Paul (Robert Hays) and Scott (Christopher Daniel Barnes) seem to be conned on both sides of the law in Grifters. Written by Steven Hollander, the episode first aired on 13 March, 1987. The pair have driven a car up from Texas as a way to make some money, but they are about to find a whole new world of trouble.

They run afoul of a pair of smalltime conmen, Artemis (David Doyle) and Naughton (Bill Macy) who run the whole hit-by-a-car routine on the pair, but when Paul and Scott rumble them, in their way, a friendship of a sort is formed. But the car delivery is also a scam, an attempt to capture Paul and Scott by the government, apparently there is money hidden in the car.

When Artemis gets nabbed in the car, Naughton, Paul and Scott have to find a way to get Artemis out of trouble, and elude George Fox (Michael Cavanaugh) who races in to town when he sees the flag on Paul Forrester’s name.

Paul and Scott pick a moment too late to run, and Paul ends up captured by Fox. Now it’ll be up to Artemis, Naughton and Scott to save the Starman. And that, of course, will involve running a con. That’s all well and good, but all of a sudden Paul has the ability to create mass illusions to fool Cavanaugh, and his idiot assistant.

Fox and Paul are able to finally engage in a bit of a dialogue, and it’s too bad that we don’t get to see all of it, because it could have done a lot for the characters and the continuing story, episodic as it is.

The Wedding starts with a new opening credit sequence updated with episodes we’ve seen and things to come. And opens with a Scott and Paul getting abducted by a couple of dock workers, to bring them to Matteo (Al Ruscio), an old friend of Paul’s who promised that he would take pictures of his daughter’s wedding.

With the promise of a healthy payday, they decide to help out.

Henry (Timothy Stack) and Anna (Christine Healy) are gearing up for their wedding, though there seems to be one problem after another for the pair, from the wrong tuxedos, to the changes in ministers, to ulterior motives on Henry’s behalf, and a history between Paul and Anna.

Everything that can go wrong with the wedding will, the organ doesn’t work, the dress comes back pink, it all seems to be going wrong, including a possible heart attack for Matteo…

But it seems Matteo invited Paul to the wedding because he knew about the relationship between he and Anna. He doesn’t like Henry, and doesn’t want Anna marrying him. He’s the one ruining everything, intentionally, including faking a heart attack.

Of course, Paul will figure out what is going on, heal the family, maybe hint at his otherworldliness – how people didn’t run out of the church when things started happening is beyond me – and elude Fox just in time.

We’re slowly coming up on the end of the series, this was episode 18 of 22, so let’s see how it all plays out. There’s more next time as I explore more of Starman: The Complete Series, included as one of the fantastic extras on John Carpenter’s Starman in 4K, part of Sony’s Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4, available now.