M Squad

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Lt. Frank Ballinger is a no-nonsense plain clothes cop in the elite M Squad Division. The Squad's task is to root out organised crime and corruption in America's Second City, Chicago.

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Episodes

Season 1

38 episodes

S1 E1 · The Golden Look

The Squad is on the lookout for a bank robbery suspect with a unique feature, witnesses say he has gold teeth.

S1 E2 · The Watchdog

Ballinger and the Squad are out to catch a burglar who may have rabies.

S1 E3 · Neighborhood Killer

The squad hunts down a cop killer.

S1 E4 · Pete Loves Mary

The squad goes after a jail inmate who's just escaped.

S1 E5 · Face of Evil

Ballinger investigates the murders of four women. The victims were all connected to the same church and lived within two miles of each other.

S1 E6 · Street of Fear

Chicago cop Frank Ballinger stages a rescue in order to gain the confidence of Alice, a young woman who works for suspected jewelry fence Louis Prince. Pretending to be furniture salesman Bob Steele, Ballinger romances Alice and gets friendly with her boss. But Alice falls for "Bob" and Ballinger must weigh her feelings and safety against his duty as a police officer.

S1 E7 · The Matinee Trade

Lt. Frank Ballinger investigates the case of a gambling ring and its connection to an unidentified police officer. The deeper into the investigation he gets, the more Ballinger becomes concerned that the crooked cop may be an old friend.

S1 E8 · The Hard Case

A jewelry store robbery sends the thief to prison, but his claim that the night watchman, a former big-league ballplayer named Lightnin' Joe Adams, was in on the heist costs Adams his job. Lt. Frank Ballinger goes undercover in prison to find out from the robber whether Adams was involved in the crime and what happened to the loot.

S1 E9 · Killer in Town

Frank Ballinger and his colleagues on the M Squad have to find a needle in a haystack: a cop killer somewhere in the city of Chicago. Their only clues are an old magazine and the killer's habit of saying "You bet."

S1 E10 · Diamond Hard

Lt. Frank Ballinger keeps an eye on Hazel, a bar girl with a record who nonetheless wants to go straight. He discovers she is involved with Joe Mazzerin, a safecracker. Ballinger goes undercover to get the goods on Mazzerin and to learn who his mysterious partner is.

S1 E11 · The Alibi Witness

When perennial loser Wally Gardner is identified as the perpetrator of a robbery-murder, he tells police unique details of a stranger he met miles away at the time of the crime. But when that stranger is found, he says he can prove that HE was miles from where Gardner says they met at the time of the crime. Lt. Frank Ballinger must determine who's lying.

S1 E12 · The Specialists

When a hired gunman gets himself tossed in jail following a fistfight, Lt. Frank Ballinger takes his place undercover as protection for a group of three businessmen who meet once a year to commit a specialized crime.

S1 E13 · Family Portrait

When his partner in an investigation is killed, Lt. Frank Ballinger makes it a personal business to pin the crime on narcotics lord Sam Hinder. But, as Ballinger discovers, Hinder has an unusual reason for wanting to keep the police out of his own personal business.

S1 E14 · The Palace Guard

Gangster Tommy Hatch is wanted for murder, but the police have to keep him safe from other gangsters who want him dead before he can testify against them. Lt. Frank Ballinger is assigned to protect Hatch even though he despises him.

S1 E15 · The Slow Trap

Ballinger investigates the case of a security courier who is charged with robbing himself of $75,000.

S1 E16 · The Cover Up

District Attorney Grover calls for Ballinger to help him sort out a potentially embarrassing situation involving the murder of a former business associate.

S1 E17 · Blue Indigo

The room mate of the third murder victim of the Blue Indigo serial killer may be the only link Ballinger has to catching him.

S1 E18 · The Long Ride

When a convicted murderer gets the upper hand on Lieutenant Ballinger during a train ride back to Chicago, his last best hope for recapturing the felon is the persistence of an alert young boy.

S1 E19 · The Shakedown

Ballinger suspects an inside job when a dry cleaning company refuses to knuckle under to a shakedown mob.

S1 E20 · Dolly's Bear

Kathy Bane, an old flame of Ballinger's, needs his help when a blackmailer trying to extort money turns up dead-- in her apartment.

