"The Dealer" is an episode of 'The F.B.I." which concerns the hijacking of interstate trucks. The trail leads somewhere in the Louisiana-Texas area and a gang of thugs are blackmailing the head of a trucking company to run the scam. It seems that many or most of Barney Simms' (Edward Binns) employees are part of this ring and he's been told he must continue working with them or he'll go to jail! Agent Colby infiltrates the company while Inspector Erskine tries to follow the trail for where the stolen merchandise is being fenced.
This is a pretty good and tense episode. While Barney clearly IS a bad man for dealing with these thieves, they really have him in a tough spot and he cannot just stop working with the ring. Good acting and a good script.
By the way, it's interesting that one of the characters in the story is deaf...and by watching his signing, I'd say he probably really is deaf...or at least faked it pretty well. His sign language was not standard ASL or SEE, but back in the day, signing was much more regionalized and variable. But what was NOT well done was Binns' communicating with this deaf employee. Binns' character is supposed to be the son of a deaf man...so why doesn't he talk DIRECTLY to his deaf employee? Anyone who has a deaf family member or friend who reads lips (also called 'speech reading') knows to talk a bit more slowly and directly at the person they are talking to....but he often talked off to the side...and there's no way the deaf man could really understand him. I applaud the show for at least drying to get it right....but they weren't exactly.
This is a pretty good and tense episode. While Barney clearly IS a bad man for dealing with these thieves, they really have him in a tough spot and he cannot just stop working with the ring. Good acting and a good script.
By the way, it's interesting that one of the characters in the story is deaf...and by watching his signing, I'd say he probably really is deaf...or at least faked it pretty well. His sign language was not standard ASL or SEE, but back in the day, signing was much more regionalized and variable. But what was NOT well done was Binns' communicating with this deaf employee. Binns' character is supposed to be the son of a deaf man...so why doesn't he talk DIRECTLY to his deaf employee? Anyone who has a deaf family member or friend who reads lips (also called 'speech reading') knows to talk a bit more slowly and directly at the person they are talking to....but he often talked off to the side...and there's no way the deaf man could really understand him. I applaud the show for at least drying to get it right....but they weren't exactly.