This was another of the many first season episodes I'm not crazy about.
But it did introduce a creepy idea: medical experimentation on an immortal. Fortunately, it didn't delve too far into this topic. (I'm a wuss, I admit it.) One thing they should have explored and didn't: what would blood tests and tissue samples tell us about immortals? Would they be much the same as regular humans? Drastically different? Would blood transfusions from an immortal extend a mortal life?
The medical staff left a critical patient alone right after he was admitted. Yes, they did this so that Duncan could get up and stagger out, but it was bad writing. The fact that Randi was unable to find medical records for Duncan and thought it was significant was off, too. What if he was a normal guy who grew up in another state or country? And while I'm bitching, the kindest thing we can say about the camera going off and falling in the water was that it was freaking far fetched.
Randi McFarland was back in the cast, and conveniently hanging around when Duncan was the victim of a hit and run. She showed that she was both bullheaded as well as unacquainted with horror movies. Come on, Randi. You never go down into a basement with a suspicious man. Clearly, they only have her listed when she's actually in the episode, since she comes and goes. Frankly, she should go and keep going. She does nothing for me.
Flashbacks:
— There weren't any.
Bits and pieces:
— Joe Pantoliano, who played ooky serial killer Dr. Wilder, has since become pretty well known.
— We got yet another forgettable cop: Sergeant Herald.
— This one established that immortals are affected by drugs like everyone else, and that they heal with little sparkly flashes of light.
— At one point, Duncan was reading a paper with the word "Seattle" on it.
— I may have just visually transposed the letters, but I could swear that Randi's television station was KLCA, and then it turned into KCLA. KCLA is a station in Los Angeles.
— There were framed medical instruments and pictures of human organs on Wilder's basement walls. Nice touch.
— Poor, intelligence-challenged Nurse Barbara. The moral of the story is not to chase a creepy guy, even if he's a moderately cute doctor with prospects.
— Randi's boss: "How do you think Barbara Walters got started?" Randi: "Speech therapy?"
It was better than the pilot and "Mountain Men," but still pretty awful. One star,
Billie
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Billie Doux knows that there can be only one.
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