Life, Liberation and the Pursuit of Death

Below average for this series which I enjoyed a lot on the whole, the storyline initially was fine but became quite sketchy and laboured, the lady witness who was a highly strung advertising executive was poorly portrayed and a bit over the top, overall a disappointing episode. The acting was mediocre too and the way they got to the conclusion was flimsy to say the least , with little evidence and some wayward findings of the origin of a cardboard box from the Far East , the assumption to what it contained was a complete guess and a little far fetched to say the least by the finding a piece of copper pipe .

Two college punks who aren't happy about their grades, confront the professor and plan to blackmail him into changing his grades.

The problem: one of the dummies accidentally kills the teacher. Now the two of them, being the good citizens they are, decide to compound matters by dumping the prof's body into the water. Another problem: there is a witness to this, a stressed-out woman who hiding nearby in back of a truck.

The stress on her is her job, trying to succeed as an advertising executive. She's on medication and is ready to unravel.

Now the real story arrives for the rest of the episode. The witness "Lorelei" (Joanna Miles) comes forth to identify one of the men and while he's put away, the other begins a campaign of terror against the witness, trying to proves she's too unstable to talk at a trial. The show becomes very suspenseful as this woman is put through mental hell.

Miles is interesting as the witness. One of the young crooks ("Carey") was played by William Katt, who went on to TV fame about six years later in "The Greatest American Hero." He ain't a hero in this story.

"Life, Liberation and the Pursuit of Death" begins with a rather senseless murder. A college student hates his professor so he kills him in front of the killer's friends. They agree to keep this a secret...though why certainly is confusing...as well as why to kill the guy in the first place. It just doesn't seem all that logical.

There is a witness to the killing and the psychology students decide to use psychology to try to drive the witness out of her mind.

So why was I left cold by this one? Well, it wasn't just the senselessness of the killing and the conspiracy but how quickly they took a professional woman and turned her into a babbling headcase...well, it seemes ridiculous and strained my normal suspension of disbelief past the breaking point. Overall, a very weak episode due entirely to the weird script.

What in heck has happened to this show? It has become a farce! What TV executive acts like this? Like it's played for laughs, but no one's acting like it's funny.

Combine this wacko over the top behavior (not to mention she's dumb as a box of rocks) with the the blatantly sexist undertones and this whole plotline is absolutely cringewothy.

Also, note to Set Design: What kind of bed is this executive sleeping on? It looks like a twin bed with a nightstand is a headboard.

Oh god now comes the "I shoulda stayed a nice housewife with my rich husband" line that is supposed to be a learning point -> So sexist!

Other comments: The opening Dark Shadows-y type music did not seem to fit with the episode. There was no element of the occult.

What is the reason for dark-haired criminal guy taking the risk of sneaking into the apartment when he's expecting her to die of the pills anyway?

Weird endng with Kojak trying to hose down an overly enthusiastic Crocker a la "Patience, Grasshopper"

Oddly, in my area they followed the episode with an 800 mental health hotline message.

I give this 3 stars due to the Incredulity Entertainment Quotient, otherwise it would be a 1-star!