This began for me as a desperate, late episode (the series had a few at the end), but it set us up for one of the best endings ever. A shy woman who works in a pharmacy can't show enough courage to get men to notice her. She wastes her time on romance magazines. One night, a cat come into her house and it turns out it can turn itself into a sexy Frenchman, a kind of Casanova who has spent years going from woman to woman. This is so exciting for her and she has considerable dalliance with him. But he is a cad and one night shows his true colors. But the writer is holding back his best pitch for the very end. Great fun.
5 Reviews
Clever Little Story About Finding Self Confidence
chrstphrtully4 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Pharmacy worker Andrea Moffett (Pamela Bellwood) spends most of her free time reading romance novels and fantasizing about her own romantic life, while somewhat oblivious to the available prospects around her. One evening, she takes in what appears to be a stray cat that turns out to be a French roué (Page Fletcher), who's been effectively condemned to roam throughout time in the body of a cat, and who's more than slightly interested in plying his wiles on Andrea.
Christy Marx's script cleverly counterpoints Andrea's lack of self-confidence and her desire to escape into her romantic fantasies with the unabashedly hedonistic tendencies of the roué and of her own co-worker (Gwynyth Walsh, who plays a critical role in the final plot twist). The story takes Andrea down a road where she becomes more emotionally dependent upon the roué for her self-worth, before finally making her necessary turn for the better; at the same time, the final plot twist is a marvelous two-fer, that pretty much defines the term "just desserts." Bellwood is very good here, believably giving us a woman who comes dangerously close to allowing herself to being defined in a submissive way through her sexuality, while at the same time presenting us with a likable and intelligent protagonist. Fletcher is also very good, giving us just enough smarm to make Bellwood's attraction to him relatable, while still more or less acting as the human equivalent of an unfixed tomcat.
While there are no great moral lessons here, the episode is a lot of fun and, as for that twist, ouch!
Christy Marx's script cleverly counterpoints Andrea's lack of self-confidence and her desire to escape into her romantic fantasies with the unabashedly hedonistic tendencies of the roué and of her own co-worker (Gwynyth Walsh, who plays a critical role in the final plot twist). The story takes Andrea down a road where she becomes more emotionally dependent upon the roué for her self-worth, before finally making her necessary turn for the better; at the same time, the final plot twist is a marvelous two-fer, that pretty much defines the term "just desserts." Bellwood is very good here, believably giving us a woman who comes dangerously close to allowing herself to being defined in a submissive way through her sexuality, while at the same time presenting us with a likable and intelligent protagonist. Fletcher is also very good, giving us just enough smarm to make Bellwood's attraction to him relatable, while still more or less acting as the human equivalent of an unfixed tomcat.
While there are no great moral lessons here, the episode is a lot of fun and, as for that twist, ouch!
The Twilight Zone - Cat and Mouse
Scarecrow-8817 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Page Fletcher, of The Hitchhiker fame, is a literal and figurative tomcat, arriving into the life of lonely romantic-book obsessive, Andrea (Pamela Bellwood). Fletcher's Parisian, Guillaume de Marchaux, is more than a bit of a lothario, cursed to be a black cat by day and allowed to play as a skirt-chasing seducer by night. Andrea is but another conquest, seduced by Guillaume to be a sexual partner and follow his every whim
until he tires of her with eyes on her colleague at a department store (Gwynyth Walsh). John Blackwood is the pharmacist who is interested in Andrea but he doesn't fit the model of her ideal hunk. Fletcher tries to lay on a little bit of a French accent, with mannerisms of a Casanova, cast for his obvious good looks. He gets to play against type, which is a fun departure. Pamela Bellwood's emerging from her weak-kneed puppet serving Fletcher a dish quite cold in her revenge for his treatment of her by episode's end with that some tricked coffee and a trip to the vet's office leaves quite an impression and a warning to other guys taking advantage of the love of a woman. Clever, adult script takes a fanciful premise and applies relationship 80s modern touches to it.
Two can play the rough tough game of love.
blanbrn29 August 2019
This "Twilight Zone" episode from season 3 called "Cat and Mouse" is clever and fun proving that love is war and tough. It involves a lonely drugstore clerk named Andrea who reads romance novels all the time and she hopes for mister right someday. Only soon she sees this prince and mister right in her apartment in the form of a cat! However the human man is that of a sexy Frenchman("The Hitchhiker's" Page Fletcher) and just like with anyone love and the opposite sexes becomes a game of cat and mouse. Only Andrea will learn to fight the battle of love! Overall neat and clever fairy tale like episode.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
