I admit to not being a loyal viewer of the show, but long ago, Dog the Bounty Hunter was a guilty pleasure of mine. Why I enjoy(ed) the show is two-fold.

First, there’s the fact that when all is said and done, Dog and company aren’t out to just collect the money for bringing in the bail jumpers, they’re often trying to help them in the process. 90% of those people caught on the show seem to be drug addicts, usually addicted to meth (ice, speed, etc). So they’ll often try to get them into some sort of rehabilitation program to get them clean and on to a better life.

And second, the lies used to catch criminals can be hilarious. They’re not over-elaborate or anything, but time after time, Dog or someone who works with him ends up using a lie to bring in another crook.

Dog the Bounty Hunter

That last bit held true with the fifth season premiere. Out of Hawaii, the guys were in Colorado doing a few jobs for Bobby Brown, an old friend of the family. Instead of going after just one guy, they decided to take on two, which seemed wise.

One major difference between searching for bail jumpers in Colorado and Hawaii is weapons. It’s harder to get guns and the like into Hawaii, but not Colorado. Armed with pepper ball guns, the crew head out and take down one of the targets, a woman who knew the other suspect. She ends up getting help with her drug addiction… classic Dog.

While busting the woman, they found an informant who gave up the location of the “big fish.” He’s wanted on a number of warrants and by all accounts, is known to carry a sawed-off shotgun.

When the shotgun claim enters the picture, the episode turned into an entirely different animal. It’s all very serious now. Unlike many other episodes, where things are made to seem more dangerous than they really are, the introduction of a shotgun (and eventually a pistol), the level of intensity seemed warranted to me.

I have to hand it to the young woman who helped Dog and his crew capture their so-called big fish. The police did find a shotgun in the place he was staying, and according to her claims, she was threatened by him in the past.

For a one-hour season premiere, “Up on the Roof” was a great one. It felt odd initially to see that Tim Chapman wasn’t present. I don’t know all the details as to why he wasn’t there, but I know he has had some problems with the law not so long ago, so maybe he wasn’t allowed to leave the state for the bounty hunt; I can’t say for sure.

Rating: 6.5