The 'Anti' A-Teams
The imposters in the third season's 'Showdown!' are the most instantly memorable, but throughout the series' run, there were bands of bad guys who could be seen as villainous counterparts to The A-Team. Some are more obvious than others, but they all had various reversed elements of the team. Here we take a look at them....
The first example is in the early first season episode 'A Small And Deadly War'. The villains in question are corrupt Police officers. Just as The A-Team work as soldiers of fortune, this foursome work as hit-men for hire. Their SWAT training equals that of the A-Team's commando training, and as B.A. comments, "It's gonna be like going up against ourselves". The corrupt officers are eventually defeated in a deserted fairground.
The next, vaguer example, is the Watkins brothers, from the final first season episode 'A Nice Place To Visit'. There are five of them, which outnumbers the team by one (or matches them if you count Amy). The character of Harold, who appears to have some psychological problems, seems to be a direct opposite for Murdock - they even wear identical caps. The Watkins are keeping their entire town held in thrall, but The A-Team eventually overpower them.
A stronger example comes in the second season episode 'Deadly Maneuvers', which have four mercenaries, hired to take out The A-Team. Each mercenary has their own particular skill - Joseph King, for example, is a master of disguise, as, of course, is Hannibal. After escaping their clutches, the team eventually defeat them in a showdown at their wooded training camp.
Of course, the most obvious example is in the third season episode 'Showdown!', with a trio of A-Team impostors. And they forgot to bring along their Murdock! The trio are being employed to terrorise a travelling Wild West Rodeo show into selling up, but eventually the real A-Team take them out in an old style Showdown at the Rodeo.
Maybe the most vague example, but still of note, is the band of bounty hunters in the later third season episode 'Bounty'. Again, they are a foursome that match The A-Team's numbers. Leader Darrow could be seen to be a counterpart to Hannibal, and Jimmy Red Eagle presumably equals B.A. These bounty hunters kidnap Murdock to lure the rest of the team out, but even they are no match for The A-Team.
The most obvious example of an "anti" A-Team, after the impostors in 'Showdown!', comes at the end of the third season in 'Incident At Crystal Lake', with the four armed robbers on the loose near The A-Team's secluded fishing retreat. Gavin is the brains and the leader of the group, a la Hannibal; Maxwell is the pretty boy equal of Face, the disturbed Candy is an obvious double for Murdock, and Mute ('Mute' is all he is referred to as) is the burly counterpart of B.A. This foursome are a force to be reckoned with, but end up regretting disturbing The A-Team's quiet fishing break!
A final "sort of" example is in the fourth season episode 'Waiting For Insane Wayne'. The A-Team are mistaken for Insane Wayne and his band of mercenaries. Murdock obviously takes the guise of Insane Wayne, Face becomes "Tully", and B.A. is "Fat Rat". (Hannibal, realising that he can't claim to be "Three Fingered Harry", names himself "Pico Bob"). When the real Insane Wayne and his mob appear on the scene, they mean business, but another daring A-Team plan soon puts them out of action too.
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'The A-Team' was created by Frank Lupo & Stephen J. Cannell,
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