Screenwriter Douglas Rogers is taking a cab to meet with renowned Irish director John Hampton. The cabbie says that Hampton left one wife to take another. He continues, “We know all about him, and can tell far more than we know.” What? Is this a joke? A mistake? An Irish colloquialism? I am too fatigued with RBT to care at this point. This is the last episode I need to watch, and son-of-a-bitch if I don’t have to read the short story too.
Hampton greets Rogers at the door. He immediately begins pulling pages from the file, glancing at them, and dropping them to the floor. After skimming, skipping, and discarding pages, he pronounces, “Damn you, it’s good!” Hampton is distracted by a sound outside. He says it is the titular banshee, “The spirits of women who roam the woods the night someone is to die.”
Hampton challenges Rogers to go outside and have a look. He humors the old drunk and walks into the woods. And walks and walks. He sees nothing for 2 1/2 minutes which, in TV time, is enough to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Then he sees the woman in white. She gazes past Rogers to the house. “Is he in there now,” she asks. “The great animal who walks on two legs. He stays, all others go. Girls are his napkins, women his midnight feast.”
I started transcribing, thinking it would eventually pay off. She droned on for 5 minutes which, in TV time, is enough to hike the Pacific Crest Trail twice. She tells Rogers to go back to the house and send Hampton out.
Blah blah blah.
There is just nothing interesting here to grab onto. The performances were fine. If you want to see a foppish Peter O’Toole chewing the scenery in pair of knickers, this is your lucky day. Me, I just found him annoying. Charles Martin Smith is solid as always. He has shown up on Twilight Zone, Tales from the Crypt, and Outer Limits and always delivered.
I could even imagine the story working on film, but it just was not well-adapted. The long walk into the woods and the long scene with the banshee were excruciating. There were some mind games between the two men which could have been a fun duel, but that too is painful to watch. Finally the last scene is just squandered. An unknown entity rattling the doorknob, if properly set up, is a classic. To be fair, that did create a tiny bit of suspense. However, Rogers fleeing up the stairs for a freeze frame and fade to black was just an utter nothing. It could have been worse — in the short story, Rogers literally jumps into bed and pills the covers over his head.
Other Stuff:
- Nothing to see here.
- Thus endeth RBT.
I know younger people who act superior like the Peter O’Toole character, but that’s because they grew up watching The Disney Channel I suspect. I wonder what creature awaits them in the woods, and if it thinks they use girls as EZ wipes.
Charles Martin Smith seems to pop-up in a lot of Sci-Fi and/or offbeat films and TV, to include two other appearances on this show. He also appeared on “The X Files” 1995 episode “F. Emasculata,” which featured those nasty, pulsating boils which would burst and kill you dead. Smith ended up a victim himself. Also, who can forget “Starman?” As mentioned, he is a good, solid actor.
As for the “Banshee” episode itself? >SNORE<
It’s odd I’d find your blog, considering I’ve just discovered RBT on Amazon in the last month or so, but glad I did. I really like this show, enough to purchase the DVD set. I think I’ll revisit it again… and come back and read some more of your blogs.
I love Hampton in this episode. The way he plays with the writer like a cat toying with a mouse had me thinking he was definitely going to feed the too-good writer to the ban-shee… I was sad it took Hampton. And all without a single wail…
You get the feeling that Hampton is the physical/spirtual descendant of the Banshee’s lost love “Will.” The first part of the episode is that Hampton is setting Rogers up as a sacrafice for the Banshee; the twist is that Rogers actually listens to the Banshee tale of Betrayed love and going back to Hampton dares Hampton to confront the Banshee as he had; although he does at the last minuite try to stop Hampton; Hampton is so egotistial that he thinks Rogers is trying to trick him just to get back at Hampton for making a fool of Rogers….
First time I watched it, I sympathized with the young writer who felt psychologically terrorized by the ‘sadistic’ renown director, played by Peter O’Toole.
Second time, however, my sympathies switched (imagine my surprise) to the director, not the writer – here’s why: the young writer visits Hampton, but we have no idea the reason or the motivation. Is he seeking advice? Counsel? Validation? Does he seek to convince Hampton to direct his screenplay? And what’s in it for Hampton?
Since Hampton validates Rogers’ writing early on, it would be “mission accomplished”, so is there another motive? When Rogers steps outside and encounters “the banshee”, why does he then entice the elder Hampton to take a look for himself? Is having the banshee devour Hampton some kind of karmic retribution for his callous insensitivity, or morose sense of humor? Furthermore, why does Rogers not rescue Hampton when he pleads to be let back inside the house – his house?
The episode ends with Rogers cowering inside with fear? Really? I think I liked Charles Martin Smith better when he was worried about his son’s mushroom-raising habits in the basement.