 The regular-series finale, described by other authors as "A  The Caine Mutiny  for the police force" and directed by Telly Savalas (his only directing credit for series television), features Danny Thomas as an assistant chief inspector who is haunted by an error he made years ago, keeping him from the top chief-inspector position he so desperately wants even though he is aging and his skill as a police officer is falling to pieces. Desperate to prove himself, he latches onto Kojak s investigation of the mob and tries to run it to bring a "scalp" to the top brass. Kojak soon realizes the old man is a dangerous liability to the investigation and to himself, and tries to figure out how to survive an inquiry launched by the vengeful assistant chief inspector after literally dragging him aside. Perhaps not coincidentally, this episode has MANY similarities to Thomas s last role on "Empty Nest" in 1991, where he played a doctor and mentor to Dr. Weston who had let his age impair his skills as a diagnostician.