Night Stalker 1.5: "Malum"
Written by Kay Foster and Adam Armus
Directed by Deran Sarafian
In which Kolchak’s investigation of the bizarre death of an elementary school principal reveals possible signs of child abuse, but when more deaths follow, the truth is something far worse…
As a rule, I find holiday-themed episodes to be hazardous. Too often, they rely on the mystique of the holiday to generate the emotional response to the events at hand. For instance, the typical Halloween episode takes the spookiness and “evil” and runs with it. It takes a good writer, like Joss Whedon, to make a Halloween episode mean something in the long run. Otherwise, it’s often silly. (And don’t even get me started about Christmas episodes!)
What I like about this episode is how the Halloween connection is entirely incidental. It really has nothing to do with the story. Instead, it’s a disturbing tale of demonic possession that takes a long time to unfold. Framing it as an investigation, with Kolchak at the heart of it as a possible suspect, makes it even more interesting. I’ve been saying for a long time that Kolchak’s methods should be getting him into a lot more legal trouble, and in this case, that’s exactly where the story goes.
I was also pleased that Justin’s murderous activities weren’t directly shown. Seeing a kid standing there, making things happen, would have taken away some of the tension. The key in this episode was that the horror was in the clear communication of intention. Someone intended to kill, again and again, and it really didn’t matter how it was being done. It was all about the whys and the wherefores.
I really like how Justin’s plan and its ultimate goal, as well as the end of his reign of terror, are revealed over time through the slow consideration of its consequences. The Detective was trying to understand intentions, because he needed to know why people made decisions to make his case. And as “X-Files” demonstrated rather well, psychological horror is usually a lot more affecting than some random monster.
This episode also avoided one of the nitpicks I’ve had in the past. Kolchak does a lot of investigation and sometimes pushes his role a bit over the line he shouldn’t cross. That’s why the Detective can point fingers at him. But he doesn’t get so close to the source of the danger that he himself becomes an easy target. He’s always on the periphery of events, which is preferable in cases where there’s little or no personal impact.
I’m really not sure what else I can say about this one. I think this was the best episode of the season thus far. By the end, I wasn’t sure how the story would finally end. I was actually beginning to wonder if the demon inside Justin had jumped into the Detective somehow, since it looked like he was trying to eliminate anyone who knew the truth about Justin. But that’s not a sign of a sloppy ending, but rather, an example of how such a disturbing concept can get one thinking.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
Directed by Deran Sarafian
In which Kolchak’s investigation of the bizarre death of an elementary school principal reveals possible signs of child abuse, but when more deaths follow, the truth is something far worse…
As a rule, I find holiday-themed episodes to be hazardous. Too often, they rely on the mystique of the holiday to generate the emotional response to the events at hand. For instance, the typical Halloween episode takes the spookiness and “evil” and runs with it. It takes a good writer, like Joss Whedon, to make a Halloween episode mean something in the long run. Otherwise, it’s often silly. (And don’t even get me started about Christmas episodes!)
What I like about this episode is how the Halloween connection is entirely incidental. It really has nothing to do with the story. Instead, it’s a disturbing tale of demonic possession that takes a long time to unfold. Framing it as an investigation, with Kolchak at the heart of it as a possible suspect, makes it even more interesting. I’ve been saying for a long time that Kolchak’s methods should be getting him into a lot more legal trouble, and in this case, that’s exactly where the story goes.
I was also pleased that Justin’s murderous activities weren’t directly shown. Seeing a kid standing there, making things happen, would have taken away some of the tension. The key in this episode was that the horror was in the clear communication of intention. Someone intended to kill, again and again, and it really didn’t matter how it was being done. It was all about the whys and the wherefores.
I really like how Justin’s plan and its ultimate goal, as well as the end of his reign of terror, are revealed over time through the slow consideration of its consequences. The Detective was trying to understand intentions, because he needed to know why people made decisions to make his case. And as “X-Files” demonstrated rather well, psychological horror is usually a lot more affecting than some random monster.
This episode also avoided one of the nitpicks I’ve had in the past. Kolchak does a lot of investigation and sometimes pushes his role a bit over the line he shouldn’t cross. That’s why the Detective can point fingers at him. But he doesn’t get so close to the source of the danger that he himself becomes an easy target. He’s always on the periphery of events, which is preferable in cases where there’s little or no personal impact.
I’m really not sure what else I can say about this one. I think this was the best episode of the season thus far. By the end, I wasn’t sure how the story would finally end. I was actually beginning to wonder if the demon inside Justin had jumped into the Detective somehow, since it looked like he was trying to eliminate anyone who knew the truth about Justin. But that’s not a sign of a sloppy ending, but rather, an example of how such a disturbing concept can get one thinking.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
posted by John Keegan | 11:54
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