S1 E21 · Lover's Lane Killing

Ballinger investigates a murder with multiple motives.

S1 E22 · The Frightened Wife

A man's aunt reports her nephew is missing. Ballinger investigates.

S1 E23 · The Black Mermaid

Ballinger goes undercover to capture a robbery suspect.

S1 E24 · The Man in Hiding

Ballinger investigates after a bank robber leaves a pencil at the scene.

S1 E25 · Chicago Bluebeard

A woman dies. Ballinger investigates.

S1 E26 · Girl Lost

A woman loses her memory. Bellinger investigates.

S1 E27 · Hideout

Bank robbers hide in a suburban house.

S1 E28 · Shot in the Dark

A sniper is terrorizing Chicago. Ballinger joins the hunt.

S1 E29 · The Twenty-Six Girl

A young wife is shot by an unknown assailant when she drives with her ex-con husband to an isolated woods in search of their dream home. No one even reports the couple missing until after the police find them dead in the snow. The wife's sister is a wealthy spinster, who takes her time even coming to Chicago, claiming her brother-in-law was threatened with death by a blackmailer. Det. Ballinger suspects the sister knows more than she reveals.

S1 E30 · Fight

A boxer's (Lancaster) life is being threatened soon after another fighter dies after fighting with Lancaster. Suspicion falls on the other fighter's trainer who feels Lancaster is responsible for the death of the other fighter.

S1 E31 · Guilty Alibi

A man confesses to a crime he may not have committed. Meanwhile the president of the company where the man works has been shot to death.

S1 E32 · The Healer

Lieutenant Ballinger searches for a mentally ill young woman who shot a psychiatrist, hoping all the while that he can also find sufficient evidence to obtain a felony conviction against the charlatan who was "treating" her.

S1 E33 · Day of Terror

Frank Ballinger investigates a illegal adoption racket.

S1 E34 · The $20 Plates

Ballinger investigates a rash of counterfeit $20 bills.

S1 E35 · The Double Face

A professional man is identified as a jewelry-store robber, threatening his freedom, not to mention his wife's reputation "from being married unknowingly to such a character". Ballinger investigates.

S1 E36 · The System

An illegal roving casino eludes the police and cheats players with crooked games. When Ballinger investigates, he encounters additional, unforeseen threats.

S1 E37 · Woman from Paris

No summary.

S1 E38 · Accusation

A millionaire is found dead in a locked room. His young pretty wife (Fay Spain), and the big hansom driver (Ken Clark), are suspected of the crime. Lee Marvin figures out how the crime was committed.

Season 2

40 episodes

S2 E1 · More Deadly

2 innocent men are iced by a currency exchange bookkeeper, to disguise her embezzlement. The sultry femme fatale's yarn that it was a heist gone bad makes sense at first, because of a wave of such robberies on Chicago's Far East Side. But the murdered customer Halper checks out as a solid working stiff, plus the other stick-ups were solo jobs while this was supposedly a 2 hood hold-up, so M Squad's debonair Lt. Ballinger's sic-ed on the case to soften up hard boiled Ora Kane.

S2 E2 · Dead or Alive

A pair of gun crazy kids are loose in Chicago-- and a young reporter is defending them in the press against Ballinger and "police brutality".

S2 E3 · The Missing Claimant

A shady lawyer protects a false heir to a fortune-- by killing the real relative! Ballinger is called in to set everything straight.

S2 E4 · The Refugee

Ballinger goes undercover as an immigrant worker to help break an extortion ring targeting foreigners.

S2 E5 · The Trap

Danny Mitchell is trying to find an engagement ring for his girl when he mistaken for a thief by the store owner. A fight convinces him he has killed the old man-- as such Danny's on the run! Ballinger is called in to find the kid before he gets into real trouble.

S2 E6 · Force of Habit

Val Mooney, hiding out from the cops, sees the perfect opportunity to evade them. When his wife's brother is killed in a massive warehouse fire, he forces her to identify the body as-- VAL MOONEY.

S2 E7 · The Phantom Raiders

A pair of high-speed motorcycle thugs are robbing gas stations across Chicago. When one attendant gets shot, Ballinger goes undercover as a biker to crack the case.

