Playing a popular, newly widowed advice columnist, Carol Lynley is the core focus of this episode, appearing in nearly every scene (the one time she doesn't, she is the topic of conversation). Carol's ethereal beauty and eerie screen presence are put to good use (including the requisite beach stroll), but thin writing leaves viewers with little beyond said presence.
As the episode goes along, there is no real buildup to make us feel like we are a part of her troubled life, while plot developments tend to be hurled at the characters (and at viewers).
For the climax, a terrified Cora, who has received threatening letters and calls at her ocean-view getaway, confesses to her ex-lover that up to this point she had been the one sending herself threatening letters;. she also reveals that she had killed her husband so they could be together. This is certainly dramatic stuff, but as we do not know her or care about her, it's difficult to move beyond a shrug. I would blame the runtime, but many anthology shows (including this one) managed more complicated storytelling with a similar length. Even a few quick establishing shots of her with her lover or with her husband at the start of the episode would have gone a long way.
The most compelling part is the sequence with Cora reading potential letters for her advice column - to be honest, I would have been more interested in an episode on that subject than what we got here.
As the episode goes along, there is no real buildup to make us feel like we are a part of her troubled life, while plot developments tend to be hurled at the characters (and at viewers).
For the climax, a terrified Cora, who has received threatening letters and calls at her ocean-view getaway, confesses to her ex-lover that up to this point she had been the one sending herself threatening letters;. she also reveals that she had killed her husband so they could be together. This is certainly dramatic stuff, but as we do not know her or care about her, it's difficult to move beyond a shrug. I would blame the runtime, but many anthology shows (including this one) managed more complicated storytelling with a similar length. Even a few quick establishing shots of her with her lover or with her husband at the start of the episode would have gone a long way.
The most compelling part is the sequence with Cora reading potential letters for her advice column - to be honest, I would have been more interested in an episode on that subject than what we got here.
