The F.B.I.

- Season 1

(1965)

In the first episode, Erskine and Rhodes are assigned to track down Francis Jerome, an extortionist who has escaped from a federal prison in Pennsylvania. Erskine must also confront a number of personal issues when a woman involved in the case takes a liking to him. We're told Erskine's wife died "in an ambush meant for me." Francis Jerome also has a lot of personal issues. It turns out he is a psychopath who is killing young women and his psychological issues stem from the way his grandmother (who raised him) kept him in long hair and frilly shirts.

Erskine and Rhodes are assigned to track down a bank embezzler. The title stems from the fact that Erskine recognizes traits he shares with the embezzler, such as the fact both men served during the Korean War and both are parents. The FBI sets a trap for the embezzler when he has, through an accident, left his young son behind while fleeing to Mexico.

A Native American, Joe Cloud, who served under Erskine during the Korean War, kills a man who was trying to rape his wife. Cloud flees custody and Erskine attempts to bring him in while trying to keep Cloud from harm.

Erskine faces problems in his personal life and at work at the same time. His 19-year-old daughter, Barbara, insists on marrying his partner, Rhodes, right now. This puts more pressure on Erskine, who already had misgivings. Meanwhile, assistant director Arthur Ward questions Erskine's approach to catching a bank robber. A man has already confessed to the crimes. But Erskine is convinced the illegitimate son of another bank robber is the real culprit. Ward tells his chief investigator he's being stubborn and questions his judgment.

Rhodes must confront his own emotions about an incident in his past as he investigates a spoiled young playboy accused of a murder on a cruise ship.

A pornographer that Erskine has been pursuing is about to flee the country. Before he can do so, the pornographer is kidnapped. Now, the FBI man has to smash the kidnapping plot. But if successful, Erskine will, in effect, help the man escape.

Erskine and Rhodes investigate a group of saboteurs in San Francisco. The title refers to the wife of one of the saboteurs. The wife, who is Japanese, is unaware of her husband's illegal activities.

In St. Louis, Erskine and Rhodes arrest a man they think is a notorious check forger. The arrest has been made with the assistance of an old friend of Erskine's. But the FBI investigator has doubts they've really arrested the right man.

Exiles from a South American country are trying to organize a coup of their former land. What they don't know is they have a mole among them. Erskine is assigned to infiltrate the exiles, who are based in Miami, by pretending to be a mercenary.

A deranged man is planning on destroying a U.S. test rocket. He has left a series of cryptic radio messages across the U.S.

In California, a gang has stolen weapons from the U.S. military. Erskine and Rhodes are assigned to capture the gang.

A young man drives to FBI headquarters from Virginia. He is carrying a large amount of cash and has been shot. He also can't remember his own identity. Is he a criminal or an innocent. The title stems from the story of blind men trying to establish what an elephant looks like by feeling different parts of the animal. That story summarizes the challenge facing Erskine and Rhodes as they try to reconstruct what happened. On top of that, a pair of hit men are stalking the boy.

A disturbed young man blows up a freight train. He is now blackmailing the railroad -- he'll do the same to a passenger train unless he is paid $100,000.

The wife of a U.S. military chaplain is murdered. The accused is a solider with a shaky record. The town surrounding the base is on edge, complicating the investigation of Erskine and Rhodes.

Erskine and Rhodes are sent to Milwaukee to investigate a truck hijacking. The FBI thinks it is the work of an interstate hijacking ring. In reality, it was organized by an employee of a trucking company who was forced to retire. At the same time, Erskine tries to make time to visit his uncle, who suffers from being alone.

In Oregon, members of a religious colony have incurred jealousy and ire from residents of a town. The young son of the colony's leader has reported he was beaten. Erskine and Rhodes are thrust into the middle of the situation, which is as combustible as the nearby forests which have endured a 97-day drought.

Erskine and Rhodes are tracking a man who seduces and then kills wealthy widows. Can they reach him before he kills again? It turns out the killer has deep psychological issues about being adopted. Erskine is able to use that fact to his advantage in the investigation.

A defecting Soviet diplomat informs the FBI that a major Southern California defense contractor is the source of a security leak. Erskine and Rhodes assume cover identities. Meanwhile, the leader of a Soviet spy ring prepares to sacrifice one of the collaborators to throw the FBI off the scent.

