Jailbreak (TAGS Episode)
Contents
Episode Info
Jailbreak
- S2.E18
- Filmed: 50
- Aired: 50
- Original Air Date: 1962/02/05
- Writer(s): Harvey Bullock
- Director: Bob Sweeney
Plot Summary
A team of convicts is on the loose, and the state police arrive ridiculing Sheriff Taylor and Barney. Andy cracks the case by focusing on the smallest details: a trailer hitch and an offhand remark by the dry cleaner about a suit with dog hairs. This leads to the convict's accomplice, but only after Barney somehow manages to let the one convict they have captured escape.
Summary
State Police officer Captain Horton arriving in Mayberry to track down "Doc" Clarence Malloy, a criminal who has robbed a payroll. Horto, who comes across as arrogant and dismissive, visits Sheriff Andy Taylor at his home to gather information but brushes off Deputy Barney Fife's enthusiastic offers to help, insisting that the state police will handle the matter. Andy cooperates but is offended when Horton mocks him, suggesting he should stick to minor crimes like catching chicken thieves. In a side scene, Barney struggles to control Floyd the barber's dog, Sam, on the sidewalk, but young Opie Taylor easily calms the animal, showcasing a light-hearted moment of contrast.
Horton soon captures Malloy and locks him in the Mayberry jail cell. While Horton heads out to search for Malloy's accomplice, Andy instructs Barney to stay clear of the prisoner and avoid any involvement. Defying orders, Barney disguises himself in civilian clothes and enters the cell to extract information from the sleeping Malloy. While trying to prove his undercover credentials to Malloy, Barney claims he was previously known by several nicknames in the criminal underworld, including "Puddintame," "Fingers," "Chopper," and "Mad Dog". Barney emphasizes to Malloy that he was never known as "Tattletale".
His undercover attempt fails spectacularly when Malloy notices a framed newspaper clipping on the wall featuring Barney. Malloy plays along, convincing Barney to unlock the cell door with a toothpick. Once free, Malloy overpowers Barney, steals his gun, ties him up, and escapes, leaving Barney locked in the cell.
Horton returns to discover the escape and furiously berates Andy, calling him a "rube sheriff" and blaming the local force's incompetence. Barney is devastated by his blunder and feels ashamed. Later, while at the dry cleaner's shop dealing with his suit (which is covered in dog hair from Sam), Barney learns that another suit with similar hair was dropped off that day. This clue leads Andy to realize Malloy's partner is a woman. They spot her car outside, noting a trailer hitch, which suggests she's pulling a camper.
That night, Andy and Barney investigate a nearby campground. In a comedic interlude, Barney peeks into the wrong camper window and interrupts a newlywed couple in an intimate moment. He eventually finds the correct trailer, where Malloy has captured and tied up Horton. Barney takes decisive action, driving the car attached to the camper back to Mayberry with Malloy inside, while Andy follows. Barney's erratic driving adds to the humor, but upon arrival, he successfully arrests Malloy and frees Horton, redeeming himself as the episode's unlikely hero.
The episode concludes with Opie playing with a detective kit left behind by Horton. When the newlywed couple arrives at the sheriff's office to file a complaint about the peeping incident, Barney—overhearing them—grabs a fake mustache and glasses from Opie's kit and flees with Opie in tow.
Odd Facts Known by Few
- A subtle set design oddity: At the start of the episode, Barney leans on a bookcase while posing to impress Horton, mimicking his photo in a framed newspaper clipping about the Walker's Drug Store robbery. This bookcase is usually positioned against the side wall next to Otis's cell, but it's temporarily moved to the back wall for this scene (alongside the newspaper and bulletin board) before returning to its normal spot in subsequent episodes.
- There's an inconsistency in the Taylor family's home address across the series: Barney tells Inspector Horton it's 44 Elm Street here, but in later episodes like "Aunt Bee's Medicine Man" (Season 3), Aunt Bee says 332 Maple Road; in "Barney's Sidecar" (Season 4), Opie starts woodburning an address beginning with "3" on the porch; and in "A New Doctor in Town" (Season 7), Andy gives it as 14 Maple.
- The newspaper coverage of Barney from Andy the Matchmaker appears in this episode.
- In an early scene where Inspector Horton talks to Andy in his house, the camera angle is too high or wide, accidentally revealing the sound batting held up by chicken wire. You can see it behind the cabinet near the dinner table. This odd wall extension is actually seen quite a few times. While not realistic, the odd wall extension is intentional and not a blooper. (Thank you to Randy Turner for this clarifying information.)
- When Barney approaches Floyd's Barber Shop, the "Closed" sign is at eye level, just below the window's crossbar. In the close-up, the sign is at the bottom of the window. In the next shot, the sign is back at eye level.
- Floyd's dog Sam is the same dog that appears in the episodes Dogs, Dogs, Dogs, Barney's Bloodhound, and A Man's Best Friend.
- An intriguing cross-show connection: Barney's undercover alias "Fingers" in this episode reappears 18 years later in *Three's Company* (Season 4, Episode 18, "Handcuffed"), where Don Knotts' character Ralph Furley refers to himself as "Fingers Furley" in a similar comedic bit.
- Malloy uses Barney's gun to escape from the courthouse. In the next scene, however, Barney is back in uniform and has his gun in its holster. It's highly unlikely Malloy would have left the gun behind.
- This is the first appearance of Fred Goss the dry cleaner. The sign outside the driy cleaner says "H. Goss Tailor - Cleanings & Alterations."
- In a rare deviation from his usual "one bullet" safety rule, Barney Fife carries all six bullets in his revolver during this episode.
- Andy wears a gun in this episode.
- The Half Moon Trailer Park is located on River Road.
- When Barney drives away with the trailer at the trailer park, it is clearly seen that the man driving the station wagon is not Barney.
- The crook's station wagon license plate has no state or year information.
- Actress Rita Kenaston (Malloy's partner) appeared in the classic film "The Days Of Wine And Roses".
- Actress Sally Mills (newlywed) appeared in the Elvis movie "Speedway".
- Busy character actor Allan Melvin made his first of eight appearances on TAGS, each time as a completely different character—making him one of the most versatile recurring guest stars in the series. He is perhaps better known as Sgt. Charley Hacker on the TAGS spin-off, "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." or as Sam the butcher on The Brady Bunch.
- Allan Melvin was the voice of the animated cartoon character "Magilla Gorilla." The pet store owner, Mr. Peebles, was originally voiced by Mayberry's own Ernest T. Bass: Howard Morris.
- Ken Lynch, portraying the arrogant state police Captain Horton, also appeared in four total episodes as four distinct characters, including another state police role in "The Manhunt" (Season 1, Episode 2).
More Information
Character List
- Andy Griffith - Andy Taylor
- Don Knotts - Barney Fife
- Fred Sherman - Fred Goss
- Ken Lynch - Horton
- Frank Warren - Art
- Bob McQuain - newlywed man
- Sally Mills - newlywed woman
- Rita Kenaston - Malloy's partner
- Allan Melvin - Malloy
