
Carroll O'Connor stars as a small-town police chief (and later a sheriff) in fictional Sparta, Miss. For a small town, Sparta has its share of murder, rape, corruption, racism and drunken driving, so O'Connor's Chief William Gillespie has his hands full. The TV series is based on the novel and film of the same name.

Bubba and an insurance investigator (Debra Sandlund) search Los Angeles for a bail jumper from Sparta.

Lonnie Jamison and Virgil show a despondent Eugene DeLong, whose father is facing the death penalty for murder, that life continues.

Gillespie and Tibbs track the killers of two drug dealers; Althea worries about the dangers Virgil faces and suggests he change careers.

While investigating the death of the woman he once loved, Gillespie meets his daughter for the first time.