Deadly Intentions

Deadly Intentions, based on the book by William Randolph Stevens, tells the story of Katherine, a young woman who lives with her parents, loves children, and dreams of one day being a fully-fledged teacher.

Charles Raynor is young medical student with a promising future as a doctor; he falls in love with Katherine one evening on his birthday at the family home and the two eventually get married, much to the disapproval of his mother, Charlotte.

Pretty soon into the marriage, Katherine begins to notice changes in Charles' behavior and demeanor, particularly toward her after learning she is pregnant with his child. When she informs him of this, he expresses disappointment, as if he isn't ready to be a father.

Charles enjoys being mean to Katherine, regularly pushing her buttons, in order to get a reaction. She is frustrated with some of his childish antics, but Charles just laughs at her.

He is a narcissist, sadist, psychopath, master manipulator, and a little on the nutty side. He is also a something of a "mama's boy" since his mother always seems to play a major part in his life.

When Katherine does eventually leave Charles for good, he hatches various plans to find her and kill her for it, hence the title, "Deadly Intentions". She has to stay a step ahead of him to prevent a possible bad outcome for both her and her son.

I have only ever seen this ONCE on TV. Michael Biehn is brilliant as Dr. Charles Raynor, Madolyn Smith Osborne is also great as his tormented wife Katherine, and Cloris Leachman as Charles' influential/busybody mother. The story makes a point that some people aren't who they appear to be; you can't always rely on first impressions.

This 2-part teleplay (which goes for almost 3 hours) is worth a look if you haven't seen it.