Reviews

I had high hopes for this episode going into it with a cast like Ed Nelson and Jessica Walter, but my hopes were quickly dashed as the plot progressed. The acting was not the problem; it was the horrible script and poorly-written characters. Barnaby barely had to do any work to figure out the crime because the gooney couple right out of a screwball comedy had no careful planning whatsoever. They were practically begging to be caught! It's like, what did they think would happen? Especially in the second death. And why did Barnaby spend all that time whipping the fire in the barn with his suitcoat (which was clearly doing nothing) instead of shooting the chain off the door like he finally thinks to do later? As someone else mentioned, it just seemed like extremely lazy writing. Though I love Ed Nelson and Jessica Walter, don't waste your time on this episode. It's not only silly but quite cliche.

I've heard about these episodes for years and always thought it was a movie up until recently. I decided to watch them out of curiosity and it sure is apropos for today. I do have some speculations, though. They clearly gave Pat's character more of a surgical change than facial and yet they pass it off as merely an easy cosmetic operation. Secondly, I too was appalled that Dr. Gannon just so easily accepted the fact that Pat was a "woman inside of a man's body." Especially in that day and age. As soon as the surgery was done, everybody's fine calling Pat a "she" even though logic would tell them that cutting off some body parts doesn't make you the opposite gender. Third, I found it interesting that the patient with the bad leg wasn't allowed to have self-pity, yet Pat can have all the pity he wants just because he wasn't born a woman. And everyone has to feel sorry for him or they're bigots. Makes you think. The doctors in this episode used the tactic most physicians use now adays, "would you rather have a dead father or an alive mother?" basically. Reed did an amazing job garnering empathy for his character. I have no problem with the acting in these episodes; it was phenomenal. The problem, however, lies with the fact that for decades, people with gender dysphoria (or call it what you will) have demanded affirmation for their psychological issues and we've placated them. I have much sympathy for those suffering, feeling as though they're in the wrong body. But the answer is not in cutting up your body. What you're looking for can't be found in some kind of personal identity. What you're looking for, is a relationship with God. The God who created you, who makes no mistake.

This episode was like a bad car accident. You just couldn't look away. The first thing that made me immediately cringe was the scene where Mike picks up his girlfriend--I mean, his daughter Jeannie at the airport. I haven't mentioned this in my earlier reviews but the relationship between Mike and Jeannie has always made me want to gag. They are WAY too touchy-feely for a normal father and daughter relationship with lingering kisses, longingly staring into each other's eyes, her always calling him Mike, various times where they slap each other playfully on the rear, and now this barfy scene where Jeannie pretends to be interested in HER FATHER because two nosy strangers are watching them already fawning all over each other. I wanted to wash my eyes out with lighter fluid after seeing that. Who thought making them so lovey-dovey was a good idea?? I'm sorry. I'm not one who likes to be touched much, even by loved ones, but I feel like their relationship always went a little too far. Maybe it's just me.

Next was the very annoying character of Chris. Don't get me wrong. I think Pamelyn Ferdin is a talented actress...but whoever wrote her character made her the brattiest, most annoying teenager possible. I have to say, the end scene where Chris finds out her father is a jerk was touching but other than that I really hated this episode. Terrible end to Season Four.

Really enjoyed this episode. It was unique, held my interest. It was fun seeing Jonathan get hypnotized for a change. This episode also stars Gwynne Gilford who has been married to the successful actor Robert Pine since the 60's and is the mother of actor Chris Pine. There was one flaw that I found in this episode, but I suppose they wouldn't have had a show in the following week of the writers took this route. When Jonathan and Ford are fighting at the end and Jonathan is inches from falling off the cliff, all Ford would have had to do was say, "How about a third cup of coffee?" and Jonathan would have walked off that cliff if he was told to. Ford missed his chance to win Jennifer's heart (no pun intended... maybe) but I was happy to see Jonathan and Jennifer reunited.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and was surprised to see it has such a low rating. Not only was the plot about the cat burglar and murders interesting and kept me engaged, but I loved that they finally gave Mike a love story. Diane Baker played her role perfectly, nailing the determined female inspector without being obnoxious. I usually find when women are "stubborn" on these old TV shows, they're extremely annoying and worthy of any disdain. Diane executed her performance very well, though, to where I was rooting for her. I really wanted Irene & Mike to be together. Sure, they had their differences but they clearly were adult enough to work through them. Unfortunately, it seems Irene never makes another appearance on the show, much like Steve's disappearing girlfriends. I'm just glad they didn't kill her off. 10/10 for me!

