Foreign ExchangeEpisode 320 (054) - Apr 29 1998 Jim, Blair and Simon take Simon's new car to the airport to collect Inspector Megan Conner from the New South Wales Police Force, on loan to Cascade PD from Sydney, Australia as part of the Officer Exchange Program. The feisty Inspector Conner surprises Jim right in the middle of a string of candid kangaroo jokes and gives as good as she gets. Just then, Jim spots an armored car heist taking place at the other side of the airport parking lot, and as he and Simon take off in Simon's pristine new vehicle, Conner commandeers a taxi and she and a reluctant Blair join the energetic pursuit. While Jim and Megan successfully collar the suspects, Simon's car and the borrowed taxi are destroyed in the process. Back at the PD, while Simon is grateful for the assistance, he tells Conner that her costly and precipitous actions were inappropriate for a visiting officer not issued with the proper credentials. She is assigned temporary observer status, allowed to retain her firearm and Jim is assigned to show her the ropes. Summarily dismissed from Simon's office, Jim and Conner continue to bicker and Blair finds himself in something of a referee capacity. Despite Simon's warnings, that night Conner continues with a personal investigation anyway, showing a picture of a man to the proprietor of a local curry house. The next morning Blair tries to impress on Jim the importance of being extra careful about not revealing Jim's special abilities if they are going to be working so closely with Megan. Nevertheless, Jim forgets their secret when he notices Lane Cassidy, an alarm systems expert he busted two years ago, getting into a car way down the street. Megan is already suspicious that Jim can recognize someone from that distance when they all pile into Jim's truck in pursuit. They follow the suspect to a motel and Blair takes surveillance pictures with a disposable camera purchased from the lobby shop. They pull Cassidy's records and take the information to Simon. The pictures show Cassidy meeting with an out of town munitions expert and a skilled get away driver, obviously all getting together for a job, and Simon sends Jim, Blair and Megan in on 24 hour surveillance where they trail them to a meeting in an Indian restaurant. But Megan excuses herself to use the Ladies at the "petrol station" across the street, and instead slips inside the restaurant to engage the suspects in a gun battle. Jim is furious and he follows her in, but the suspects escape. Back at Cascade PD an hour later, Simon informs Jim and Blair that Megan says that Cassidy ran because he made them as cops, but Jim has been doing some digging into Megan's records in the New South Wales Police Force. Information provided by Megan's boss reveals that Scott Bruenell was the name of the other man in the curry house. Megan admits that she was lead investigator on the robbery of a payroll truck where Bruenell blew up a bridge, killing the guards and 4 innocent motorists. Bruenell made it personal, pursuing Megan with threatening phone calls, warning shots and tampering with the brakes on her car. But when they failed to compile sufficient evidence against him, Megan was instructed to let it go. Instead she privately traced Bruenell to Cascade and when the Officer Exchange Program opportunity came up, she grabbed it. Simon terminates her visiting officer status and she leaves, but Blair argues that she is obviously a dedicated officer and represents their best chance at tracking down Bruenell. When they deliver her to her hotel and she again tries to slip out a side exit they witness Bruenell try to gun her down on the sidewalk. Bruenell and his men then escape to take out the security guard at a Cascade power substation, substitute one of their own team and gain entrance to the building. Simon reads Megan the riot act (or in Aussie vernacular, "spits the dummy") but admits that Megan's knowledge and skills are actually a benefit to their case and issues her with her credentials. He also hands Jim, Blair and Megan a hefty wad of case files and sends them off to do some good, old-fashioned police work. The files reveal that the team Bruenell has assembled specialize in difficult targets, intricate plans and massive payoffs. They decide to take a break for some dinner, and Megan says it will be her "shout" (treat). So they all go to a panoramic restaurant overlooking the city and over dinner, they have a chance to do a little bonding. But suddenly the lights go out all over the city and they speculate on what inside the city grid could be big enough to attract Bruenell's interest and decide to head for the mint. There they find a guard cold-cocked and as Blair stays behind to help him, Jim and Megan move towards Bruenell's team raiding the open vault. When Megan's cell phone goes off, they are spotted and dive for cover as the felons don night vision goggles and fire on their position. Megan is amazed to see Jim accurately return fire in the darkness and take out the men. When they discover Bruenell is not with them, Megan tries to force them to reveal his whereabouts. Then Blair arrives with the revived guard who remarks that the $20, $50 and $100 engraving plates that were also in the vault are worth more than all the rest of the money in the mint. While they discuss how Bruenell might make his get away in a blacked-out city, Megan is again puzzled to see Jim leap into the elevator, suddenly convinced that Bruenell is on the roof. Blair explains that Jim gets really good hunches. On the roof they briefly exchange fire with Bruenell, but he has donned a gliding rig and leaps off the building. Back down in the street, Blair instructs Jim to focus his hearing on Bruenell and Jim overhears him arrange a rendezvous at Chandler's Point. Megan and Jim arrive and trade shots with Bruenell, taking out his men on the beach while he makes a run for his truck. But Megan intercepts him and manages to take him down with a few well-placed kicks. When Jim finds her, she has almost zoned over the body of her fallen nemesis. Due to their success in solving the case, Jim and Blair inform Megan that the Officer Exchange Program is extended as are their opportunities for making 'bad' Aussie jokes. Credits:
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