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Knight Rider Season Four: The Final Season
01/02/2007 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
DVD Region 2. pub: Universal-Playback 824 351 2-11. 6 DVDs 21 episodes plus extras 17 hours. Price: 34.99 (UK) and its easy to get a good price at least £10 cheaper if you look around)stars: David Hasselhoff, Edward Mulhare, Patricia MacPherson and Peter Parros. Buy Knight Rider Season Four in the USA - or Buy Knight Rider Season Four in the UK  check out website: www.universal-playback.com
There is one thing strongly apparent about this final season of 'Knight Rider' and I don't mean David Hasselhoff having a haircut. When KITT is seriously damaged this time, he's re-built by a street gang under Bonnie Barstow's guidance to give a super-pursuit mode and they sneak in the ability to become a convertible. The latter is purely a cosmetic trick and has to be buttoned up for action. Super-pursuit mode is very flashy and probably too fast to get a speeding ticket but it's oddly not missed when not used in some episodes. After all, there's nothing out there that can compete with KITT anyway for speed in its normal pursuit mode. The number of times that the turbo-boost was used was also cut back. I doubt if that had anything to do with this being the final season but more to do with running out of spare cars from the original train accident and other spares that afforded Universal so many Pontiac Trans-Ams in the first place. Oddly enough, the story content actually went up a lot more this season as well. The downside was less to do for the supporting cast. Devon Miles and Bonnie Barstow were practically relegated to a couple minutes an episode while an effort was used to use newcomer Reginald Cornelius the third (aka RC III - actor Peter Parros) was wasted until the final few episodes, mostly cos I suspect the writers really didn't know what to do with him. After all, 'Knight Rider' is supposed to be about one man and his car making a difference.
'Knight Rider' might have been running out of speed (sic) by this time with viewing figures, but the story quality was more to do with the ingenuity of the scriptwriters in some episodes. Granted there were episodes in the conventional run but also the remarkable 'Knight Flight To Freedom' where Michael and KITT tangle in a South American revolution. There's also a lovely one-liner in 'Fright Knight' when Michael is told that if he's auditioning for a role at a film studio that the beach movies are down the street. This is long before 'Baywatch' but it does raise a precog eyebrow.
The odd thing about the super-pursuit mode is that we don't see much of it. We see all the bits and pieces stretching out but KITT is moving so fast you're not seeing the entire shape. Saying that, the episode 'Knight Behind Bars' shows the super-pursuit mode at night and the back lights of the raised back dismisses the idea that its booster rockets. The fast stop mode isn't used that often fortunately. After all, it does make more sense to switch between modes than come to a sudden stop.
There are just two extras. A blue print of KITT which can also be obtained from their website and a half hour programme that looks at the various 80s TV shows with 'Knight Rider' included amongst them. Of particular note here is that both David Hasselhoff and car stunt driver and second unit director Jack Gill speak. If there's anything missing then it's a shame that 'Knight Rider 2010' isn't included in the package. It might not resemble the original series but it deserves its own spot here or as a separate release and there was room.
That's not to say this 1985 season still isn't worth having a look at. Its rather interesting star spotting. Actor Brian Thompson appears as a heavy in 'Sky Knight' with a softer haircut compared to what he had later in 'The X-Files'. The same could be said for Nana Visitor being platinum coloured in 'Hills Of Fire'. Lest anyone forget, Robert Englund also guest-starred in 'Fright Knight'.
Although there is a promise of a 'Knight Rider' film somewhere down the line now, if you want to relive this 80s series then all four seasons are worth having a look at.
GF Willmetts
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