This classic series begins with an extended version of its eventual opening as we see Richard Kimble handcuffed to Lt. Gerard in a train, on his way to the death house, (today he'd be on his way to death row for decade or more). The train derails and we see Kimble escaping with the now broken handcuffs. Then we jump 6 months later and Kimble is in Tucson, Arizona. William Conrad's narrator, (sounding much like Mark Hellinger in the 1948 movie of Naked City), tells us it's 6 months later and describes Kimble's plight , traveling the country looking for the one-armed man he thinks killed his wife while avoiding Gerard, who is obsessed with recapturing him. "Another journey, another place. Walk neither too fast nor too slow. Beware the eyes of strangers. Keep moving."
Kimble finds a job as a bartender where he develops a relationship with a piano player (Vera Miles) and a very unwanted feud with her possessive and abusive husband, (Brian Keith). Keith is rich and influential and totally crazy, the last thing Kimble needs in his life. Miles is pretty and sensitive, which is something he does need, but scared. She also has a son who is scared for his mother. Kimble tries to leave with them but fate, of course, moves its huge hand.
I think Kimble sees in this woman and her son the family he could have had, making it particularly poignant. That's why I would like to have seen them return for the finale four years later. I would also like to have heard more of the narration from Conrad, highlighting the story and giving voice to Kimble's thoughts, instead of just describing the beginning and end of episodes, as does for most of the series.