The worst episodes of Airwolf
Ranked by viewer rating, lows first. Lit marks on the season rail place this list across the run. Vote on a placement to back it or contest it.
- 01
Hawke and his pal Santini head to Libya to recover Airwolf from it's diabolical creator, but Dr. Moffet turns up the heat by destroying a U.S. Navy warship. When Hawke's girlfriend Gabrielle goes undercover to discover Moffet's nefarious plans, she is captured and tortured and left to die in the desert. It's up to Hawke to recover the chopper, stop Moffet and save the girl, but will he do it all in time?
- 02
A mole at the Firm has leaked classified information and a senior analyst is suspected after his best friend and colleague dies from a stress related heart attack when the pair learn that their retirement benefits have been denied.
- 03
Hawke finds that his brother was, in fact, killed in Vietnam, and meets his nephew.
- 04
John comes to the aid of an old flame whose husband was killed by drug dealers.
- 05
While demonstrating the capabilities of the new prototype supercopter codenamed 'Airwolf', Dr. Charles Moffet goes rogue, steals the chopper and kills almost all of the observers. At least one man -- Michael Coldsmith Briggs III survives. Briggs, codenamed 'Archangel' is the head of a covert organization called 'The Firm' and Archangel calls upon the one man in the world he knows that can retrieve the copter. The problem is Stringfellow Hawke is not only a loner, but a recluse as well. The amount of money the Firm is willing to pay for Airwolf's recovery is irrelevant. Hawke wants just one thing - the safe return of his brother, Saint John, who was captured during the Vietnam war and is evidently a POW.
- 06
A young hotshot helicopter pilot named Kevin takes a job sweeping the hanger at Santini Air after his guardian uncle is killed by some past associates. Those associates wanted his uncle to go back into the drug smuggling business with them. Now Kevin is on the lookout for them and uses his position at Santini Air to try to garner some revenge. Unfortunately, he costs Santini a commercial contract in the process and almost loses the trust of his newfound friends.
- 07
String and Dom find themselves at odds with a mining community's leadership after they are forced to land during the eruption of a once dormant volcano.
- 08
Hawke is kidnapped and brainwashed by John Bradfrod Horn, an evil tycoon; and its up to Cait to rescue Hawke, Dom, and Airwolf from his clutches.
- 09
An arrogant pilot designs a newer version of Airwolf and plans to engage Hawke in an air-to-air duel to determine which of the two is the better pilot.
- 10
Archangel is held captive by a powerful arms dealer who needs information to complete the work on a highly advanced maneuvering system for fighter jets - Fortune Teller. With the help from a psychic, String and Dom endeavor to find their friend before it's too late.
- 11
Where Have All the Children Gone?
Hawke goes to deliver a congressional medal of Honor to a brother of one of his friends, but there's only children around and no adults.
- 12
Hawke and Dom must stop a suspected traitor from turning an advanced military fighter over to the Russians in exchange for his son who was born in Vietnam. Things get complicated, though, when Hawke realizes that he was also involved with the boy's mother during roughly the same era as the child's birth.
- 13
A Russian mole discovers that scientists in the U.S.S.R. have developed a lethal serum that instantly kills anyone exposed to it. He steals a vial of the serum and contacts his friend Archangel for help in escaping the country with his family. Archangel dispatches Hawke and Santini for the rescue effort, but Airwolf can't handle that much passenger weight -- unless all her armaments are stripped leaving the supercopter defenseless.
- 14
String learns that Saint John may be held captive in a POW camp in Laos. Together with Dom, he recruits a couple of Vietnam veterans, one a daredevil, the other an up-and-coming politician, to go after his brother and bring him home. While they're in Cambodia, however, one of the team gets the jitters and reveals that he actually betrayed his comrades when they'd been captured by the enemy during the war. To that end, he not only has to redeem himself, but regain the trust of his companions.
