Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Decoy, which aired in Syndication in 1957 and 1958.  The show can be viewed on Tubi!

This week, Casey investigates an underground gambling syndicate.

Episode 1.26 “Earthbound Satellites”

(Dir by Michael Gordon, aired on April 7th, 1958)

After a man shoots himself in the head over a $20,000 gambling debt, Casey goes undercover as a flighty socialite with a gambling problem.  She meets George Courtney (Whitfield Connor), a rather dapper man who runs an underground casino.  Courtney drives Casey to the casino but, along the way, he switches cars which makes it difficult for the police to tail him.

Later, at a debriefing, Casey expresses frustration that we can launch satellites into space but we can’t follow a car in Manhattan.  Her boss is inspired to put a transmitter in her purse so that the police can follower her in Manhattan.

This episode was made at a time when transmitters and satellites were relatively new ideas and, as a result, a lot of time is spent on establishing the reality of technology that viewers today take for granted.  That makes for somewhat slow episode and it also means that Casey doesn’t really get to do as much as usual in this episode.  If anything, Casey almost comes across as being a bit incompetent, allowing the bad guys to get their hands on both the transmitter and her gun.

This wasn’t the most exciting episode of Decoy but Whitefield Connor did a good job in the role of the charming but amoral George Courtney.  Casey seemed to be truly sad at the end of the episode.  George had so much going for him but, in the end, he sacrificed his freedom for his own greed.