REACTION: This episode was a bit of a letdown for me. She can run, but she can’t hide from Dan forever! Will he carry out revenge on her for inadvertently causing the death of his brother, or will he have a change of heart? RECAP: A mafia man named Dan, fresh out of prison, tracks down a woman that he blames for the death of his brother, who was killed by the police. STARRING: GENE BARRY, NANCY GATES AND MAXINE COOPER Pat Hitchcock’s performance gives off just the right mix of paranoia and frustration as she contends with the hotel workers, who are reluctant to help her search for her mother, and even go to great lengths to stop her from discovering the truth. REACTION: Despite the familiarity of the premise, this episode is completely engrossing. Pat Hitchcock plays Diane Winthrop, a young woman who embarks on a frantic search for the truth after her ill mother disappears from their hotel room. RECAP: Hitchcock’s daughter stars in this version of the familiar “person disappearing into thin air” premise, which Hitchcock himself explored in his film The Lady Vanishes. STARRING PAT HITCHCOCK, GEOFFREY TOONE AND ALAN NAPIER I also like the character of the wife, who makes an interesting progression throughout the short episode. REACTION: This episode has a somewhat slower pace and less suspense than the first three episodes, but there are some very good twists, including an enormous shocker at the end. But an overbearing investigator doesn’t quite believe the husband when he says that his wife has disappeared, leading to complications in their plan. The catch? The wife must leave town and stay in hiding for seven years so she can legally be declared dead, at which point her husband will be able to collect the money. RECAP: A couple schemes to fake the wife’s death in order to collect insurance money. STARRING: SIDNEY BLACKMER, VIRGINIA GREGG AND ROBERT EMHARDT SEASON 1, EPISODE 4: “DON’T COME BACK ALIVE” It’s a twist that brings the silliness back to the story without diminishing those few minutes of fear that the viewer experienced. Hitchcock delivers the big surprise in his reflective outro rather than through the action itself. REACTION: This episode starts out a bit silly but builds fantastic tension near the end. But a local restaurant owner named Maggie is determined to stop these men from taking their lives, with the help of a home-cooked meal and a cuckoo clock! Two men decide to play a dangerous game of waiting to see who will kill the other first after a falling out over a gambling feud. RECAP: “Triggers in Leash” features that trademark Hitchcock-approved suspense with a Western twist. STARRING: GENE BARRY, DARREN MCGAVIN AND ELLEN CORBY It manages an ending that is both surprising and terribly sad, inducing sympathy for the entire family. REACTION: This episode makes the viewer suspicious of just about everyone except the man returning home from Europe, who seems genuinely shocked by his father’s death and almost gives off an air of innocence. RECAP: A man returns home from Europe to reconnect with his family, only to find that his father passed away four years earlier… and no one has informed him of the death, nor are they willing to give up the truth of how it happened. STARRING: JOHN FORSYTHE, WARREN STEVENS AND CLORIS LEACHMAN This first episode of the series kicks the viewer with two huge surprises, hooking the audience into this story and ensuring that they’ll be returning for further episodes. It’s equal parts psychological thriller and revenge tale, and Hitchcock (along with writers Francis Cockrell and Samuel Blas) balance the two sides of the story absolutely perfectly. REACTION: This is one of my favorite episodes in the series. All seems to be going much better for the couple at their new temporary home, until the woman allegedly gets assaulted one day by a “traveling salesman” while her husband is at work. RECAP: A woman who has suffered an emotional breakdown has temporarily moved to a beachfront mobile park with her husband. STARRING: RALPH MEEKER, VERA MILES AND FRANCES BAVIER I recently decided to work my way through the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television series in chronological order, to catch the episodes I’ve never seen and re-watch the ones I’ve loved for years! The following are brief recaps and reviews for the first six episodes of my seemingly never-ending marathon. Alfred Hitchcock is one of my favorite directors and one of my favorite people in general.
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