Adam-12: Season 4
Season 4 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 3.
- 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 4 Progress Shield
Extortion
Sep 15, 1971
Malloy and Reed investigate an extortion racket against a group of Jewish Holocaust survivors, with the owner of a dry cleaners willing to testify but others not out of fear of ret
Million Dollar Buff
Sep 22, 1971
Police "buff" Jennings Thornton, a thorn in the side for Malloy and Reed, intervenes in a drunk driving case, runs down a shooter after a robbery (and nearly getting Reed killed),
The Grandmother
Sep 29, 1971
Malloy and Reed investigate a robbery in a store run by a group of "grandmothers", who sell small homemade items, then later return the money. The suspect later robs an antique sho
The Sniper
Oct 6, 1971
The radical Robin Saydo on the loose, tied into a number of bombings. Reed spots him and Saydo is arrested by D.A. Paul Ryan. Other calls include an abandoned police cruiser which
The Search
Oct 20, 1971
1-Adam-12 is back on the streets after routine maintenance, but the radio isn't working properly. During an armed robbery involving two suspects, Reed captures one while Malloy tak
The Ferret
Oct 27, 1971
A man named "The Ferret" is vandalizing a manufacturing plant due to their poor record on ecology, and escapes Reed easily on foot pursuit. A reporter catches Reed in an unflatteri
Truant
Nov 3, 1971
Truancy is on the rise in the district and Reed has a plan to pick up truants on the street, which was approved after a garage break-in by two truants. Results show a drop in crime
Ambush
Nov 10, 1971
Malloy and Reed are sent to assist the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department with transporting a prisoner from Malibu to Los Angeles for outstanding traffic warrants. During the
Anniversary
Nov 17, 1971
Sgt. MacDonald's anniversary is coming up and the officers have limited funds to spend on a gift, which is a bottle of champagne, but when the officers pick it up, the owner of the
Day Watch
Nov 24, 1971
Over the course of their shift, Malloy and Reed deal with a racist gas station owner who is tired of being the victim of repeated robberies. When they catch the suspect, supposedly
Assassination
Dec 8, 1971
A phony prowler call results in shots being fired at Malloy and Reed. Shots ring out again when the officers head to the airport to transport a blood donor. The suspect is a known
The Dinosaur
Dec 15, 1971
Officer Art McCall returns from eight years on disability and rides with Malloy and Reed to see how much has changed in law enforcement. McCall soon learns exactly how much has cha
Pick-Up
Dec 29, 1971
Malloy and Reed find a girl who was raped and left for dead in the hills but was actually alive and identified her attacker's car as a red Porsche. Malloy spots the suspect car pic
Citizens All
Jan 5, 1972
Cases include a woman whose purse was robbed after two men bumped her car while on the road, then are captured along with the loot when a citizen complains about loud noise coming
The Princess and the Pig
Jan 12, 1972
A disturbance call leads the officers to a nightclub where a singer named Kathy is strung out on drugs, and clings to Reed on the way to the hospital, telling him someone is trying
The Tip
Jan 19, 1972
Malloy and Reed deal with a woman who thinks she has a rattlesnake in her luggage, an out-of-town traffic violator, and a bar brawl, all while tackling armored truck robbers whose
The Parole Violator
Jan 26, 1972
Malloy is told that the best player on the recreational league basketball team he coaches has begun using narcotics again, which he flatly denies despite evidence to the contrary.
Adoption
Feb 2, 1972
Malloy and Reed investigate the ransacking of a college football locker room and uncover a controversial performance enhancing drug program. They also investigate suspicious parent
Mary Hong Loves Tommy Chen
Feb 9, 1972
A young girl from Chinatown is ordered by her father to withhold information from Malloy and Reed regarding her boyfriend, an undercover cop left in a coma after investigating a po
Sub-Station
Feb 16, 1972
On temporary assignment at LAX, Reed and Malloy have to save a stewardess who is taken hostage inside a lounge by a man desperately trying to get the attention of a television prod
Back-Up One L-20
Feb 23, 1972
Malloy tries to prove Sgt. MacDonald's innocence when Mac accidentally hits and kills a jaywalker while driving his police cruiser. Every witness on the sidewalk claims she was in
Who Won?
Mar 1, 1972
Malloy and Reed work to curtail the rise in illegal street racing by working with the leaders of rival racing clubs and obtaining the legitimate use of a drag strip through a race
Eyewitness
Mar 8, 1972
Malloy and Reed search for a six-year-old boy who was apparently abducted while walking home from school, and later fear that an elderly witness's wildly inaccurate account may act
The Wednesday Warrior
Mar 15, 1972
Reed becomes preoccupied with the well being of a friend, an electrical engineer by profession, who has just qualified as a reserve police officer and has the bad luck of drawing O