Adam-12: Season 3
Season 3 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Adam-12 Season 2.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 3 Progress Shield
Log 174: Loan Sharks
Sep 19, 1970
Malloy and Reed try to investigate a series of beatings at a plant resulting from a loan shark operation, but the employees refuse to talk until the son of one employee stands up t
Log 035: Easy Bare Rider
Sep 26, 1970
Malloy and Reed investigate the mysterious source behind a boy's suspicious spending spree, wield a blanket instead of gun during a disrobed driver's DUI arrest and bust up a car p
Log 095: Purse Snatcher
Oct 3, 1970
Reed and Malloy have to think outside the box to capture an intelligent yet neglected teenage purse snatcher. Their efforts to talk sense into him before he commits a much more ser
Log 045: Bright Boy
Oct 10, 1970
Reed and Malloy report to a burglary call that was witnessed by a boy with a photographic memory. Afterward, they are called to the scene of two drunk men shooting at a box of dyna
Log 065: Cigarettes, Cars and Wild, Wild Women
Oct 17, 1970
The officers bring down an auto-theft ring where young girls get rides with the victims, steal their cars, and take them to a "chop shop". Other calls include an elderly woman who
Log 055: Missing Child
Oct 31, 1970
Malloy and Reed investigate a missing child with a Band-Aid on her leg. Other calls include rescuing a cat and birds from a woman who was trying to get rid of them using gas, appre
Log 075: Have a Nice Weekend
Nov 7, 1970
The shift starts with Reed being taken hostage by a woman out of her mind. Malloy and Reed are faced with multiple reports of burglaries and the thieves appear to be young boys. Af
Log 105: Elegy for a Pig
Nov 21, 1970
Officer Malloy pays tribute to Officer Tom Porter, who has recently fallen in the line of duty. Malloy recounts the close friendship they developed while training at the academy, a
Log 025: Indians
Nov 28, 1970
Malloy and reed hunt down a suspect who has been bombing downtown storefronts. Then they report to a scuffle between two native americans at a bar that the bartender thinks may be
Log 135: Arson
Dec 5, 1970
Malloy and Reed search for a serial arsonist who spawns a copycat, settle a domestic dispute that results from a love triangle, rescue a man who wandered onto the ledge of a high r
Log 096: Pilgrimage
Dec 19, 1970
It's Christmas Eve in Los Angeles, and Malloy and Reed track down a suspect who beat and mugged a rescue mission Santa, who later gets arrested himself. They also respond to an alc
Log 085: Sign of the Twins
Dec 26, 1970
Malloy and Reed start the shift with a call to a liquor store robbery, where a fellow officer was shot but the owner of the store appears to be lying. Further investigation pushes
Log 175: Con Artists
Jan 2, 1971
Reed and Malloy respond to a car rollover where a good samaritan makes matters worse. Afterward, they respond to several victims of a well-known family of seasonal home improvement
Log 115: Gang War
Jan 9, 1971
Officer Reed loses a robbery suspect while in foot pursuit. Afterward, he and Malloy try to help a priest prevent bloodshed between rival hispanic gangs, and then respond to a batt
Log 026: LEMRAS
Jan 16, 1971
Malloy and Reed drive up on a convenience store robbery in progress, which results in the suspects taking hostages. Later, they pull over a reckless driver who has just committed a
Log 155: I.A.D.
Jan 21, 1971
Officer Tony Johnson finds out he has been accused of a shakedown just after saving Malloy's life during a shootout. Reed and Malloy set out to find a bar girl named Ginger who Joh
Log 066: The Vandals
Jan 28, 1971
Reed and Malloy have a gun pulled on them after stopping a car that turns out to be stolen, but the contents of the trunk link the two suspects to an even more sinister crime. Afte
Log 036: Man Between
Feb 4, 1971
Officer Reed, who is an optimist and still has faith in the human race, is subjected to ridicule from Officer Wells after he is swindled twice. On patrol, he and Malloy come to the
Log 165: Once a Cop
Feb 11, 1971
Malloy and Reed are on patrol, and find a homeless man stabbed. They take a retired policeman, Jack Donohoe (who lives nearby), in for questioning, but he is released when the real
Log 076: Militants
Feb 18, 1971
The officers respond to a shooting involving police and two black men, one of which was shot by one of the officers and later found dead in an alley. The dead man was the younger b
Log 164: The Poachers
Feb 25, 1971
Malloy and Reed's day begins with a police garage employee taking a joyride in a police car (Code 3), later finding a young woman trying to cash an old age benefits check she found
Log 016: Child in Danger
Mar 4, 1971
Malloy has to shoot one of two robbery suspects, then the officers counsel a young woman in a bad neighborhood not to hang around (she is later kidnapped by two men claiming to fix
Log 056: Vice Versa
Mar 11, 1971
Malloy celebrates his birthday by having to let Reed drive 1-Adam-12 (due to Malloy allowing his driver's license to expire) and is nervous about his young partner driving the car.
Log 106: Post Time
Mar 18, 1971
After beginning the search for a well known suspect who just stole a 600-pound offset printing press, Reed and Malloy try to convince an 85-year-old man to leave the soon-to-be dem
Log 088: Reason to Run
Apr 1, 1971
Malloy and Reed are called to a riding stable run by retired actor Slim Berkeley. The owner is careless about trusting people and has $100 and a gold belt buckle stolen. Because of
Log 125: Safe Job
Apr 15, 1971
Malloy and Reed investigate a series of safe jobs, which all seem to tie in with a retired safecracker who is taking care of his orphaned niece and nephew, and after a "tip" from h