Airwolf Seasons 1-3 vs.Season 4

Airwolf

Air dates: 1984-1986

Seasons 1-3

Airwolf follows the story of Stringfellow Hawke and the search for his brother St. John who went M.I.A. in the Vietnam war. Though presumed dead, String has reason to believe his brother is alive. 

The F.I.R.M. and their agent, Michael Coldsmith Briggs III or known as ArchAngel, have developed a powerful helicopter called Airwolf. It is the first of its kind, an army of one if you will and a very powerful piece of equipment that America's enemies are interested in having. Unfortunately for the F.I.R.M. String has taken possession of the helicopter when he is hired to take the vehicle back from the evil doers who stole it. Hawke, with the help of his friend Dominic Santini, hides the aircraft in a secret cave in the middle of the desert. In exchange for help in finding his brother, String agrees to use Airwolf to carryout missions for the government as directed by ArchAngel. 

Whenever someone is in trouble, Hawke, Dominic, and Airwolf are there to help. In season 2 we meet Caitlin O'Shannessy, a deputy though referred to by an evil sheriff as a metermaid. Eventually she gets a job at Santini Air and joins the Airwolf team. She quickly becomes a beloved character. Through the two seasons she is there, the audience can tense an unspoken love between String and Caitlin. The end of season 3 leaves the story open ended. All is well. In the episode, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, our beloved characters are seen for the final time as Airwolf was prematurely cancelled only to be picked up by a different network later.

Season 4

Airdate: 1987

This season features a whole new cast lead by Barry Van Dyke as String's long lost brother St. John. In the premiere episode, St. John remains a prisoner of war but this is the only link to the original series. I'm about to illustrate why the revamped Airwolf only lasted a year. There are a lot of holes in the story. For instance, St. John has been missing for years yet his captive questions him about Airwolf. How could St. John possibly know about Airwolf when he's had no contact with his brother in years. Another hole in the story is who the hell is Jo Santini? They make the character as if she's been around all this time though she isn't part of the original series. With quotes like, "You and Uncle Dom are my only family," it hints that she's been part of Santini Air from the beginning. Also what happen to the security measure? You know, that String and Dominic are the only two able to access Airwolf or an alarm goes off? How does Jo even know about Airwolf? Another flaw is that Caitlin is no where to be found. She's not even mentioned so she literally disappeared into an oblivion. None of it makes sense. 

Now if they had been smart about it, they would have ended Airwolf with season 3 and possibly a television movie to sum everything up. In the television movie they could have found/rescued St.John bringing the series to a close instead of having a brand new series. This is the quickest recreation of a series which occurred. I feel it was a desperation attempt to keep the series going thus epic fail. Unfortunately Airwolf was a brilliant creation by Donald Bellisario who also created one of my other favorite shows, NCIS with Mark Harmon. The sad thing is that the new series, technically season 4, just isn't Airwolf. As far as I'm concerned, there is only season 1-3. I'm also continuing the series in my own way through fan fiction which I may or may not post on here. 

Airwolf is Jan-Michael Vincent's show and always will be. Season 4 is the season that never should've been.