Night Visions – Neighborhood Watch (08/16/01)

nvneighborhood1Rollins’ Intro:  A monster has moved into 2460 Terrell Street.  Family man Jim Osgoode must now battle the beast.

The Osgoodes (Apt 207) receive a letter informing them that a convicted sex offender has moved into their condo complex (Apt 221).  Sally’s husband Jim isn’t too concerned, thinking a parole officer or someone must be keeping an eye on him.  Or he suggests that maybe the guy did something not-so-bad, like being a flasher.  Just when ya have Jim pegged as an idiot, he states that he is a lawyer; so asshole is probably more accurate.

Sally expects him to “do something,” but his natural inclination to protect the criminal kicks in.  OK, to be fair, I think he is concerned, but at a loss over what can be done . . . thanks to a system corrupted by people like him.  So I still don’t let him off the hook.

Some neighbors drop by after receiving the same warning letter.  They get out the binoculars and check out the perv through a window across the courtyard.  It would be easy to get sanctimonious about quick they are to indulge in some creepy behavior . . . but they do see the childless man unpacking some toys.

nvneighborhood3It pains me to say it, but the lawyer is the voice of reason here.  He counters that his uncle collected race cars.  Probably his unmarried uncle, but still.  When the mob is just about ready to do a drive-by shooting from the Welcome Wagon, Jim talks them back down to sanity.

The next day, Sally is watching over the kids at the Condo’s playground. Unfortunately, the new neighbor comes down and sits on a bench near the kids.  We can tell he is evil because he is kept out-of-focus in the background.  Of course, with this lousy YouTube transfer, the foreground looks equally evil.  Sally gathers the kids up and hustles them back home.

The Osgoodes install bars on the windows and are looking into motion detectors.  As Sally is talking to the contractor, their daughter Janey goes outside alone.  Sally catches a glimpse of her daughter as the elevator door closes in front of her and the perv.  Sally runs down the stairs to meet the elevator.  When it opens, her daughter gets out and says the man just went to the basement to throw out some boxes.

nvneighborhood6The grown-up mob reconvenes and they agree it is time to send this guy a message.  The kiddie mob convenes at a sleepover and the girls dare Janey to go to the man’s unit, er condo, and bring back proof that she was there.

The menfolk man-up, get their testosterone flowing and react like alpha male brutes — they go to the parking lot and key the man’s car, break a window and start whacking it with a hammer.

Janey climbs up a trellis and into the man’s window.  She selects a toy to steal, but the man comes back home at that second.  As she tries to escape, the man rips a handful of her pajamas.  When the police can’t help, the neighbors agree it is time to stop him for good.  Jim is chosen to pay him a visit.

Jim kills him with one shot.  His neighbors provide an alibi for each other.  Unfortunately, the next day, the Osgoodes receive a letter stating that the previous letter contained an error — the sex offender actually moved into 212 rather than 221.  D’oh!

Post-Post:

  • Rollins’ Closing:  There’s still a monster living at 2460 Terrell Street and every time he looks in the mirror, Jim Osgoode will see it.  I really wanted this to be an error, but the complex is at 2460, and units were indeed different numbers.
  • Although that 2nd floor seems to be a cesspool of perversion, voyeurism and murder.

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