The beginning of this episode was all right. Kind of slow-paced but not horrible. I actually was fooled into believing Jonathan was playing the trumpet until I read HilaryElizabeth9's review. I did start to get confused, though, when Victoria broke things off with Russel. She said "It's no longer the two of us," or something like that. Not only did she further explain what that meant but Russel didn't even ask! He just lets her walk off and accepts his fate that she was breaking up with him. Doesn't sound like the behavior of a man who wanted to marry her.

Then when Russel gets drunk and Victoria comes back, apologizing for singing and that she "should have realized..." She never finishes her sentence before the scene cuts, prompting even more questions of why she's changing her tune (no pun intended) toward him so suddenly.

Then fast-forward to the end when Anita is revealed to be the killer. (I saw that coming from a mile away.) Though I had a very strong suspicion Anita was guilty, her reasoning made absolutely no sense. It turns out that Anita is actually Victoria...? Then who in the world was the Victoria that died?! And there was no explanation for why there were duplicates of different sized dresses in the closet. There was no explanation for why Anita started to think Jennifer was Victoria...when she knew SHE HERSELF was Victoria? And man, the ending scene where J & J take down Anita (or whoever she is) was utterly laughable. Talk about corny. If someone has a better understanding of this episode, maybe they'd enjoy it, but as for me, I was frowning in confusion the majority of the time.

I really did enjoy this episode, especially the "heated" banter between J & J (once I knew it was all a scheme). But I did find myself asking... didn't they go to a lot of unnecessary trouble pretending to break up? They could have just ignored the weird girlfriend stuff and lived their lives. Either they'd find the odd occurrences were nothing but pranks/misunderstandings or they'd find out what the perpetrator really wanted from them eventually. The bad guy's motivation was to get them to break up anyway. If they just would have ignore the gifts and the phone calls (seems much easier) the bad guy (don't remember his name) would have given up sooner or later when he saw his tricks weren't working. I don't know, maybe J & J's whole plot would have made sense if they already knew about the bet and were trying to smoke out the culprit. All in all, it gets an 9/10 from me.

The episode started out amazing. I truly enjoyed William Windom's portrayal of a distressed husband whose wife is facing death on the operating table. I was rooting for him and Lynn Carlin's characters all the way. Thought they had great chemistry.

Then...the truth comes out that Charlie (Windom) and Ruth (Susan Oliver) are having an affair. Their excuses of why that affair ever began in the first place made me want to yell and scream at them the rest of the episode. I regretted wearing makeup watching this episode because, though try as hard as I might, the plot and its fabulous actors produced many tears from me. Despite my personal feelings about a fictional affair, it was a great and intriguing episode that held my interest. William Windom is one of the best actors of all time. If you want something sad and depressing to watch (but also intense), this is it.

As we saw in the previous episode, someone hits Cole over the head and leaves him to die from car exhaust fumes in the closed garage, even planting a suicide note in his hand. Did the killer really think people would be so gullible as to believe Cole killed himself when he's got a bloody gash in his head?? Apparently, the killer was right because that's what everyone did. Even law enforcement scoffed when Cole told them he'd been struck from behind. When he was found, there was very obviously blood on his temple! Did they think he just knocked himself out and left the car running for no reason? Then when Cole is out of his coma and ready to tell all, Maggie wants to let bygones be bygones and doesn't seem too eager to figure out who clubbed her son over the head and left him for dead

Yes, I know, it's just a TV show, but sheesh!