Rick Hunter and Charlie Devane moved out of Central Division Homicide and both transfered to the Metro Division. Now, we saw Hunter casually dressed in blue jeans and a casual shirt, rather than the traditional suit or ensemble we were used to seeing him wear. Hunter acquired another female partner, Joanne Molenski, who was sadly killed in the line of duty. Hunter then joined forces with yet another female partner, Chris Novak, whom he even started to date casually.
While Hunter's theme song noticably changed from season to season, the final season's theme song and opening title saw perhaps the biggest change in the show's history. The opening title showed us many of California's beautiful sights, including Mann's Chinese theater on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, the beach in Santa Monica and many more. And the opening title introduced us to a much more upbeat, gutsier, tough, guitar-enhanced version that was my personal favorite out of them all.
New Writers were brought in and new storylines came with them. Some memorable highlights:
DEADLY ENCOUNTERS:
Charlie Devane is nominated and accepted to a
Captain's slot in the Metro Division. He has a hard time breaking the news to
Hunter, but when he gets there and discovers there's an open Sergeant's slot, he
begs Hunter to take it, and he does. Hunter also took on a new partner, Joanne
Molenski.
KILL ZONE:
The Metro Disision is working on a new case involving a
rape/murder. Joanne Molenski is noticably having a hard time dealing with and
working on the case. Hunter notices, but chooses not to say anything. However,
the two are alone in the LAPD cafeteria one day and Hunter takes the opportunity
to ask her exactly why she's having such a hard problem with this new case.
Joanne disolves into a heap of tears and confides in Hunter. Turns out that a
few years before, her best friend was killed in exactly the same fashion as the
victim of the case they were working on.
OH, THE SHARK BITES!
Hunter and Molenski take on the case of a
murdered mob accountant. When they obtain the man's "debtor's" list, Hunter
notices the name "C. DEVANE". He points it out to Charlie, but Charlie plays
dumb. What Charlie doesn't tell Hunter and Molenski is that what they saw was
his late father's name on that list. Charlie Devane's father was connected with
the father of the man who was killed. He knew the real reason why a poorly built
bridge went out years before and was paid off to keep it a secret. In danger of
loosing his job, Charlie kept it covered up for the simple fact that he didn't
want to upset his mother who was still alive. "Would you take a pension to
break your mother's heart?", he says to Hunter. In the end, Hunter goes to
Internal Affairs on Charlie's behalf and he is cleared of all charges.
FATAL OBSESSION:
Hunter has to deal with two cases at once. First
is a cereal rapist and a hit-and-run killing at a local college. Second is the
case of a cereal muderer who kills cops and steals their badges. To assist him
in the the rapist case, Hunter reluctantly accepts the assistance of Sergeant
Chris Novak, a flame from the past. Togetherr, the two solve the case they were
assigned to work on together, deal with their past problems and begin a casual
relationship again. In an unfortunate turn of events, Joanne Molenski stops a
female motorist for speeding, unaware that she is the cop killer they're looking
for. When Joanne asks her for her liscense and registration, she pulls a gun and
fires three times, killing Joanne instantly. Charlie Devane breaks the news to
Hunter, who takes it very hard:
Charlie drives to where Hunter is and walks up to him.
HUNTER: Charlie.
CHARLIE: (Saddened) It's Joanne Molenski.
She was shot and killed.
HUNTER: (Looking totally shocked) What?
CHARLIE: About an hour ago.
HUNTER: What happened?
CHARLIE: Apparently, it was a routine traffic stop. Somebody blew her
away and took her badge.
Hunter looks at Charlie, shakes his head, then
walks over to the wall. He leans against the wall trying to control his tears,
but he can't.
Hunter pulls out all stops to catch Joanne Molenski's killer. And it proves effective in the end when he does catch her, after she follows Chris Novak to her home to try to kill her.