the villain calls him "the Kentucky Colonel", presumably because his disguise of the week looks like Colonel Sanders, the mascot of KFC.
  • This Is Gonna Suck:
    • Face's reaction when Murdock starts babbling about "Captain Cab." He first wishes aloud that B.A. was here to make him stop talking. As Murdock continues, Face adds resignedly:
      Face: I have a feeling I'm really gonna hate this one, Murdock...
    • He later warns B.A.
      Face: Yeah, you're going to hate this one, B.A. I think he's building up to a cape and mask.

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