S2 E8 · The Merits of the Case

A famous defense attorney is gunned down in his house. Now Ballinger must piece together the clues to find the kille

S2 E9 · The Big Kill

Larry Princeton is the master of bank heists-- he plans then sits back while his thugs pull off the job. Except for the last one-- which resulted in a bank teller's murder! Now Ballinger's after him.

S2 E10 · The Sitters

Unsuspecting women allow bookmakers to use their telephones in return for payment of $50 per week, but they later learn that their lives will be in danger if they try to get out of the agreement.

S2 E11 · The Executioner

No summary.

S2 E12 · The Widows

Widows have something in common. All their husbands were murdered, and all had life insurance policies with double indemnity. And the widows have the same crooked lawyer. Lt. Frank Ballinger suspects a murder for hire scheme.

S2 E13 · Contraband

No summary.

S2 E14 · Prescription for Murder

The wife of a brain surgeon is abducted and threatened with death if the surgeon goes ahead with an emergency operation to save a critically injured police witness that can implicate a loan shark in two murders.

S2 E15 · The Teacher (aka Trade School)

Young hoodlums use a trade school for criminal purposes.

S2 E16 · The Third Shadow

No summary.

S2 E17 · One Man's Life

An innocent man will be executed in 48 hours unless Lieutenant Ballinger can convince a socially prominent woman to recant the false testimony that she gave as a result of a ruthless blackmailer's threats.

S2 E18 · The Jumper

No summary.

S2 E19 · The Last Act

No summary.

S2 E20 · Mugger Murder

Frank must solve several connected homicides wherein convicted muggers are being strangled to death.

S2 E21 · The Star Witness

No summary.

S2 E22 · The Take Over

Racketeers try to steal profits from a new entertainment establishment run by an old friend of Ballinger.

S2 E23 · Voluntary Surrender

No summary.

S2 E24 · Death Threat

No summary.

S2 E25 · The Harpies

No summary.

S2 E26 · Ghost Town

Lieutenant Ballinger and the FBI have few leads and little time to find a kidnapped socialite with a predilection for visiting jazz clubs. Bound, unattended, and hidden in a condemned building during a cruel Chicago winter, the young woman is in grave danger of dying from injury or exposure before she can be rescued.

S2 E27 · The Vanishing Lady

No summary.

S2 E28 · The Crush Out

No summary.

S2 E29 · The Fire Makers

Detective Ballinger helps investigate a series of arson crimes that are being used to cover up insurance scams.

S2 E30 · The Terror on Dark Street

Lieutenant Ballinger investigates a possible link between a series of Dark Street purse snatchings and the disappearance of a successful but unhappily married architect.

S2 E31 · Robber's Roost

No summary.

S2 E32 · The Baited Hook

A former convict and his daughter are being harassed by an old inmate.

S2 E33 · Model in the Lake

A swimsuit model is found dead in Lake Michigan, but physical evidence indicates the she may not have drowned while swimming. Lieutenant Ballinger becomes convinced that she was murdered after he learns that she was a strong swimmer and an iniquitous individual with a large number of unexplained bank deposits.

S2 E34 · The Outsider

No summary.

S2 E35 · High School Bride

No summary.

S2 E36 · The Dangerous Game

The M squad is called in after a brutal robbery at the Leslie Fur Salon leaves a man clinging to death. As the investigation progresses, the situation faced by M Squad becomes more and more complex.

S2 E37 · Decoy in White

The M Squad become involved when a bank manager laundering illegal money is killed. The situation becomes tangled when a young lady accompanying the bank manager comes forward.

S2 E38 · Mr. Grim's Rabbits

A seemingly random dockside shooting leads M Squad on a strange investigation involving fur skins and ancient Inca artifacts.

S2 E39 · Platter Pirates

A D.J threatens to reveal the influence of racketeers in the music industry. Before he can go to air with the information he is gunned down. M squad are brought in to solve the mystery of the death as well as the validity of the information he was going to reveal.

S2 E40 · Death Is a Clock

LT. Frank Ballinger takes a personal interest in a case when the wife of convicted murderer Paul Danzig approaches him for help. Danzig has only 20 hours to live and his wife talks openly of stopping the clock. Ballinger has to figure out what she means, and ensure the right man pays for the crime of murder.

