Where does Hawke hide Airwolf?

A desert hiding place called the Lair

Who is Caitlin O'Shannessy?

A Texas highway-patrol pilot who joins the team

Season 2, Episode 10 · Episode 21 of 79

Once a Hero

First aired Saturday, November 24, 1984

Synopsis

Hawke assembles a Vietnam strike team to raid a Laotian POW camp believed to hold his brother.

Episode recap

The episode the entire series had been promising. Hawke assembles his old Vietnam strike team for an unsanctioned raid on a Laotian POW camp — because this time, the intelligence says St. John might be inside. "Once a Hero" is Airwolf's full-throated war movie: veterans dusting off old skills, debts of brotherhood called in, and a mission that answers to no agency. It is also the series' most direct confrontation with the MIA question that haunted 1980s America. Whatever waits in that camp, the episode makes one thing permanent: Hawke will burn any bridge, break any rule and fly into any country for his brother.

Transcript

The full transcript for this episode is maintained by the fan community on the Airwolf Wiki. We link rather than copy it — the dialogue belongs to the series' rights holders.

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SeriesAirwolf
SeasonSeason 2
Episode2.10
Air date1984-11-24
Overall21 of 79

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Did you know?

The most significant St. John episode of the classic seasons — the storyline would not be resolved until Season 4's "Blackjack".
POW/MIA rescue stories dominated mid-1980s action fiction; Airwolf aired this one months before the genre's big-screen wave crested.
Aired November 24, 1984, closing the season's unbroken ten-week opening run.

About Season 2 (1984–85)

Episode 10 of 22 in this season

Airwolf hits full stride and becomes a genuine ratings hit. Caitlin O'Shannessy joins the team, lightening the mood and rounding out the cast, while the missions grow in scope — globe-trotting rescues, Cold-War intrigue and ever more dramatic uses of Airwolf's firepower and speed.

All Season 2 episodes →

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Redacted Briefing

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Intercepted Transmission

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Mission Timeline

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Title Scramble

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Wolf Hunt

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Story threads

Connected episodes

Episodes that share a storyline, theme or adversary with this one.

And They Are Us →

Season 1, Episode 9

The St. John trail — a lead from his old unit, then a full POW-camp raid to find him.

HX-1 →

Season 2, Episode 8

Both chase word of St. John — a mercenary lead, then a rescue mission into Laos.

Poppy Chain →

Season 4, Episode 22

Return to Laos — the POW raid, then the opium-empire campaign across the same haunted map.

Keep exploring