Over My Dead Bodyguard

"Over My Dead Bodyguard"
Sledge Hammer! episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 8
Directed by	Charles S. Dubin
Written by	Michael Reiss
Original air date	November 13, 1986
Guest stars
Tracy Reed, Robert O'Reilly
Episode chronology
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List of Sledge Hammer! episodes

"Over My Dead Bodyguard" is the eighth episode of the television series Sledge Hammer!. It originally aired on ABC in the United States on November 3, 1986.^[1]

Plot summary

One day, Hammer and Doreau see that today's newspaper has Trunk on the headline - that he is a key witness set to testify in court against the mob over a narcotics case. Trunk is less than thrilled when the police commissioner assigns Hammer to protect him until his day in court, as the press has exposed him to certain danger. Trunk assures Hammer that he does not need his protection, as he is escorted out of his office by two officers. Hammer suddenly realizes that the officers are wearing non-regulation pistols. Trunk is led to the broom closet, but Hammer quickly stops the two would-be assassins.

That night, Trunk is having dinner with his ex-wife Renee (Tracy Reed), whom he wishes to reconcile with. Unfortunately, their dinner is rudely interrupted by Hammer, who jumps over Trunk upon hearing a waiter popping open a champagne bottle. They go to Renee's home, where Hammer destroys the living room while searching for any possible assassins. Trunk tells Hammer and Doreau to stay in the living room while he and Renee have some privacy in her bedroom. Minutes later, they hear noises coming from the bedroom followed by a gunshot. Hammer and Doreau break into the room and subdue a couple of masked hitmen.

After tying up the assailants, Hammer brings Trunk to his apartment, assuring that it is the safest place for him. Trunk is unable to sleep due to Hammer's snoring and "arresting someone" in his sleep. Then, all of a sudden, an assassin shoots Trunk from outside the fire exit window.

The next day, Hammer informs the precinct of Trunk's death and assumes the position of police captain. He then secretly tells Doreau that Trunk is safe in the hospital, where he is scheduled to have the bullet in his chest removed. Later on, they arrive at the hospital, where Hammer tells Trunk that he had the press publish his death on the papers. Unfortunately, he also told Renee that Trunk is still alive, and she arrives to visit him. Meanwhile, another assassin (Robert O'Reilly) kills a surgeon and assumes his position. The assassin enters Trunk's room, telling Hammer to come with him in the operating room. There, he gasses Hammer unconscious and ties him to an X-ray machine. He then tells Hammer that he will overdose Trunk with anesthesia to make the death look accidental.

After suspecting he has been gone for too long, Doreau searches for Hammer and finds him tied up. She frees him, but he is still disoriented by the anesthesia. He barges in the operating room and miraculously shoots the scalpel off the assassin's hand. Still wobbling around, Hammer searches for the assassin among all of the surgeons by pulling their masks down until he reaches the last person, who he knocks out. Seeing himself as the only one qualified in the room, Hammer tells Trunk he will conduct the operation, to which Trunk runs out of the operating room in terror.

A few days later, and shortly after his testimony, Trunk tells Hammer and Doreau that he and Renee are taking the weekend off in Lake Tahoe to relax and reconcile, but the police commissioner calls and informs him that Hammer will continue to protect him for at least a month just to be safe.

References

1. ^ The Official Sledge Hammer! Website - Over My Dead Body