Season 3

39 episodes

S3 E1 · Ten Minutes to Doomsday

M Squad hunts for a bomb before it blows up a hospital. Jonas Blecker, an embittered bank clerk who went to prison for dipping in the till to loan money to depositors down on their luck, wants to commemorate his 1st anniversary as a free man by killing the judge who gave him the maximum sentence. The judge is in Columbus Hospital for a delicate operation and he can't be moved.

S3 E2 · The European Plan

Mrs Ashton is killed during a house robbery. The M squad are brought in to try and work out what happened. A very open and shut case suddenly becomes exceedingly complex.

S3 E3 · Sunday Punch

When a well-liked retired couple is found brutally murdered, evidence points to their curmudgeonly neighbor. Lieutenant Ballinger is initially skeptical of his story, but thorough investigation reveals that things are not always as they seem.

S3 E4 · Jeopardy by Fire

The M squad is called in after a series of factory fires occur in the Chicago area. The case become complex after the unusual chemical signature of the fire accelerants is identified.

S3 E5 · Murder in C-Sharp Minor

Detective Ballinger is brought in to investigate the murder of night club owner Joe Dalio. The case seems open and cut with a suspect in custody, however Ballinger has just enough doubt to continue the investigation.

S3 E6 · The Human Bond

A bail bondsman's son is kidnapped to force his father to post an $80,000 bond for the release of a murderous extortionist. Lieutenant Ballinger finds himself on a dangerous high-speed boat chase when the culprit attempts to avoid trial (and a likely death sentence) by escaping to Canada.

S3 E7 · Mama's Boy

Detective Ballinger is called in after what seems to be a professional hit on a desk clerk at a hotel. A witness identifies who may have done the killing, but Ballinger is concerned he can not find any connection for why the clerk should have been shot.

S3 E8 · Shred of Doubt

Ballinger is called in to investigate when a burning car is found with the body of a young woman bound with wire inside. The chief suspect, playboy lawyer Paul Crater, seems to have an air tight alibi. Ballinger needs to cast his net wider to solve this mystery.

S3 E9 · Death by Adoption

Used car salesman Larry Colman has argument with Art Brunswick, a man who claims to the be the father of Colman's daughter. Colman unearths evidence Brunswick is not who he claims to be leading to a deadly altercation.

S3 E10 · Another Face, Another Life

Ballinger is part of an ongoing investigation into racketeering in the night club industry. After a fight breaks out in a club, Ballinger thinks he might have the break he has been looking for.

S3 E11 · Voice from the Grave

Harry Conklin is killed while on the way to a secret Senate hearing into stand over tactics in the trucking industry. Suspicion falls heavily on a rival Martin Bodie. It is up to Ballinger to fight through the silence and uncover the truth.

S3 E12 · The Upset

Danny Sutton is arrested. During the interview a rookie detective makes a mistake and Sutton gets access to a gun and Ballinger finds himself caught in a tense hostage situation.

S3 E13 · One of Our Armored Cars Is Missing

An armored car is hijacked during a pickup at a government installation. There are surprisingly fews clues left behind by the criminals and Ballinger needs to try and unravel the mystery.

S3 E14 · The Ivy League Bank Robbers

A woman and her baby are hospitalized after a group of bank robbers run them down during an escape. Ballinger wants the men for the robbery but more importantly he wants them to pay for what happened to the woman and her baby

S3 E15 · The Twisted Way

A witness fingers the gangster who cut a rival in half with a shotgun blast, but the killer's alibied by a beautiful actress. The thesp is beloved in ChiTown and has a sterling rep that'll guarantee acquittal. Lt. Ballinger must discredit her story and find out why Tammy's lying for smarmy hood Sandy, who now controls the Loop liquor racket.

S3 E16 · The Man Who Went Straight

Ballinger gets a tip from John Clavell, that an old drug dealer Manny Franchette is coming back into town to re-establish his old network. Clavell wants no part of it having decided to got straight.

S3 E17 · The Second Best Killer

Herbie Ryder gains fame for stopping a bank robbery. After a media interview he is shot and killed. Ballinger is brought in in the belief that organized crime has ordered the hit.

S3 E18 · Pitched Battle at Bluebell Acres

Ballinger is brought in when a robbery and murder occurs at an armory. He is puzzled by the list of weapons stolen including a bazooka and other heavy weapons. He knows they cant sell the weapons, so what is their plan?

