Paul (Robert Hays) begins having dreams, something he hasn’t done before, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg for what is going to happen to he and Scott (Christopher Daniel Barnes) in Best Buddies.

Written by Leon Tokatyan, it first aired on 24 October, 1986.

As their road trip to find Jenny Hayden continues, they end up in Phoenix and that is going to cause Paul some interesting issues. They’ve arrived in town so that Paul can do some photo work as the real Paul Forrester and find they have an ongoing tab at a local hotel.

Great! They have a place to stay, but when Paul bumps into Jake Lawton (Cliff Potts) the trouble begins. The real Paul and Jake worked together while they were in the service, Paul was the pictures, Jake was the words.

But there’s a secret, apparently Paul and Jake’s wife, Kathy (Suzanne Lederer) had a relationship, and she wants to resume. Throw in Paul’s photo assignment as documenting a group of squatters, and an underlying tension between he and Jake and we learn that there is a lot going on in this episode. And it’s going to bring Paul, Jake and Kathy into a but of conflict with one another. But maybe, with a little help, Jake can be the pen again to Paul’s lens, at least for one last story.

It’s smart and compassionate and of course, it wouldn’t be a complete episode if George Fox (Michael Cavanaugh) didn’t show up just a little too late to do anything but provide a bit of a climax to the episode.

Hays is a little too campy and in this episode, his facial expressions tend to lean towards the comedic which doesn’t do he, the character, or the series any real justice. He tempers it with some wonderful earnestness as the episode explores friendships, Paul’s past, and the consequences of actions.

It’s a well-written tale, for the 80s, but it’s a little too clean, even the squatters are pretty cleaned up, and strait-laced to stand the test of time.

Secrets has Paul and Scott on the run immediately as Fox tracks down their location in Hollywood. They need to find a way out of town before they get caught by Fox and the law enforcement working with him. Their travels take them to a mental institution after they catch a news broadcast about a troubled woman, who may be Jenny Hayden.

Is this a legit lead or is this part of a plan by Fox to capture Paul?

They meet Angela (Lisa Blount) who claims to know Jenny, and it’s an emotional kick for both, especially Scott. Too good to be true? While something seems to be stirring between Paul and Angela, Scott falls into Fox’s trap first when he goes to the mental hospital in search of his mother following a follow-up newscast, and Fox is confident that this will lead Paul right to him.

Filled with tons of Shakespeare references that suggest that everything is just a stage play to draw Paul and Scott in. The episode is great for building the series mythology, something it is trying to do, despite the fact that it has to be episodic in nature and reset by the end of each episode. There is actually some character growth week to week, and they’ve even referenced previous events at times.

There’s more to come as I explore more of Starman: The Complete Series on 4K, one of the fantastic extras on the 4K edition of John Carpenter’s Starman released as part of Sony’s Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4, available now!