Have you noticed the final two episodes of The A-Team are seemingly out of order?
Posted: November 15, 2023, 3:09PMThe A-Team will always be remembered for the firepower, explosions, resilient theme music and the heroic acts from Hannibal, Howling Mad, Face and B.A.
The show spanned five seasons and nearly 100 total episodes. It took off in popularity the very first time it hit the air, premiering Jan. 23, 1983, "reaching over 25% of the television audience and placing fourth in the Nielsen Top 10," according to NBC.com.
Over those five seasons, The A-Team earned three Emmy nominations along with plenty of spinoff content such as novels, comic books and a 2010 feature film version.
Though the show certainly had its highs, there were some lows as well. Cast changes at times were abrupt and in season four, ratings were on the decline. Ultimately, the drop in viewership caused NBC to cancel the show halfway through the fifth season, after just 13 episodes.
During the original run of the final season, only 12 episodes were played, with the last one being titled "The Grey Team."
"The Grey Team," which premiered on Dec. 30, 1986, seemed to be the abrupt but feasible ending to the series, with several cues that things could wrap up by episode's end.
The Team openly discussed what the next steps were, even if they were to break away from Stockwell's grip and risk losing their pardons.
Murdock tells a couple of elderly gentlemen who want to join the A-Team, "the truth is we might not even be in the bad guy fighting business much longer."
He says this while wearing an open jacket, revealing the word "fini" on his shirt, meaning "finished" in French.
The episodes ends with a wholesome sound and a freeze-frame of the team smiling. A rather clear indication that the series could be over, all while fitting that classic Eighties TV sequence.
That's where things get interesting.
After the show was off the air, one thing stood out as reruns began; the last episode. An episode titled "Without Reservations" was shown as the last episode of the series, following "The Grey Team" episode.
"Without Reservations" hadn't been seen before and was aired for the first time on March 8, 1987, three months after the show had seemingly come to an end.
Strangely, it was also aired after "The Grey Team" but was much more of a traditional A-Team episode, not really drawing to the conclusion of the series as "The Grey Team" seemed to do. It's believed the episode "Without Reservations" was aired out of order.
In the "Without Reservations" episode, "Murdock is seen wearing a shirt saying 'Almost Fini' - meaning 'Almost Finished' - further proof that 'Without Reservations' was supposed to be the second-to-last episode," according to A Classic Rock & Culture article.
In episode lists on both IMDb.com and Wikipedia, the final episode is listed as "Without Reservations," though all the signs suggest that "The Grey Team" was intended to wrap up the series.
So it begs the question, do you think ''Without Reservations'' is the series finale because it was technically the last episode to air new, or is it "The Grey Team" because of how the plots in each episode play out? You be the judge!