- 15
Hawke meets a mercenary who claims to have information regarding his missing brother. When they part company, Hawke loses consciousness in his helicopter and crashes. When he comes to, he finds himself in a hospital. The medical staff inform him that he has been in a coma for the better part of a year. His friends, Archangel and Dom, were killed on a POW camp raid, but in the process, their heroism helped rescue Hawke's brother Saint John. Believing that his "mission" is over, Hawke reveals the location of Airwolf to his captors, then discovers that it has all been an elaborate ruse and he has inadvertantly turned over the super copter to a group of foreign conspirators.
- 16
String and Dom investigate a small town where a friend of theirs has disappeared. What they discover there is a little fiefdom controlled by an unfriendly sheriff named Bogan who doesn't like outsiders in his domain. When String starts poking around for his friend, Bogan arrests him and sets him loose on an 80,000 acre wildlife enclosure just outside the town. There, he becomes the game in a little hunt that just may cost him his life. As if that isn't enough, an attractive highway patrol deputy has also run afoul of the Sheriff and String and Dom must intervene
- 17
A helicopter prototype that may rival Airwolf is stolen. String thinks his brother St. John is involved.
- 18
A group of terrorists steals a prototype in-flight computer that can turn any commercial aircraft into a fighting unit. While escaping, one of the terrorists is wounded and the group holes up in a small mountain community where they shanghai the services of a combat medic and lock his friends up in a meat locker. When the terrorists discover that the medic has flight skills as well, they get him to aid in their escape, but Doc manages to get away and finds String, who's out looking for the prototype with Airwolf.
- 19
Dom uses Airwolf to transport a heart to Chicago and responds to a mayday along the way for a downed private plane. The plane belongs to billionaire Carl Barron who was on his way to a board meeting when his plane developed engine difficulties. Barron attempts to bribe Santini into dropping him off first, then the heart. Dom refuses and gives Barron a piece of his mind, instead. Shortly thereafter, Barron is killed in a mysterious explosion at his company and everyone at the funeral is shocked to learn that he altered his will just before he died.
- 20
A revolutionary breaks her father, former dictator Marios Guzman, out of a military prison. Because her father received no medical treatment in prison, she has her followers kidnap Doc who is on a fishing trip with String. String vows to follow Doc, but is advised not to get himself or Airwolf involved in anything political. As it turns out, a former comrade-in-arms of Guzman's learns that he is dying and plans to use his final address to the people as a rallying point to retake the government.
- 21
String and Dom are hired to fly a helicopter rigged with a prop spaceship during a live concert performance by singing sensation Roxy Marvel (Misty Rowe). Complications develop, however, when a fight with her ex-husband Nick DeSoto (Mayf Nutter), who's also her manager, results in Nick having her kidnapped and replaced by a look-alike lip-syncer. Nick needs the money he can raise from his ex-wife's death to cover some old gambling debts. String and Dom must find Roxy and save her look-alike before DeSoto can carry out his plans.
- 22
A European terrorist cell takes refuge in a spiritualist community in the U.S. that shuns all exposure to technology. Using the community as a front, they plan to destroy a new southwestern U.S. hydro-electric facility and for exposure, they invite a prominent TV journalist, Kelly Dayton, to witness the event. When Kelly and her escort pilot, String, are captured by the terrorists, some quick thinking on the part of the ace pilot results in their escaping their captors, but String and Airwolf must stop the terrorists before they complete their plan of destruction.
- 23
Caitlyn and a group of kids are captured by a guerrilla leader while they're on a trip to South America to visit ancient ruins.
- 24
Leading aircraft designer, Robert Phelps, is abducted by foreign agents to the horror of his mentally challenged son, Bobby. Hawke decides to try and find Phelps, obtaining leads from Bobby, whose autism gives him the ability to draw detailed clues from memory. While in the agent's custody, Phelps has a sudden heart-attack and is rendered useless to them. Hawke has to find him for Bobby.
- 25
Hawke must pick up the Janic's alone, and without Airwolf when they're ambushed. Dom and Kaitlen use Airwolf to save the laser secrets.
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