B.J. and the Bear/Bear Bondage

Bear Bondage
Season 2, Episode 16
Airdate	February 2, 1980
Written by
Directed by
← 2x15 Through the Past, Darkly	2x17 → B.J. and the Witch
B.J. and the Bear — Season Two

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Bear Bondage is the sixteenth episode of the second season of B.J. and the Bear, and the twenty-sixth episode overall.

The episode focuses on B.J. learning that Bear is possibly deathly ill ... or is he?

Starring:

Guest Starring:

Co-Starring:

Plot Overview

During one of B.J.'s runs, Bear begins acting listless and aloof, which isn't like him at all. B.J. is concerned and leaves him at a veterinary clinic. There, a pretty college-aged assistant named Janet diagnoses the chimp with indigestion, begins to give him two seltzer tablets in water and send a relieved B.J. on his way. Just then, the head veterinarian, Dr. Calhoun, steps in and suggests that Bear's symptons may be the precursor to a more serious illness and as a precautionary measure Bear should stay overnight for observation.

The next morning, B.J. goes to the clinic to pick up his best friend, when Janet has some sad news. She can't bring herself to deliver the news and runs off in tears. Dr. Calhoun then does: Bear died in his sleep. B.J. is stunned by the news and is in a catatonic shock as he tries to make sense of what happened. Janet tries to console B.J. but he's too distraught to talk ... or even notice that in the box of his clothes, there is no body.

Turns out that the veterinary clinic -- unknown to Janet -- is the front for a sinister underground operation, where animals that were under the care of the clinic are being sold to a laboratory, which tortures the animals in needless experiments (in the name of science) before dismembering and killing them. Calhoun, along with his partner, Dr. Nivens, were co-conspirators. Bear is very much alive, and is taken to a holding facility for future transport to the medical lab. Janet, meanwhile, gets suspicious about the circumstances of Bear's alleged death -- especially after the dog of another client mysteriously arrives to its home after escaping captivity -- and with B.J.'s hatch a plan to rescue Bear.

What eventually happens is Janet researches the illness Bear was alleged to have and finds they were completely inconsistent with his actual symptoms ... and when she approaches Calhoun and Nivens with her findings, she is quickly fired. B.J. shows up a few hours later and when he learns why she is no longer there, he becomes suspicious. When they learn she is about to go to the ethics board with her findings, Nivens orders that Janet be kidnapped and given a lethal injection, plotting to cover it up as a suicide. However, B.J. shows up to foil the plans, locking them in the holding cages to await arrest by the police.

Meanwhile, Bear gets himself out of his predicament by secretly stealing the key to his cage, causing even more havoc when he frees a snake and then a tiger to ward off the guards and Nivens. Nivens then shows up, thinking the guards have the animals loaded up on a truck for transport to the laboratory ... only to find all of the animals have been freed and the tiger on the loose. Nivens, knowing that the police might be on the way, tries to get away ... except that B.J. rams Nivens' car with his semi; the tiger then lays on top of the car until the police arrive. B.J. then has his tearful reunion with Bear.

In the end, B.J. and Janet share a big kiss ... and Bear feigns illness so he can be checked up by Janet at the vet's clinic.