A well-crafted show with excellent location photography and strong performances all around.
For me, the highlights are:
1.) The fishing scene between Ed Begley and Martin Milner-- shot with actual sound as they both stand waist-deep in the rolling surf--a scene that neatly advances the plot while simultaneously providing the actors with a real challenge. Very cool.
2.) Ruth Roman's big emotional scene near the end, which really brings home the emotional content of the show with power and, yes--restraint (it's relatively brief, which increases its impact).
3.) The look on Ed Begley's face during this scene. A master actor.
4.) The final scene in the ambulance. I was really moved by the director's choice (I assume) to dress Don Dubbins in coat and tie, as he "mans up" and takes the long walk past the townspeople to meet his mother for the first time. Very nicely done.
Two other things that I must point out:
a.) the imaginative scene as Ruth Roman recalls her intense, youthful fling with her young lover---filmed through a broken pane of glass, with two young lover "Stand-in's" neatly framed on the beach outside. Only when we see a close up do we realize that it's Ruth herself AND MARTIN MILNER making out. All sorts of issues and "subtexts" here---maybe a tad too "Bergmanesque", but typically "artsy" for this series.
B.) Milner's TORTURED (not again!) voice-over in the opening, having been stuffed in the titular Trunk by Ms. Roman; something about his "Brain on Fire" and his "Heart between his Teeth"? Huh? What?? Why??? LR