The loquacious Dr. Quincy (Jack Klugman) continues to crusade against medical stupidity, thick-witted bureaucracy, and implicit and overt prejudice of all kinds in his capacity as medical examiner in the L.A. County Coroner's Office as Quincy, M.E. launches its seventh season on NBC. Noteworthy episodes this year include the season opener, "Memories of Allison," guest-starring Sharon Acker as a murder witness suffering from post-traumatic amnesia. A few weeks later, we are offered the two-part nail-biter "Slow Boat to Madness," in which Quincy and his lady friend Dr. Janet Carlisle (Diana Muldaur) are among the passengers and crew members trapped on a holiday cruise liner cursed with a deadly epidemic. In subsequent episodes, Quincy targets an habitual drunk driver who may get off with a slap on the wrist after committing vehicular homicide; he befriends a young boy with a malignant tumor, who leads him to formulate a plan to help terminal patients meet death with comfort and dignity; he tracks down a gun that had passed from hand to hand, leaving a trail of violence and death along the way (the devastating conclusion to this episode was clearly inspired by the 1974 TV movie The Gun); he attempts to prove that a so-called schizophrenic may be feigning insanity to beat a murder rap; and he goes out of his way save a woman who served as a nurse in Vietnam from falling into the abyss of alcoholism when she begins experiencing horrific flashbacks. The final episode of the season, "The Mourning After," puts Quincy in the problematic position of proving both involvement and complicity in the "accidental" killing of a fraternity pledge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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