Spur of the Moment

A young woman in white is out horseback riding near her father's estate. On a ridge she sees a maniacal black figure. A middle aged woman who screams and then pursues her back to the house. She backs off as the young woman gets to her destination. The young woman is to be married soon to an accountant. As her father and fiancé try to comfort her, a handsome young man comes to the door to see her. Apparently, he is quite taken with her but has been told to stay away. There is obviously a spark still there. The father eventually pulls a gun on him. The father is a dominating figure and always gets his way. The rest of the episode is about the future results of these actions. We have two figures of the same person at different times in their lives; yet they are in the same time dimension. We get to see what will happen and it is not pretty. Quite a good episode with a lot of unanswered questions about what can be and what will be.

I have given this episode a 7/10, but keep in mind that is on a scale in comparison to the rest of TZ episodes.

Rarely do TZ episodes truly give me the creeps, but this episode does. It is almost horrific in a way. I love TZ for so much, and being creepy is naturally a part of it. However, with this episode it is just disturbing. The reoccurring scenes and the simplicity of the makeup and long black hair are probably what makes this simple episode so frightening.

If you don't see this episode for everything it truly is then you won't be as disturbed by it. However, all the same, you should watch it. XD

This story sounds very like a soap opera, not at all the usual TZ atmosphere. But why not? It is rather agreeable to watch, but also an episode you will rapidly forget. We have seen worse in the show, but that doesn't make this one a true masterpiece. It will ravish the whole family, though, and speaking of this, I am sure the story was precisely written for the largest audiences, including the grandma and nieces. Me, well, I was a bit bored, and I am sure I am not an exception. It really sounds like a soap opera. Not my stuff. But I hope you will enjoy it, more than I did. For me that's not the lousiest but the most boring episode of the whole series.

An eerie opening makes this one seem a lot more promising than it turns out to be. Anne (Diana Hyland),age 18, is out riding when she gets pursued by an older, black-cloaked, scary woman also on horseback screaming 'Anne'. Poetic, haunting sort of imagery for what was also a great plot idea idea from the great Richard Matheson. Unfortunately it all gets done in such a soap-like way. The characters don't generate much interest, not even Anne ,a spoiled rich girl, who needs to be more sympathetic for this to work. The chance is wasted to explore the subject matter deeper. If only this had been in the first series when Rod Serling saw to it that almost all the stories received a polished production! There is a clever dual perspective about it, but sadly it gets somewhat unseated in the middle.

Based on a short story by Richard Matheson this is an episode that had so much potential and although not bad ends up coming off a bit short. It goes without saying having watched "Spur of the Moment" that It's plot was fairly innovative and it's denouement a haunting one. Ultimately a cautionary tale about the choices that are made in life and how those who make them have to live with said decisions is one that we can all relate to, It's a shame then that with the slipshod way the story is handled that it quickly becomes predictable how it will pan out. The acting doesn't help either with Diane Hyland as the central protagonist hamming it up in her later scenes, chewing the scenery so that would have made Bette Davis blush. Co-star Roger Davis doesn't help much either although the rest of the cast put in adequate enough performances despite although this still can't quite make up for it.

In the end It's thematic premise makes it tolerable but you can't escape knowing that it could have been so much better than what it was.