| The Hornet and the Firefly | |
|---|---|
| Episode 26 | |
| |
| Air date | March 24, 1967 |
| Written by | William L. Stuart George W. Trendle |
| Directed by | Allen Reisner |
| Episode guide | |
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"The Hornet and the Firefly" is the twenty-sixth and final episode of the television series The Green Hornet. It originally aired on March 24, 1967.
Synopsis[]
An arsonist, whom the media has dubbed the Firebug, is plaguing Metropolitan City, and has set fire to a different industrial target at midnight for the past six nights. District attorney Frank Scanlon is coordinating with The Daily Sentinel media magnate Britt Reid, alias the Green Hornet, and his partner Kato in an attempt to capture the criminal. However, their efforts have thus far remained fruitless. The two patrol the city's streets in their hi-tech car the Black Beauty in search of the Fireburg. Precisely at midnight, a warehouse goes up in flames. Scanlon receives a report via fax and immediately bases the information on the heroes via the Black Beauty's in-car phone. They immediately search the perimeter of the affected building, but nobody departs it. Unbeknownst to our heroes, the Firebug had wired a bomb to a phone which denoted when he called it.
Following this attack, Police Commissioner Emmet Dolan calls a press conference. Britt Reid is in attendance, as his The Daily Sentinel reporter Mike Axford. Axford proclaims that he's found the solution to their dilemma and brings his close friend, newly retired police officer Ben Wade into the room. Wade was the Metropolitan City Police Department's leading arson expert until a workplace accident cost him an eye and forced him into early retirement. The Commissioner is sympathetic to Axford and Wade's desire to help, but states that department policy clearly prohibits Wade from being placed on the case.
Later, at The Daily Sentinel offices, Britt laments to his secretary, Lenore Case that there are no less than a hundred potential targets that the Firebug could strike next. It would be impossibly to adequately protect them all. Axford suggests that Britt hire Wade as a private consultant to crack the case, since the police won't, and Britt agrees to consider it.
That night, when the Firebug starts his fire, a police helicopter quickly spots it and notifies Scanlon, who then relays the information to the Green Hornet and Kato. They happen to be less than a minute away from the fire and race toward it. Meanwhile, the affected building's security guard has noticed the smoke. He calls the authorities and then plunges into the building in an attempt to combat the flames himself. The Green Hornet and Kato arrive just as the Firebug, a man clad in a silver fireproof suit, is leaving and Kato quickly incapacitates the villain as Reid heads inside after the security guard. With the Firebug unconscious, Kato turns his attention toward the burning building, but the villain was merely feigning unconsciousness, and makes his escape.
Ben Wade returns home, wearing a fireproof suit beneath a trench coat. When he step into his house, Axford is waiting for him and confronts him on being the Fireburg—not only is he wearing an outfit that matches the arsonist's, but Axford found detailed notes by Wade on each of the affected sites. Axford tries to reason with his friend, who set the fires as a way of getting the police department to return him to his former position. When Ben refuses to stop his behavior, Axford picks up the phone to call the police, but to his horror, Ben pulls a gun on him.
The next day, at the offices of The Daily Sentinel, Lenore comments that Axford hasn't come in and didn't call out. She even called his apartment building, but his neighbors claim he never came home last night. As she expresses her concern to Britt, he begins to put certain details together and races off to pay an unexpected visit to Wade.
At Wade's home, the former policeman is working on an incendiary device, which he hastily conceals upon Britt's arrival. The publisher informs Wade that he is hiring him as a special investigator for The Daily Sentinel. Britt remains unaware that Axford is bound and gagged in one of the house's bedrooms. However, Wade is clearly nervous, and this arouses Britt's suspicions enough that, upon his departure, he visits Scanlon telling him that he believes Wade to be the Firebug. Wade is surprised by the claim, but Britt outlines several pieces of evidence such as Wade having the necessary knowledge to perform the Firebug's intricate arson methods which vary each night, and his intimate knowledge of each of the locations. Britt also mentions that Wade lied to Britt, telling him that Axford had phoned him from his apartment that morning, whereas Lenore confirmed that Axford hasn't been home all day. Finally, Wade is the same build of the arsonist he and Kato encountered.
The next day, Britt calls Wade into his office and has him fill out the necessary paperwork for his new position. After he does so, Britt causally mentions a secret shipment of medical supplies which is being delivered that night. The shipment will arrive at one of the newspaper's warehouses, under police escort to avoid making it a target for the Firebug, whom Britt claims to believe is actually the Green Hornet. Wade begs Britt to deliver the shipment without police protection, ostensibly so that the shipment will draw the Hornet's attention and he can catch the villain himself. Britt pretends to carefully consider the matter before agreeing to Wade's terms.
Wade returns home and removes Axford's gag, telling his old friend that he's now about to set his largest fire yet, after which he will kill Axford and frame him for the crimes. Wade believes that his apparent apprehension of the arsonist will make him a hero in the public's eyes. As they arrive at the warehouse, Axford argues that he won't make for a convincing fall guy if he remains bound. Wade unties him, and Axford disarms his captor and struggles to subdue him. At the same time, the Green Hornet and Kato use the Hornet Sting to break into the warehouse. Wade knocks Axford out and then begins throwing firebombs at the Hornet and Kato, who deftly avoid them. Kato and Wade briefly fight, and Wade is being knocked into a stack of burning boxes. The Green Hornet carries Wade out out the building with Kato not far behind. Moments after their escape, the building is rocked by an explosion.
Some time later, at the offices of The Daily Sentinel, Axford tells Britt and Lenore that he has a special request: to downplay the Firebug story. The pair are caught off-guard and Lenore reminds the reporter that Wade intended to kill him. Axford remarks that he's still alive and Wade isn't and that regardless of what he did to him, he deserves to be remembered as something better than the criminal he became. He also comments that he's not sure how he made it out of the building alive. Impressed by Axford's forgiveness of Wade, Britt agrees to honor his request. Axford thanks him and departs.
Appearances[]
Characters[]
- Britt Reid, the Green Hornet
- Kato
- Frank Scanlon
- Ben Wade, the Firebug
- Fire fighters
- Mike Axford
- Newscaster
- Lenore Case
- B & H warehouse security guard
Locations[]
- Metropolitan City
- District attorney's office
- Ben Wade's residence
- Continental Warehousing
- Police commissioner's office
- DSTV building
- DSTV newsroom
- Britt Reid's office
- Britt Reid's residence
- Britt's secret garage
- Abandoned alley
- B & H Warehouse
- Mike Axford's residence (mentioned only)
Daily Sentinel Warehouse No. 3
Misc.[]
- Frank Scanlon's glasses
- Remote detonated bomb
- Fire engines
- Metropolitan City Police Department cars
- Firebug's fireproof suit
- Firebug's arson kit
- Incendiary chain
- The Daily Sentinel newspaper
- Firebombs
- Replacement medical supplies (mentioned only)