Scarecrow's Up at Night #2: TZ Edition

I decided to conclude the early birthday weekend with a run of late series TZ episodes, recorded off early SyFy hours. Seeing unedited episodes wasn’t a necessity, particularly the fifth and final season, at the very end, considering most of them are far down my list of favorites all-time. In fact, none of the episodes I watched late Saturday night, and early Sunday morning, are remotely close to my top 100, except perhaps Mr Garrity and the Graves, a latter episode featuring a hoot of a cast, with Dehner as the supposed con-artist preying on the gullible (and guilty-as-sin) locals of Happiness, AZ. I opened thankfully with it so it set up the right mood, considering that twist at the end left me grinning from the ear to ear…seems Garrity isn’t such a façade after all! If only the town wasn’t harboring secrets they were so ashamed of they would be willing to depart with funds to keep him from resurrecting their dead relatives, relatives, and outlaws! Mr. Garrity and the Graves charms me with its cast of fun characters, with a sheriff hiding behind a lie that he took out an outlaw face to face, a bartender who claims his brother was taken out with a stray bullet when in fact he was responsible, a drunk fibbing about a wife he dearly loved only to admit she left him with broken bones, and others whose buried dead were nuisances in their life. A dog death trick helped Dehner fool them but he didn’t realize his own abilities!  The Brain Center at Whipple’s actually is foreshadowing and somewhat realistic account of a greedy “efficiency expert” whose father was CEO of a company he is gradually unmanning in favor of automation. Those he fires unrepentantly, with no remorse or guilt, either respond by giving him a tongue-lashing, slap to the face, disregard, or even attempted violence towards the machines replacing their years of dedicated labor to the company. Ultimately Richard Deacon finds himself out of a job, fired by the board of directors with Robbie the Robot replacing him! Now that is quite a visual! I just wish Robbie wasn’t used at this point so willy-nilly. I have a figurine of Robbie near by Telly so seeing him even so quickly makes me smile but to me he’s much more than just some prop that appears for thirty seconds. I get why some filmmakers might wish to dispose of their models and props so they aren’t just overused out of the department, even if their destruction absolutely breaks my heart. Deacon is such an asshole, seeing those working for him hearing they will be replaced, I would feel this would be an improvement in their lives considering the kind of dick they were employed by, more or less either used to the job or loyal because of his father, their employer before his son took over and ruined everything. Machines are so commonplace and necessary for today’s workforce, many might consider this episode a relic with some cogent comments that remain as potent a message as ever even as the anti-automation sentiment might be a bit over-the-top. Still a lot of manpower has been replaced by automation so the episode was just a topic worthy of a Twilight Zone spin. Come Wander with Me (I read that this was actually the final TZ episode shot, even as others were shown after it) leaves me mixed. I could care less about Bing’s son, Gary, with his era daddy-o, rockabilly-speak, but I love the dreamlike quality the episode exhibits when he gets lost in the woods, falling into a folktale/folk-song after encountering a young woman with a harmonious voice, singing a tune he desperately wants to buy the rights for and exploit successfully. Some oddball elderly gent in a backwoods music shop never answers him, mentally adrift, avoiding his request for a song to buy. Soon Bonnie Beecher greets him in the woods where he follows her voice of a song, Come Wander with Me, and looks to seduce it away from her, even if he must make promises to her. Eventually hunters intrude upon them, including one with a rifle, resulting in murder and mayhem. For some reason this has unrealized potential, as Gary kills the guy in the music shop for no apparent reason while fleeing the hunters in pursuit. The Fear I have watched like twice this year already it seems. For an episode that is rather a sum of different parts from so many other Twilight Zone episodes, I find myself watching it more often than many other episodes I consider top echelon. I think it is because of Richman and Court…I just love seeing these two in an episode of The Twilight Zone. Even if they start out at each other’s throats. It wasn’t too long ago I wrote about it, but the alien mischief is fun, and Court’s snob, eventually confronting her fear and finding a personality, is nice to watch advance while Richman proves to her that he isn’t so much a country bumpkin as she describes the area’s locals. And this episode works effectively for me at one in the morning. The Bewitchin’ Pool, I’m not sure why I even bothered to waste my time with it. Just the same, I gave it my attention even as Dee Hartford grated on my nerves and the sorry excuse for dubbing (Foray subbing for Badham is just infuriating) never fails to irritate me. However, I have read from TZ fans that this is actually beloved by many who grew up with it, liking the fantasy plot about kids escaping a bad domestic situation with bickering parents into a world with a fictional Mama fun who bakes cakes and lets other children with similar circumstances allowed to play games and have fun.

Soft ratings:

Mr Garrity and the Graves: 4/5

Brain Center at Whipple's: 3.5/5

Come Wander with Me: 2.5/5

The Fear: 2.5/5

The Bewitchin' Pool: 1/5