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Night Stalker Season 1 Episode 3

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8.6

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 10/13/05

After a co-ed dies in a bizarre accident relating to her deepest fear, Kolchak investigates a strange college society that performs rituals in a mysterious old house.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (7)

BRING IT BACK!!!

10

By onerunningman, Mar 24, 2006

Bring back NIGHT STALKER what in the world was the network thinking????? With only a few winners left on TV (i.e. House MD; Prison Break; Invasion), we lose one of the best? Night Stalker in the 70's with Darren McGavin was absolutely OUTSTANDING!!! I really think all the fans of this show need to unite and get this show back on the air!!!
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A girl dies trying to get into a secret society. Hazing or Homicide?

8.0

By danasdude, Oct 27, 2005

Sooner or later people come face to face with their fears. Some face them head on and others cower in terror. This episode presents a third option which is find yourself in the morgue.

A girl drowns in a bathtub with no running water. This would come off as a little strange. However, it proves to be pivotal to the plotline.

Previous episodes have tipped their hands way too early. This one keeps the twist pretty close to the vest.

The attempt to add some depth to Gabrielle Union's character falls a little flat. Saying that she used to be in a secret society without saying she was in the society is pretty lame. I almost expected a wink wink and nod nod.moreless
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Great episode.

8.5

By d_parker, Oct 24, 2005

Now this is why I watch this show.

Best episode to date in my opinion and although the end was a bit over the top I can live with that.

I'm not convinced that the characters of Perri Reed or Jimmy Olson add to the show and I'd rather the show focus on Kolchak. I'm watching Night Stalker singular not plural.
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this episode is great

10

By malyon_girl, Oct 16, 2005

exactly how i imagined , this Tv series is gettig better from one week to another. i really like it, and the characters started to have some sense of humor too. i hope it continues this way. there were some moments so intense that really captured me. i can't wait for the next week.good job!
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The writing improves, but will the graphic nature of the series lead to an early cancellation?

7.0

By entil2001, Oct 15, 2005

As far as I’m concerned, this is the best episode of the series thus far, if only because the mystery at the heart of the episode got under my skin somewhat and the characters actually showed some signs of a sense of humor. Sure, the whole “secret society” thing didn’t work as well as I would have liked, but the haunting aspect was just plain unnerving.

Making Perri part of some unknown secret society does add an interesting level to her character, since it provides some assurance that she can keep things in confidence when they are important enough. That’s critical to her relationship to Kolchak. At the same time, Kolchak is never going to know if Perri is telling him everything he needs to know, because he’ll wonder if she’s playing to other loyalties. It’s a small character point, but one that could be fun to explore in the future.

The deaths in this episode were very well done, and they were definitely pushing towards the graphic side. I found it interesting that the victims died in ways that conventional forensics could never fully explain, yet there was no attempt to show anyone other than Kolchak and his allies looking for an answer. It continues to paint the picture that the writers made part of the premise: when these things happen, society at large finds a way to make them consistent with consensual reality.

I knew that something more than the secret society had to be at play, but I must admit, I didn’t see that violent flashback coming at all. That was the part I found very unnerving. Part of it is the fact that I have a young son who couldn’t have been much older than the boy who died from fear. As much as I hate it when writers use young children as an easy way to generate sympathy or emotional response, this time I fell for it. It didn’t matter that I knew it was happening!

As much as the incredibly dark and uncompromising tone of the series is a good thing, in terms of the storytelling, I think it’s making it very hard for the general audience to accept it. This series is up against “CSI”, so there’s a need to match the more shocking elements of that series (at least, a perceived need), but the graphic nature of the material could be more than most viewers can handle.

Right now, of course, the writers are trying to establish a certain hyper-reality with the series, right down to the fact that Kolchak is a “cool” character who can run against conventional wisdom with little or no trouble. In essence, Kolchak committed arson at the end of the episode, which is an odd thing for the writers to ask the viewers to accept. Once again, Kolchak does something that law enforcement would find questionable. Sooner or later, all of this should come back to haunt him, especially if the writers are hoping to establish any semblance of an overall plot arc. Then again, right now, I’m not sure that the series needs to go there just yet.

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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Stuart Townsend	Carl Kolchak
Gabrielle Union	Perri Reed
Eric Jungmann	Jain McManus
Cotter Smith	Anthony Vincenzo

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Yancey Arias	Professor Richard Carr	Guest Star
Gil McKinney	Jack Mercer	Guest Star
Eugene Byrd	Alex Nyby	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (5)
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- Alex: Excuse me, Perri Reed, right? Do you like basketball. (she snickers) What? It's the corpses, right?
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- Perri: What are you, an orderly?
  Alex: "Pathology Specialist."
  Perri: Whatever!
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- Kolchak: (opening monologue) Fear has its own physiology - primal responses to threat. The quickened heart, the sweaty palm, the panic that chokes in the throat. Making time seem to stand still. We are born with these instincts to flee danger from the world outside us, to survive. But there's no place to run when the dangers come not from outside us, but from ourselves.
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- Kolchak: (closing monologue) Fueled by memory, fear takes form. Becoming a thing that lives long after death. Residing not just in our hearts, but in the hidden bonds between us. Fear so powerful can not be escaped, but it can be destroyed.
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- Vincenzo: Start with certainties, and you will end up with doubts.
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NOTES (2)
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- The DVD features a deleted scene of Nyby showing Kolchak and Perri the body of Professor Carr. Carl pays Nyby off with ballet tickets, which Nyby then uses to try and get Perri to go on a date with him. This scene was later incorporated into "Into Night."
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- Yancey Arias is listed as Special Guest Star.
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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  The show Charles Dunmore is watching in 1994 is the pilot episode of My So-Called Life, which aired August 25, 1994.
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