I've always thought of this episode of 'The Avengers', when seeing "The Electrocutioner". Both feature a man with an electric touch, whose victims conveniently touch conducting elements. Whether they be handrails, or railroad tracks.
The episode also continues the show's unfortunate trend of turning its first-season villains into comic book villains. A shadow weakened by light, an evil lantern that's light beam is reflected by a mirror, and now an electrical villain who can be grounded. I'm surprised Ryan never calls him "Electro". If they're magical powers, should they be bound by real-world physics?
There's also the on-again/off-again portrayal of the bad guy, Eli. Like Helen in "Vanity's Mirror", the writers can't seem to decide if the bad guy is an innocent, or a demented killer, or both. Eli is supposedly an innocent man, but then kills teenagers and tortures the innocent Downing with a dental drill. Maybe Eli wasn't so innocent after all? He seems like the type who would kill his girlfriend.
Writer Rob Hedden also fails to establish the electric chair as an "antique". Yes, it's ten years old. But does that make it an antique?
The bright spot is Angelo Rizacos in the first of his three appearances on the show. He's not bad, but really doesn't have a lot to work with because of the topsy-turvy changes in his character, from innocent man to sadistic killer and torturer. Maybe part of the antiques' curse is turning innocent people into jerks?
Still, Rizacos/Eli does good work as the dentist who is "in tune" with the teenagers he treats and then kills for their energy. He portrays the young, hip professional that was popular in TV and movies around this time.
The regulars don't have much to do. The scene at the end with Micki getting her hair splayed out by static electricity is cringe-worthy. Jack is okay, although all of his guesses about Eli's powers and how they work are incessantly 100% right. We do get to see the trio doing some investigation work. It's not great: Jack deduces the alias at the beginning, based on what appears to be a hunch. Sherlock Holmes, he ain't.
So okay episode. Kind of hum-drum, but Rizacos' performance and the nature of the curse (He kills, to get power to get revenge!) makes the episode stand out a bit.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
The episode also continues the show's unfortunate trend of turning its first-season villains into comic book villains. A shadow weakened by light, an evil lantern that's light beam is reflected by a mirror, and now an electrical villain who can be grounded. I'm surprised Ryan never calls him "Electro". If they're magical powers, should they be bound by real-world physics?
There's also the on-again/off-again portrayal of the bad guy, Eli. Like Helen in "Vanity's Mirror", the writers can't seem to decide if the bad guy is an innocent, or a demented killer, or both. Eli is supposedly an innocent man, but then kills teenagers and tortures the innocent Downing with a dental drill. Maybe Eli wasn't so innocent after all? He seems like the type who would kill his girlfriend.
Writer Rob Hedden also fails to establish the electric chair as an "antique". Yes, it's ten years old. But does that make it an antique?
The bright spot is Angelo Rizacos in the first of his three appearances on the show. He's not bad, but really doesn't have a lot to work with because of the topsy-turvy changes in his character, from innocent man to sadistic killer and torturer. Maybe part of the antiques' curse is turning innocent people into jerks?
Still, Rizacos/Eli does good work as the dentist who is "in tune" with the teenagers he treats and then kills for their energy. He portrays the young, hip professional that was popular in TV and movies around this time.
The regulars don't have much to do. The scene at the end with Micki getting her hair splayed out by static electricity is cringe-worthy. Jack is okay, although all of his guesses about Eli's powers and how they work are incessantly 100% right. We do get to see the trio doing some investigation work. It's not great: Jack deduces the alias at the beginning, based on what appears to be a hunch. Sherlock Holmes, he ain't.
So okay episode. Kind of hum-drum, but Rizacos' performance and the nature of the curse (He kills, to get power to get revenge!) makes the episode stand out a bit.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?