After seeing this version of the episode on DVD, I have a few thoughts:
- Though it would never pass for High-Definition, the LaserDisk copy of this episode is clean and clear, and much improved from the original VHS copy I had.
- It's interesting to see what got cut in order to get the US aired version down to 60 minutes. A lot of it was just trimming; taking out the first and last few minutes from each scene. Only 2 complete scenes were removed, and they were relatively minor. From what I recall, the following scenes and moments were cut:
- The opening shot at the dune was trimmed a little, as well as the shot of Marty driving off on his dirt bike.
- When Jesse walks out of the grocery store and watches the pair of police bikes drive by, as he's staring off into space a car almost runs him over, honks and yells at him. Startled, Jesse drops the groceries, and then glares at the driver while he limps off to his Mustang. (This explains why he didn't have any groceries to take out of the car when Norman meets him in the parking garage).
- The end of the scene where Jesse first comes to Bernie to ask him to run a chemical analysis of the paint flakes was cut, and included Bernie's response to Jesse's comment, "I owe you one," to which Bernie replied, "Everyone owes me one; if you all paid up, I could retire!"
- The first scene that was completely cut involved Jesse going to a Japanese restaurant for lunch. He spots Jayne Modean's character (sorry, don't remember her name) and sits down. She came to the restaurant expecting to see him because she wanted to get to know him a little better. Time passes and we see Jesse and her laughing at a story about a cross-dressing stripper that Jesse had hired to prank Commander Altobelli.
- The second cut scene followed the first, and involved a big meeting with the police board. After the meeting, Commander Altobelli yells at Jesse for not telling him that someone tried to kill him. As he's yelling, Comissioner Gordon overhears the conversation and realizes that Corrido had gone against his wishes and attempted to take Jesse's life.
- At the end of the scene when Jesse shows up at the lab to hear Bernie's results, the last part of the scene was cut which revealed that the beaker of yellow fluid under the bunson burner was actually soup that Bernie was warming up, which he walks up to, takes a sip, and says, "Needs more salt."
- The special effects used for the jump at the convenience store and for the chase through the city were very poorly overlaid. I'm glad they redid them both.
- Seeing this episode again, I'm impressed with the job that Richard Venture did in his role. Commander Altobelli is a tough, yet likable and concerned boss. He doesn't come off as the stereotypical police commander.
Thanks, Scott, for the copy of this episode on DVD, it was great!