Night Stalker 1.3: "Three"
Written by Adam Sussman
Directed by Daniel Sackheim
In which Kolchak investigates a bizarre death with possible connections to a secret society at a nearby campus, but when more deaths occur, the truth turns out to be something very different…
As far as I’m concerned, this is the best episode of the series thus far, if only because the mystery at the heart of the episode got under my skin somewhat and the characters actually showed some signs of a sense of humor. Sure, the whole “secret society” thing didn’t work as well as I would have liked, but the haunting aspect was just plain unnerving.
Making Perri part of some unknown secret society does add an interesting level to her character, since it provides some assurance that she can keep things in confidence when they are important enough. That’s critical to her relationship to Kolchak. At the same time, Kolchak is never going to know if Perri is telling him everything he needs to know, because he’ll wonder if she’s playing to other loyalties. It’s a small character point, but one that could be fun to explore in the future.
The deaths in this episode were very well done, and they were definitely pushing towards the graphic side. I found it interesting that the victims died in ways that conventional forensics could never fully explain, yet there was no attempt to show anyone other than Kolchak and his allies looking for an answer. It continues to paint the picture that the writers made part of the premise: when these things happen, society at large finds a way to make them consistent with consensual reality.
I knew that something more than the secret society had to be at play, but I must admit, I didn’t see that violent flashback coming at all. That was the part I found very unnerving. Part of it is the fact that I have a young son who couldn’t have been much older than the boy who died from fear. As much as I hate it when writers use young children as an easy way to generate sympathy or emotional response, this time I fell for it. It didn’t matter that I knew it was happening!
As much as the incredibly dark and uncompromising tone of the series is a good thing, in terms of the storytelling, I think it’s making it very hard for the general audience to accept it. This series is up against “CSI”, so there’s a need to match the more shocking elements of that series (at least, a perceived need), but the graphic nature of the material could be more than most viewers can handle.
Right now, of course, the writers are trying to establish a certain hyper-reality with the series, right down to the fact that Kolchak is a “cool” character who can run against conventional wisdom with little or no trouble. In essence, Kolchak committed arson at the end of the episode, which is an odd thing for the writers to ask the viewers to accept. Once again, Kolchak does something that law enforcement would find questionable. Sooner or later, all of this should come back to haunt him, especially if the writers are hoping to establish any semblance of an overall plot arc. Then again, right now, I’m not sure that the series needs to go there just yet.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 7/10
Directed by Daniel Sackheim
In which Kolchak investigates a bizarre death with possible connections to a secret society at a nearby campus, but when more deaths occur, the truth turns out to be something very different…
As far as I’m concerned, this is the best episode of the series thus far, if only because the mystery at the heart of the episode got under my skin somewhat and the characters actually showed some signs of a sense of humor. Sure, the whole “secret society” thing didn’t work as well as I would have liked, but the haunting aspect was just plain unnerving.
Making Perri part of some unknown secret society does add an interesting level to her character, since it provides some assurance that she can keep things in confidence when they are important enough. That’s critical to her relationship to Kolchak. At the same time, Kolchak is never going to know if Perri is telling him everything he needs to know, because he’ll wonder if she’s playing to other loyalties. It’s a small character point, but one that could be fun to explore in the future.
The deaths in this episode were very well done, and they were definitely pushing towards the graphic side. I found it interesting that the victims died in ways that conventional forensics could never fully explain, yet there was no attempt to show anyone other than Kolchak and his allies looking for an answer. It continues to paint the picture that the writers made part of the premise: when these things happen, society at large finds a way to make them consistent with consensual reality.
I knew that something more than the secret society had to be at play, but I must admit, I didn’t see that violent flashback coming at all. That was the part I found very unnerving. Part of it is the fact that I have a young son who couldn’t have been much older than the boy who died from fear. As much as I hate it when writers use young children as an easy way to generate sympathy or emotional response, this time I fell for it. It didn’t matter that I knew it was happening!
As much as the incredibly dark and uncompromising tone of the series is a good thing, in terms of the storytelling, I think it’s making it very hard for the general audience to accept it. This series is up against “CSI”, so there’s a need to match the more shocking elements of that series (at least, a perceived need), but the graphic nature of the material could be more than most viewers can handle.
Right now, of course, the writers are trying to establish a certain hyper-reality with the series, right down to the fact that Kolchak is a “cool” character who can run against conventional wisdom with little or no trouble. In essence, Kolchak committed arson at the end of the episode, which is an odd thing for the writers to ask the viewers to accept. Once again, Kolchak does something that law enforcement would find questionable. Sooner or later, all of this should come back to haunt him, especially if the writers are hoping to establish any semblance of an overall plot arc. Then again, right now, I’m not sure that the series needs to go there just yet.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 7/10
posted by John Keegan | 12:38
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