The Checklist: The Master (S1 Ep9) “Kunoichi”

Dozens of classic television shows have been put to The Checklist test here on Bulletproof Action over the years. But if I had to put money on which classic series I believed would be the first to have every episode covered, I would bet on 1984’s The Master.

It is a safe bet for two reasons… The Master only had 13 episodes… And, I own the DVD collection… This means there’s not much to get through and I won’t be at the mercy of the various streaming services. I can pop on an episode of The Master anytime I want. And that’s exactly what I did when I recently asked Alexa to select a random episode from The Master‘s one and only season. Alex selected Episode 9, titled “Kunoichi”, which originally aired on NBC on April 6, 1984…

#1. Was this a Shô Kosugi episode?

If the feature pic didn’t give it away, “Kunoichi” did feature Shô Kosugi and this was not one of his “credit only” episodes. The episode also didn’t waste anytime getting Kosugi’s Okasa on screen as we find out that Okasa, much like The Master himself, has taken on a student… and that can’t possibly be good news for John Peter McAllister (Lee Van Cleef) or Max Keller (Timothy Van Patten). 1/1

#2. Did we get any shurikens?

In this episode Max and McAllister travel to Washington D.C. in response to a letter that McAllister received from an old war buddy, Brian Elkwood. Elkwood is now a big time advisor to the President of the United States and he has trouble… trouble that a man with McAllister’s skills can help him with if his letter is to be believed.

However, Elkwood’s letter to McAllister was no more real than the multiple threatening letters that Elkwood received from McAllister. Okasa and his student have set the whole thing up to frame McAllister for the eventual murder of Brian Elkwood!

Okasa needs a murder weapon, a weapon that belongs to McAllister. So Okasa sneaks into Max and McAllister’s hotel room, finds McAllister’s suitcase filled with his ninja gear (shuriken sighting) and grabs a blade. Max shows up and catches Okasa in the act. We get some Max vs. Okasa action, before Okasa makes a hasty getaway. Max who was bested by Okasa, doesn’t give up though and he follows Okasa all the way out to a safe house in the middle of nowhere, and it is there that Max uses a shuriken to open a locked window… what a versatile weapon and a long winded answer to a simple question. 2/2

#3. Were there any notable guest stars?

The Deathstalker himself, Rick Hill, plays Elkwood’s right hand man Ron Gordon. Gordon wants Elkwood out and is in cahoots with Okasa. But Gordon isn’t the only staff member Elkwood should be worried about… 3/3

#4. Did Max get the girl?

Some of the advertising for The Master back in the day, really played up that Max was a ladies man… going so far as to call him the “supreme heartthrob”. So it was not unusual for Max to get romantically involved with a “damsel in distress”. The only female character in the episode was Elkwood’s assistant, Allison Grant (played by Kelly Harmon aka Mark Harmon’s sister) her damsel in distress status doesn’t last long. She plays that card early on to sucker in McAllister. And I don’t blame McAllister for falling for her treachery, she genuinely seemed to care about making things right between her boss and McAllister.

SPOILER ALERT! Allison turns out to be Okasa’s student and Elkwood’s attempted murderer. She was too busy playing little miss helpful with McAllister to get close to Max… you dodged a bullet Max, or maybe a blow dart in this case. 3/4

#5. Were there any obvious stunt doubles?

The bald cap is front and center when Lee Van Cleef’s stunt double steps in the hotel parking lot fight early on in the episode…. Later when Max has to make a big jump while pursuing Okasa, it is clearly not Timothy Van Patten doing it… And let’s just say, I don’t think that was Kelly Harmon in the ninja garb, the entire time… Ahhh, simpler times. 4/5

• Final Score = 4/5 (80%) The Allison heel turn was an unexpected twist, however it’s best to enjoy the surprise and not think about how she became Okasa’s student or why she had such a vendetta against Elkwood after only working for him for a few months… Not surprisingly the more Kosugi an episode has the more I enjoy it and “Kunoichi” had plenty of Kosugi. So much in fact, I thought about giving this episode a bonus point so it could earn the coveted perfect score… still a great episode even if the “Heartthrob” was having an off week.