Kolchak: The Night Stalker

Again, the writers of "Kolchak" go for a menace outside of the "classic" monsters and come up with a winner. We get spontaneous combustion, as well as a vengeful spirit who inhabits a celebrated music conductor while he sleeps. It sounds a little hokey (which "Kolchak" episode doesn't?), but surprisingly it generates some real frights. The scenes of the doppleganger lurking at the windows of the church, beckoning with a smile for Kolchak to leave hallowed ground, is reminiscent of some scenes from "The Twilight Zone," and the sense of danger throughout is tense.



Usually, Kolchak is on the periphery of the spooky happenings he investigates, but in "Firefall" he is a target of the doppleganger. It raises the stakes for Carl, and puts him into some more frightening situations (he survives two attempts the Doppleganger makes to flambe him). It also makes for some nice comedy inside the INS newsroom, as Kolchak (working on three days of no sleep) tries to stay on his feet. Simon Oakland's dumbfounded discovery that Kolchak has looted the petty cash box is hilarious.



The climax of this one, set in the arcade where Markoff was murdered, is particularly effective. As the fire encircles Kolchak, he commands the spirit to re-enter its body. It reminded me a bit of the ending of "The Zombie," where Kolchak stares down death to return the killer to the grave.

At the beginning, arsonist Franklin Markoff is gunned down at an arcade. During his funeral procession, orchestra conductor Ryder Bond is riding in his car which cuts through the procession. After this, Markoff's spirit "latches" on to Bond and proceeds to kill all of Bond's closest friends by burning them up. Once Kolchak learns of these spontaneous combustion deaths, he investigates Bond and can't figure out how people claim that Bond was hanging around the murder sites when they happened. Kolchak discovers that witnesses were actually seeing a doppleganger, a ghost who appears as someone who is alive. Kolchak finds out that the murder victims died when they fell asleep. If Ryder Bond falls asleep, Markoff will take over Bond's body and soul. If Kolchak falls asleep, the doppleganger will burn him up, too. Kolchak takes Bond to a place he can sleep safely: a church. Kolchak then has to dig up Markoff's body and return it to the place where he died so that Markoff can go back in his body. I find this episode very entertaining. Bond is one of the few people that Carl has encountered that actually believe him. Markoff's son has pyromania issues, too.