S3 E19 · The Man Who Lost His Brain

When an "electronic brain" worth $2,000,000 is stolen and held for ransom of $300,000, Captain Grey and Lieutenant Ballinger devise an elaborate ruse that they hope will lead them to the computer and the thieves.

S3 E20 · Debt of Honor

During a crack down on Chicago crime, Bugsy Page makes threats against the Attorney General Russel Madison. Ballinger needs to decide if the threats are real or simply an attempt to throw the man off.

S3 E21 · The Man with Frank's Face

A badly beaten man is admitted to hospital. He does not have long to live and the police need to work fast to solve the mystery. The man appears unremarkable other than being an identical twin of Ballinger.

S3 E22 · Burglar's Nightmare

A trio of bank robbers try to blow a safe. It all goes wrong and one of the criminals is killed in the explosion. Ballinger thinks there is a connection between other bank vault jobs in the area.

S3 E23 · Needle in the Haystack

Lanny Cord escapes from a court room and disappears. Ballinger is interested in the case because he's originally arrested Cord and had always sworn to kill Ballinger if he had the opportunity.

S3 E24 · Race to Death

British racing car driver Morrison is killed in a local race. The driver's chief mechanic presents evidence to M Squad that indicated the car may have been tampered with before the accident.

S3 E25 · The Velvet Stake-out

Conrad Brenner is found dead in an apparent suicide. As Ballinger continues the investigation it becomes evident that he's actually been murdered, when a personal diary can't be found, Ballinger realizes the truth of the case.

S3 E26 · Anything for Joe

After a narcotics robbery, Ballinger makes an arrest, but is concerned the collar was too easy. Everything about the arrested person does not seem to add up and Ballinger pushes hard for answers.

S3 E27 · A Kid Up There

Frank Ballinger becomes involved in a tense hostage situation, he must restrain his instinct to simply shoot it out because of fears their may be a young child involved.

S3 E28 · Diary of a Bomber

Ballinger is on a case involving threats against a visiting prince to Chicago. Mo one is taking the situation too seriously until a little girl accidentally finds the detonating device for a home made bomb.

S3 E29 · Let There Be Light

During a robbery one of the criminals is hit in the eye and blinded. Ballinger has a fair idea who is behind the crime. Urgency increases when news comes through an eye specialist has been kidnapped.

S3 E30 · A Gun for Mother's Day

Lieutenant Ballinger works to solve a series of armed holdups as a means toward the capture of shotgun-wielding Ma Phelan, who murdered a detective while helping her son Pete escape from police custody.

S3 E31 · The Man with the Ice

Ballinger is working a jewelry theft when he becomes convinced one of thieves is a clean skin amateur. He realizes by putting pressure on this individual he has a chance to crack the entire racket open.

S3 E32 · Dead Parrots Don't Talk

A penny arcade owner is robbed and murdered. Suspision falls on a local peddler. But Ballinger thinks there is more to this case than anyone is admitting.

S3 E33 · Grenade for a Summer Evening

A man is killed while sleeping Ballinger begins to investigate and discovers very different opinions about the dead man's character exist.

S3 E34 · Two Days for Willy

Willy Nichols is due to testify in a narcotics investigation, although under police protection he receives a threatening phone call and suddenly disappears. Ballinger must find Nichols to save the case.

S3 E35 · Badge for a Coward

Accompanied by a female reporter, Lieutenant Ballinger investigates an elderly woman's charge that the man who robbed her store and killed a police officer was able to escape as a direct result of Officer George Maxwell's cowardice.

S3 E36 · Closed Season

Sonny Bradley is charged with murder. Ballinger begins to investigate and quickly realizes something is not right about the statements from the witnesses, and starts see a much bigger game being played.

S3 E37 · Fire in the Sky

A plane is blown up killing ten people. Evidence begins to indicate that it wasn't an accident. Ballinger begins to follow the trail and starts to discover a complicated insurance scam in action.

S3 E38 · The Tiger's Cage

A bookkeeper is robbed and murdered at a circus. A clown named Laslo is identified as the killer. Ballinger and the rest of M squad have to deal with how Laslo could have committed the crime while performing in front of 5000 people in the main tent.

S3 E39 · The Bad Apple

Ballinger and M squad are called in to investigate a diamond robbery. All the evidence points to an inside job. M squad have the tough task of working out who was the inside connection.