The FBI investigates a group that transports fugitives out of the country. Erskine, again assuming an undercover identity, is sharing a ride with a wounded criminal and his girlfriend.

An FBI trainee, one of the best who has ever gone through the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia, discovers a cousin is the man who is trying to blow up a federal building in Washington.

A U.S. diplomat is approached by the Chinese government to provide sensitive information. The Chinese specifically are seeking the contents of a document known as the Forsythe Memo. Erskine impersonates the diplomat to infiltrate a spy ring organized by the Chinese government.

A mentally-ill woman abducts the infant she is babysitting, and Erskine and Rhodes track her across several states. The FBI agents must figure out the kidnapper's motivations and why the date of April 2 is so significant to her.

A man hijacks a plane bound for Seattle. He forces it to fly to Alaska, where it is to refuel before heading to Harbin, China. The hijacker turns out to be a U.S. scientist. Assistant Director Ward tells Erskine the man and his knowledge must not be allowed to reach China -- at any cost.

Chicago businessman Mark Tabor, who has ties to organized crime, is about to go on trial for fraud. Tabor narrowly escapes a hit attempt and is on the run. He is about to be cornered. He has himself committed to an asylum. Erskine poses as a patient to prove that Tabor is faking.

Roger Leroy Mason, a research chemist, cracks under pressure from both his job and personal life. He has sabotaged one facility of a chemical company that is interested in bidding on a process his firm has developed. That incident resulted in a massive fire. The FBI races to find Mason before other chemical facilities are destroyed.

Dr. Gregory Holman is in Washington playing in a chess tournament. He is also an intelligence operative for an Eastern European country and may be ready to defect to the United States. He apparently is killed in an explosion in a night club. However, Erskine determines the badly burned body is not Holman. Now, the U.S. and Holman's country are seeking the operative. If the U.S. can convince Holman to defect, valuable information can be decoded before an upcoming peace conference. Erskine must cope with another chess player selling information to both sides and Korvin,...

Erskine must track down the missing Dr. Gregory Holman while simultaneously trying to convince officials of his government the intelligence operative is dead. He is aided by Holman's wife, who now knows her husband is alive. Yustov, a chess-playing rival of Holman's, also knows Holman is alive and is trying to convince Ambassdor Korvin of that fact. Erskine leads a team of FBI agents that finally locates Holman. But he won't defect until he knows his children, who are still in his home country, are safe.

The son of a rich man, Marshall Winslow, is kidnapped. The leader is the sickly and mentally unstable DuPree, who shows he is more than willing to kill by twice shooting the chauffeur who was driving the boy. DuPress wants $300,000 and has no intentions of letting the boy, Dan Winslow, go free. Erskine must contend with the bull-headed Marshall Winslow, who wants to do things his way. The elder Winslow, after initially cooperating with the FBI, goes public about the kidnapping and offers a large reward for information about the crime.

The murderous Earl Clayton leads four other criminals in an escape from a New Mexico jail. He kills a deputy in the escape and one of the escapees who didn't want to work on a heist Clayton was planning. Eventually, Clayton a young escapee are the only ones still at large. Erskine and Rhodes are sent after Clayton. Before they can reach the killer, Clayton is in a remote lodge with hostages. Erskine, in a desperate bid to prevent more death, changes places with a hunter headed toward the lodge.

A bank in Baltimore is robbed. The crime was obviously well planned. Yet the criminals only steal $12,000 when much more could have been taken. Erskine and Rhodes dig deeper to find a deceased bank robber in the 1940s would rob a small bank as a practice run before striking a richer target. Now, the FBI must comb through all the dead robber's cell mates to find who is adopting his tactics. A missing button from the Baltimore robbery will prove to be a major clue.

Dale Hillman kidnaps and kills the daughter of a police chief. The reason: Hillman had been rejected while applying for a position with the department because of an eye defect. The FBI is called into the case. In the meantime, Hillman joins an extremist group (it's implied it's a neo-Nazi organization, but this specific term isn't used). Erskine infiltrates the group to get the evidence needed to put Hillman away for good.

Erskine and Rhodes are sent to a small town in Oregon with a predominant Asian American population. Evidence has surfaced that one of its residents may have been a traitor during World War II, serving as a Japanese officer without ever renouncing his U.S. citizenship. The one-time officer also was involved in torture during the war. To find the man, the agents eventually must seek the aid of one of the torture victims from the war.