It's a non-antique episode! Johnny even gaslights that fact, telling Micki that not everything they encounter has to involve cursed antiques. Instead, it's a pretty standard mix of tropes. The dead come back during a planetary configuration, and there's a headless "horseman" involved. That gets gaslit as well, when one young townsperson notes that the town parents created their own version of the story as a local legend.
And headless motorcyclist FX aren't any better than the ones we got in 'Kolchak: The Night Stalker" 10+ years previously.
Jack is reunited with his father Cawley (Dennis Thatcher). And Thatcher is good. It's just a shame that Jack never mentioned his absent father before. Gone are the days when the production staff set up something like the death of Ryan's brother and it pays off two years later. It's also a shame that Thatcher didn't appear in much. His resemblance to Jack is strong, and it's interesting to see an older character with father issues.
The funny thing is that Cawley doesn't do anything for the plot. Jack never really gets closure with him, and as even Cawley notes, he didn't do anything with his second chance. Cawley basically sits around and expositions a lot, and tells the townspeople to spill their guts. That, and stand around looking like W. Morgan Sheppard. But Thatcher is effective playing Cawley, for all that.
It's an American show, so of course a male lead has father issues. We've seen Ryan's father, and Johnny's father, and now Jack's father. We never see Micki's father.
And Cawley seems incomprehensibly enigmatic. He even says that it's time for the truth to come out. Pity he didn't do that with his own father. Everyone plays the pronoun game, talking about "him" and "them" and things that happened in the past. But they don't go into details, when they have the kinds of conversations where people either go into specifics, or not talk about what happened because they already know. Writer Jim Henshaw does the usual writing trick of having the characters tell each other what's happening so the audience can figure something is going on, but don't have them say enough for the audience to suss out what the "secret" actually is until the last act.
The story doesn't make much sense. Even Cawley shrugs and kinda says, "Since the convergence is happening again, why shouldn't everything else happens the same as well?" The Riders appear on a stretch of highway, Cawley the ghost arrives in town hitchhiking with a trucker, and the Dragon can't emerge from his grave until the people who killed him originally all died. So... did the other Riders have to be there before the Dragon could come back to life? What if Cynthia, Randall, and Craydon had died before the convergence occurred?
Why is Jack in Delight for the convergence? He says that he comes there regularly to see the stars, but what is so special about stargazing in Delight? Cawley was just passing through, and Jack says that he doesn't connect his father with the town. Plus Cawley notes that everything is just like it was 17 years ago. But Jack, Micki, and Johnny weren't there 17 years ago: that's a change in the pattern.
But Wiggins and Thatcher give it their all. Everyone else is unforgettable, including Robey and Monarque. Micki sits around and frets a lot, and Johnny digs a grave. Woo. Hoo. 80s Hey It's That Guy George Buza is probably the most impressive other cast member, and he doesn't even get a name.
But it's a good episode despite the lack of coherence and the minimal acting. Wiggins and Thatcher sell it, and the concept of the Dragon is cool. And the fact that the trio are dealing with a non-antique supernatural event is a little strange, but it's not like it's the first time.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
And headless motorcyclist FX aren't any better than the ones we got in 'Kolchak: The Night Stalker" 10+ years previously.
Jack is reunited with his father Cawley (Dennis Thatcher). And Thatcher is good. It's just a shame that Jack never mentioned his absent father before. Gone are the days when the production staff set up something like the death of Ryan's brother and it pays off two years later. It's also a shame that Thatcher didn't appear in much. His resemblance to Jack is strong, and it's interesting to see an older character with father issues.
The funny thing is that Cawley doesn't do anything for the plot. Jack never really gets closure with him, and as even Cawley notes, he didn't do anything with his second chance. Cawley basically sits around and expositions a lot, and tells the townspeople to spill their guts. That, and stand around looking like W. Morgan Sheppard. But Thatcher is effective playing Cawley, for all that.
It's an American show, so of course a male lead has father issues. We've seen Ryan's father, and Johnny's father, and now Jack's father. We never see Micki's father.
And Cawley seems incomprehensibly enigmatic. He even says that it's time for the truth to come out. Pity he didn't do that with his own father. Everyone plays the pronoun game, talking about "him" and "them" and things that happened in the past. But they don't go into details, when they have the kinds of conversations where people either go into specifics, or not talk about what happened because they already know. Writer Jim Henshaw does the usual writing trick of having the characters tell each other what's happening so the audience can figure something is going on, but don't have them say enough for the audience to suss out what the "secret" actually is until the last act.
The story doesn't make much sense. Even Cawley shrugs and kinda says, "Since the convergence is happening again, why shouldn't everything else happens the same as well?" The Riders appear on a stretch of highway, Cawley the ghost arrives in town hitchhiking with a trucker, and the Dragon can't emerge from his grave until the people who killed him originally all died. So... did the other Riders have to be there before the Dragon could come back to life? What if Cynthia, Randall, and Craydon had died before the convergence occurred?
Why is Jack in Delight for the convergence? He says that he comes there regularly to see the stars, but what is so special about stargazing in Delight? Cawley was just passing through, and Jack says that he doesn't connect his father with the town. Plus Cawley notes that everything is just like it was 17 years ago. But Jack, Micki, and Johnny weren't there 17 years ago: that's a change in the pattern.
But Wiggins and Thatcher give it their all. Everyone else is unforgettable, including Robey and Monarque. Micki sits around and frets a lot, and Johnny digs a grave. Woo. Hoo. 80s Hey It's That Guy George Buza is probably the most impressive other cast member, and he doesn't even get a name.
But it's a good episode despite the lack of coherence and the minimal acting. Wiggins and Thatcher sell it, and the concept of the Dragon is cool. And the fact that the trio are dealing with a non-antique supernatural event is a little strange, but it's not like it's the first time.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
