"The Road to Hope" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of The A-Team.
Plot[]
Hannibal and Murdock dine, with Murdock pretending that he is invisible, much to Hannibal's amusement. Face and B.A. arrive in Face's new car. They discuss a potential $300,000 job, which Hannibal believes to sound like a ploy by Colonel Decker.
With Face and Murdock keeping lookout, Hannibal pretends to be a homeless man named "Jack Daniels." A homeless man tells him that other men have been disappearing from the alley they are in. He points Hannibal to a restaurant and advises that he ask for William. Face loses track of Hannibal as he goes. Upon going to the restaurant, Hannibal is given food, but is knocked out and loaded into an ambulance. The woman who is offering the job to the A-Team goes to the alley thinking the homeless man is Hannibal. Thus, she gives him a briefcase of a $150,000 advance payment. Colonel Decker then arrives with military police and takes the man into custody. Also thinking the homeless man was Hannibal, the rest of the team come to his rescue, only to realize their mistake as they escape.
Hannibal wakes in a hospital bed, surrounded by men who meant to grab someone else. They again knock him out and plan to kill him.
Face, Murdock, and B.A. question the homeless man, who explains what happened to Hannibal. They plan to investigate the restaurant. However, it is surrounded by military police. So, since Murdock is not wanted by them, he is sent inside. He puts on his invisible act once again and manages to drag William away from the restaurant.
Hannibal is forced to dig his own grave, advising the men on hole-digging and tells them a joke as he digs to a waterline, which he pierces to distract the men so he can escape in a bulldozer, destroying their ambulance in the process.
B.A., Face, and Murdock question William, who says he was paid $200 to chloroform a bum. He describes the man who paid him. They find Hannibal waiting for them in the next room, ready to update them on the situation. The team are reluctant to investigate, but Hannibal manages to convince them, believing that he stumbled upon an identity theft racket.
Face sets up a ruse in order to gain control of an empty building. He pretends to be J. Pettybean Ross, with Murdock as his financial assistant, Albert Steiner. The real estate agent, Mrs. Fulbright is baffled as to why "Ross" wants the building, as it is nearly condemned. Face assures her he is with the Historical Society and says it was designed by Michael Fielding Spencer, a fictitious architect and that they wish to turn it into a national monument.
The team take over the building, which they turn into a mission, "The Road to Hope" and invite the homeless, where Murdock acts as the charismatic minister, Harry Dean Hanover. Members of the Moonlight Mission – part of the identity theft racket – across the street grow suspicious of the Road to Hope. B.A. and Hannibal follow them back to the grand residence of E. Robert Colton.
Face goes to join Hannibal in infiltrating the Colton house, holding Colton at gunpoint, demanding he take them to the surgeon, Jack Scarett. As they leave, Colton sets off an alarm, prompting a gunfight as they escape.
Colton takes them to his country home, but they are ambushed and captured by a group of armed men led by Jack. B.A. sends a signal to Murdock, who decides to recruit the homeless men as an army against Jack's men.
Hannibal, B.A., and Face are forced to dig their own graves as Murdock arrives with the "Road to Hope Rangers." A gunfight ensues between the two factions, with the captured A-Team soon joining and defeating Jack's men.
The A-Team and Road to Hope Rangers celebrate the victory, although Face is disappointed to find his new car peppered with bullet holes.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- George Peppard as John "Hannibal" Smith
- Dirk Benedict as Templeton "Faceman" Peck
- Dwight Schultz as "Howling Mad" Murdock
- Mr. T as B.A. Baracus
- Bill Marcus as William
- Gloria Charles as Estate Agent
Guest Stars[]
- Elisha Cook as Jim Beam
- Warren Berlinger as E. Robert Colton
- Christopher Neame as Jack Scarett
- Lance LeGault as Col. Decker
Featuring[]
- Lori Butler as Christina
- Ancel Cook as Wino #1
- William Dyer as Wino #2
- Jim Edgcomb as Doctor
- Rick Garcia as Enrique
- Michael Keys Hall as Soldier
- Joan-Carol Kent as Waitress
- Mitch Pileggi as Paul Winkle
- Mike Reynolds as Don Sharp
- Harry Woolf as Chef