After completing a big case, Lt. Rivera (Reni Santoni) gives Brooke (Melody Anderson) a few days off. Jonathan Chase (Simon MacCorkindale) invites her to go camping with him and Ty (Michael Roberts). On the way, they have a slight accident that disables their car. They are eventually picked up by Zeke and Sadie Bethune (Jeff Corey and Fran Ryan). The elderly couple drops them off at the Birch Hollow Hotel. At the hotel they notice a lot of out-of-state cars.
Chase gets kidnapped by Maggie (Maggie Cooper). Maggie thinks that Chase is one of the big shots from out-of-state and demands to know what he did with her brother. Chase has no idea what she is talking about until two thugs (Robert Englund and Grainger Hines) break in. Chase turns into a panther and chases them away. Maggie tells Chase that a year ago the hotel was purchased by some big city investors. They want to legalize gambling in the area and turn the hotel into a casino. They need agreement from the town council to go ahead with their plans. Maggie’s brother, Jack (Dana Gladstone) was standing in their way. Now Jack has disappeared. Maggie asks Chase to help.
In the meantime, Brooke and Ty recognize some of the people at the hotel as well-known mobsters. When they try to find out why they are at the hotel they get caught. They end up locked up by the local sheriff (Taylor Lacher), who has been bought out by the mobsters. Chase turns into a bear and breaks them out of jail. Now on the run they need to elude the cops, find Jack and save the town from the mobsters.
This was the final episode of the series. The Manimal character, with Simon MacCorkindale, was brought back as a crossover character for the 1998 season two episode six of the “Night Man” series, which was also developed by Glen Larson. The transformation sequences for the crossover episode were done by CGI instead of the traditional practical effects. Manimal was released on DVD in 2012.
In this episode Chase turns into a horse, a bear, a panther and a hawk. Actor Robert Englund plays a thug.
I think there were a couple reasons that Manimal was cancelled so early. First, it was scheduled opposite CBS’s “Dallas”. Also, after the pilot was aired the show started a couple weeks later. After four episodes it went on hiatus for a month. After that they aired the last episodes. By then, since the series never really had a chance to garner an audience, it was cancelled. I also think that the transformation sequences were limited and repetitive, not to mention expensive and time consuming. Had there been more, and quicker, on-screen transformations audiences would have been more fascinated with the show. Still, it was fun while it lasted.