The A-Team/The Road to Hope

The Road to Hope
Season 4, Episode 5
Airdate	October 29, 1985
Production Number	1403
Written by	Stephen J. Cannell
Directed by	David Hemmings
Stream
← 4x04 A Lease with an Option to Die	4x06 → The Heart of Rock N' Roll
The A-Team — Season Four

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The Road to Hope is the fifth episode of the fourth season of The A-Team, and the sixty-seventh episode overall.

Starring: George Peppard (John Smith), Dirk Benedict (Templeton Peck), Dwight Schultz (H.M. Murdock)

and Mr. T (Bosco "B.A." Baracus)

Guest Stars: Elisha Cook (Jim Beam), Warren Berlinger (Colton), Christopher Neame (Scarett)

and Lance LeGault (Col. Decker)

Co-Starring: Bill Marcus (WIlliam), Gloria Charles ()

Featuring: Lori Butler (Christina), Ancel Cool (Wino #1), William Dyer (Wino #2), Jim Edgcomb (Doctor), Rick Garcia (Enrique), Michael Keys Hall (Soldier), Joan-Carol Kent (Waitress), Mitch Pileggi (Paul Winkle), Mike Reynolds (Don Sharp), Harry Woolf (Chef)

Plot Overview

Hannibal,and Murdock are sitting in a Restaurant awaiting for the arrival of Face,and B.A.Hannibal has given the waitress his order.She does'nt seem to notice Murdock.Murdock has a new persona.He claims to be able to make himself invisible by thinking white paper.Soon,Face,and B.A.arrive riding in Faces new car,and Excaliber.Hannibal is suspicious about their new job assignment.Their latest client Christine,want to pay them an exubilent amount of money to do minor security work.Hannibal believes that she is working for Colonel Decker.To find out for certain he has set-up a meeting place at the back of a Restaurant where Christine is to meet with the pay-off money.Hannibal will be dressed as a wino,and want the Team there as backup.The waitress returns to take Face,and B.A.s order.She is surprised to Murdock sitting there since earlier she says that did not see him there before.Hannibal arrives in an alley behind the Restaurant in his wino disguise.He meets,and befriends a real wino who calls himself Jim Beam.They talk,and Jim tells Hannibal about some of their fellow winos disappearing without a trace.He also tells Hannibal about a fellow named William who gives free meals to winos.Curious,Hannibal goes to the back of that Restaurant,and ask for William.He is given a plate of food,and is soon subdued by two men,one of whom is William,and is knocked unconscience.Just then,an ambulance appears,and loads the unconscience Hannibal(still in disguise)into the ambulance.During these goings on,the rest of the A-Team is watching from the Rooftop of a Building,and in B.A.s Van.They do not know that Hannibal was abducted in the Ambulance.They believe that he is the wino in the alley in disguise.As soon as the Ambulance is gone,the woman Christine arrives with the money.The A-Team prepares.She gives the briefcase full of money to Jim Beam thinking he is Hannibal,and leaves.Just then Colonel Decker arrives,and places Jim,thinking he's Hannibal in the back of a military truck,and has his men search for the rest of the team.Before they can do that,The A-Team just into action(literally).They rescue Jim still with the money,shoot Deckers tires,and escape,almost triumphant.They then realise that the wino in B.A.s Van is not Hannibal.Where is Hannibal they wonder?Hannibal is regaining consciousness in what looks like a Hospital.The men in the room look like doctors.They then discover that Hannibal is not the wino that they wanted.They remove his disguise.They then render him unconscience while Hannibal is making wisecracks.One of the men name Jack plans to bury him.Meanwhile the other A-Team talks to Jim to find out what had happened to Hannibal.He tells them what he told Hannibal.They decide to talk to this William.They arrive near the Restaurant,but since Face,and B.A.might get recognized they send in Murdock to search for William.Murdock goes into his Invisible Man act.Though once he enters the Restaurant none of the MP's,or Restaurant workers seems to see him.He inquirers about William,and just as William shows himself Murdock grabs him from behind,and quickly disappears unnoticed.In another part of the city Hannibal is being forced to dig his own grave,and while cracking jokes to a non-smiling Jack notices a water pipe running beneath the ground.He uses a pick on the water pipe to create a diversion,and a crane to make his escape.The rest of the A-Team interrogate William to try to find out where Hannibal is.William says he does not know.After soaking him with hot water,they are convinced he is telling the truth.Just as they take William from the bathroom they see Hannibal sitting in the Livingroom,drinking wine,and smoking his cigar.They inquirer as to where he's been,and what had happened to him.He tells them about the two guys that he met,and what he believes they are up to.A body laundery scam.Hannibal has a plan to put them out of business,and using Christines money to do so.His plan is to open a Mission across the street from the Mission where the winos reside.He would then lure the winos from that Mission to their Mission with an offer of $5.00 for their best prayer.This would surely attrack the attention of the two two men that Hannibal met.It surely did the trick.While Face,Murdock,and B.A.are working to reform the winos inside of their Mission,one of the two men shows up.He soon leaves,but Hannibal along with B.A. follows the limosine the man was driving to his Home.Hannibal would soon realise that the two men are not Doctors as he previously had thought.The fat man is E.Robert Coltan,the son of a wealthy billinaire.He abducts Coltan,and forces him to drive to where Jack is.They drive to a country place which in reality is a Militarylike base.The team is spotted,and men in military fatiques gets the drop on our heroes.Skinny Jack is the leader of these fatiqued wearing men.They lock the team in a room where they learn the whole story.Skinny Jack,and Fat Bob are the ring leaders of an urban terrorist group.The men that they recruit are criminals who will use the legal ID's from winos with some alterations added to live in the country undetected.Now the team has to not only find a way out of this situation,but to find an army to defeat this terrorist army.B.A. using his wrist watch as a signal relay in his Van,contacts Murdock with an SOS.Murdock gets the signal while he is mesmerising the winos.Hannibals code to Murdock is to bring a superior force with him.Realizing that he is outnumbered,Murdock recruits the winos.Some of these men had been veterans in previous Wars.Acting as their leader,Murdock instructs the men that they are going into battle,and that some of them might not return.Touched by Murdocks earlier sermon,these men are willing to follow him anywhere no matter the risk.Murdock will drive in Faces Excalibar Car,and the rest of the men will ride in the Catering Truck.They soon arrive at the place where Hannibal,Face,and B.A. are being forced to dig their graves.Hannibal is still cracking jokes to a still non-smiling Jack who threatens to kill him.Hannibal gives Jack a riddle about the winos in the Catering Truck.They then open fire on the terrorist.Despite the few weapons they have The A-Team,and the winos defeat the terrorist.It even makes the daily news.Hannibal is proud of the winos,but they give the credit to Murdock as a great leader.Along with his invisible man persona,Murdock also has the persona of the fire,and brimstone preacher Harry Dean Hanover which morphs into,and out of.Thanks to Murdock persona of the preacher,the winos have decided to give up drinking(demon-rum) Murdock call it,and clean-up themselves to live a beter life.With that Harry/Murdock disappeares(though not really).The A-Team soon leaves after feeling that they done some good down there.

Quotes

• Hannibal: I think she's a birddog for Decker.