stones78 Review of Room with a View/The Little Black Bag/The Nature of the Enemy

Night Gallery: Room with a View/The Little Black Bag/The Nature of the Enemy (1970) Season 1, Episode 2

Mouse on the moon

[19 March 2012]

I'm not terribly surprised by the negative reviews regarding this short episode that Night Gallery is known for, but I thought there were some redeeming qualities, mainly some decent performances by actors Joseph Campanella, Albert Popwell(Dirty Harry), and Jason Wingreen(All in the Family)wasn't that bad either playing a wooden reporter. The first half contained some decent suspense, as a major problem occurs in space and no one knows what the culprit is; there's some interesting communication revolving around missing astronauts between a very wooden and bad acting Steve(astronaut), who's in space, and Simms(Campanella), who's in the control room. The suspicious media have gathered, and both Popwell and Wingreen get some acting credit time, as tension mounts regarding the missing crew; there is a cool scene with both the media and Simms watching as another member screams in space before the video fades, and we still don't know what's happening up there, and we get to see an object which looks like a giant mousetrap on the moon. A few moments later, a member of the ground crew yells into his monitor, as he obviously sees something; unfortunately, the culprit ends up being a giant mouse who's eating the astronauts. I'm all for the unexpected but this a bit of a letdown after the suspense, and if any reviewer on here says they were happy with the conclusion, they're lying though their teeth. If you must watch this short episode, then do so for Campanella's decent performance and a young Popwell before you see him in the Dirty Harry films.