There's a certain amount of inevitability about it. Of course, they can't let one of the trio survive because of a cursed antique. So the scalpel loses it's "charge" and Howlett has to operate on Jack with the unpowered scalpel (I think). And Howlett has to die, so conveniently, he falls on the scalpel.
But Marc Scott Zicree's plot is still a neat bit of clockwork suspense. Howlett has to save Jack to preserve his reputation, but he wants Jack dead. And the scalpel has lost its "charge", so Howlett has to save Jack with his own skills on the operating table rather than using the magic scalpel. We also get some nice characterization of Ryan, who talks about how Jack was like a father to him. And even Robey isn't too bad as she bemoans Jack's potential death.
There's still some sloppy continuity work. Like the plate on Howlett's door saying his first name initial is M, even though everyone calls him Vincent. Which is a shame, because the Easter Egg of Howlett's and his superior's name combining to make "Vincent Price" is cute. Also, they talk about how the scalpel has to be recharged. But later Gorman cuts through everything in his path. Was it "charged" when he saved Jack, or not?
It's also an antique that make sense. It's s a scalpel, in the hands of a doctor. Which makes more sense and is easily to incorporate into the story than a Cupid's statue belonging to a loser, or a cursed tea cup that restores youth. There's a simple connection between doctor and scalpel, which previous antiques have lacked. For instance, tea cup and rock star, or college janitor and Cupid's statue. Huh?
And Cliff Gorman as Dr. Howlett isn't bad. It looks like he's only been in minor roles before and after this episode. Pity he didn't get more work, or at least play a killer on this show one or more times. They brought back Denis Forest, Colm Feore, Nigel Bennett, and Colin Fox, but we never got Gorman again. That's a shame. And some of the suspense comes from Gorman's Howlett realizing that he has to save Jack to preserve his reputation. If he just lets Jack die, most of his problems would be gone. So Howlett has to be a sadistic killer... but also smart enough to work out that he can't be a sadistic killer in that particular situation. It's a nice dichotomy that Gorman portrays well. Gorman's Howlett also makes a nice change from the leering losers we've mostly had so far.
So overall, a nice suspenseful episode. Yes, Howlett's final fate is pretty predictable, thanks to some long establishing shots of crash machines. But even then, we get Jean as a survivor of sorts of the cursed antiques, which gives the story a certain dimensionality that previous episodes have lacked. we've never seen the fallout from people dying because of the antiques before. You also have Price, who ends up relying on a cursed antique to save her hospital. Even though she doesn't know it.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
0 out of 0 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
