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Reviews
The Twilight Zone: Spur of the Moment (1964)
An interesting but flawed episode
The theme of this episode is about choice. There is an opportunity and a consequence to each choice that we make in life. In this story, 18-year-old Anne Marie Henderson is on a routine horseback ride near her father's estate. She is engaged and her engagement party is later that night. She suddenly encounters a menacing middle-aged woman dressed in black approaching her on horseback. Unsurprisingly frightened, she flees back to her father's estate where she is comforted by her parents and her fiancée though he makes an insensitive joke about the whole ordeal. Suddenly, her childhood sweetheart and ex-fiancée barges into the estate, pleading for one more chance. Her parents clearly don't approve of the ex and while Anne Marie is clearly upset that her ex is there, she doesn't necessarily tell him to leave, indicating she still has feelings for him. Flash forward to the present where the mysterious woman is actually Anne Marie herself, a depressed, destitute, and drunken woman. This is all because of the decisions she made that fateful night.
This is an interesting episode that signifies that in everyone's life there is that so called "fork in the road" moment. To me what brings this episode down a notch is why did the "older" Anne Marie suddenly stopped chasing the "younger" Anne Marie? And also think of the logic of the episode. "Older" Anne Marie knew where her father's estate was back then, why not go there to warn her? These are some of the things that were left out in this episode, but it does talk about our life choices that we make. I give this a 6 out of 10.
The Twilight Zone: A Penny for Your Thoughts (1961)
Mr. Smithers is planning to rob the vault!
This episode is a bit dated today. However, there are many times where the plot of a show or movie is the ability for the protagonist to read people's mind. The movie "What Women Want" is a prime example of mind-reading can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. But back in a simpler time, Rod Serling penned this TZ episode, "A Penny for Your Thoughts."
This is a departure from a typical Twilight Zone episode. Suspense, terror, and horror are absent in the story of Hector Poole, an introverted, timid, unappreciated low-level banker played wonderfully by the great late Dick York. On his way to work, he flips a coin to a newspaper boy and the coin stands up on its edge. Suddenly, Poole has the power to read people's minds. This carries over to work where he reads the thoughts of a banker who is using an approved loan to gamble on horses at a racetrack. He also reads the thoughts of his sleazy bank manager who is clearly having an affair with another woman. And of course, the thoughts of the cute secretary who secretly has a crush on Poole but wants him to be more assertive. The plot twist is the thoughts of Mr. Smithers, who is thinking of robbing the vault. (Is he going to actually do it?)
This wouldn't rank as one of my all-time favorite TZ episodes but it's a delightful one. Some of my favorite scenes are when Poole is hit by a car while trying to cross the street and the driver is very apologetic. However, Poole reads his thoughts, and his thoughts are truly opposite of what he says to him. And this small scene at the bank gets un-noticed when Poole tries the read the thoughts of a blond woman. It's really cliche the way blonds are perceived but it was a nice twist to the story.
And Hector Poole himself is a bit of an enigma. He's a good person but somewhat introverted and a bit naive. He doesn't even realize the secretary fawning over him until he gets his power, nor does he fully take advantage of his newfound gift though it does get him a promotion that he deserves and a new girlfriend. Overall, a delightful episode.
The Dick Van Dyke Show: Coast to Coast Big Mouth (1965)
Classic Episode!!
This episode has been deemed by critics as arguably the best Dick Van Dyke episode, which is saying a lot because there were so many quality episodes during the show's original 5 year run. The episode later won an Emmy that year and deservedly so. The funny and ironic thing about this episode is that Dick Van Dyke takes a backseat in it and it's still is laugh out loud funny. It's more of a tour de force for both Mary Tyler Moore and Carl Reiner. Most people know the premise of the episode anyway, but I'll recap.
Laura goes on a game show and the game host tricks her into revealing Alan Brady's biggest secret, that he is bald! Fearing the wrath that Rob might face with the egotistical Alan Brady, Laura tries to do damage control by coming to Rob's job to apologize to a ticked-off Brady, who is surrounded by his now useless wigs!
What makes this episode so great is that Laura and Alan hardly interacted before up until that point. To see the banter between them in the office scene is great. And of course the classic line Laura said about "There must be some needy bald people" as a suggestion of what to do with the wigs was classic. This scene we find out was important in MTM career, as she went on to star in The Mary Tyler Moore show and her character on that show had to interact with Lou Grant similar to how she interacted in this episode.
Not really talked about enough is the scene where Laura reveals to Rob what happened. Of course, Rob so is mad and fearful of what Alan might do to him, that he accidently reveals another secret about Alan, that he got a nose job! Sally and Buddy didn't really have any special moments in this episode. All in all, a classic episode!!