"Summer Terror" is an episode that is set in the Washington DC area as well in the mountains of New York State. I mention this because the folks making this episode were a bit sloppy and didn't do a good job of disguising the Los Angeles area where it and most TV shows are made. Now I do NOT expect the crew to go on location shoots...it's not practical for TV to do this. But here they weren't really careful at all, as you can see a sign for Pacific Bank in one shot and the helicopter towards the end takes off from a ramp clearly marked LAFD (Los Angeles Fire Department)! I might just be a bit too detail oriented....and I do find such mistakes pretty funny.
The story begins with a young lady getting off the bus in either the Catskills or Adirondacks...I can't recall which mountain range in New York. Regardless, she's there to work in a summer camp but instead of being met by staff of the camp, she's met by a kidnapper who tricks her into following him. Soon she finds herself prisoner and her father is given a ransom demand. He knows Arthur Ward (the big-wig at the FBI), and soon the FBI arrives. But they need to hurry, as one of the kidnappers (Joe Don Baker) is intending on killing the girl once they get the ransom.
I am no expert at law and perhaps someone can help clear up my confusion. While the case is clearly a kidnapping, the intro screen says the kidnappers are wanted for 'Extortion' and the FBI often uses the word 'Extortion' during the episode. I thought extortion was a threat to harm someone unless you give them something they demand....and kidnapping involves abducting a person and ransoming them back to their loved ones...which is what happened in this one. Not sure about the wording in this one...that's all.
So despite a few errors, is this episode good? Yes. It's not great, just because the crime is pretty ordinary by "The F.B.I." standards....but it is quite enjoyable and well acted...but the details are just a bit sloppy.