I've always liked this episode a lot. OK, it's not up there with the truly great episodes, like "The Invaders" or "Time Enough At Last". But it's fun and funny, with a somewhat thought-provoking premise (what would *you* do in Beechcroft's place?), and a nice performance by Berman.
I guess that a lot of why it resonated with me is that I'm often something of a misanthrope myself. It is a fact that when I'm stuck in traffic, or waiting in an endless line, or just dealing with a noisy, crowded situation, that I'll mutter to myself, consciously quoting Archibald Beechcroft: "People, people, people! Is there no respite? Is there no relief?" Granted, he's not very imaginative in his solution, but I certainly understand his complaint!
To me the biggest flaw, sadly, is the terrible low-budget masks they used to try to create a world of Archibald Beechcrofts. Usually the Zone was able to get by with its low budget in such a way as to not really mar the storytelling, but this one is just glaringly poor. They just don't look enough like him. You don't even find yourself thinking "Well, that was a poor, low budget effect." You find yourself thinking "Wait, are all those people supposed to look like Beechcroft? Yeah, I *guess* they are..."
And as for all the folks who rated this episode too low, all I can say is... people, people, people!
P.S. One review cited the famous quote "Hell is other people" but didn't know the source. The source is, of course, Jean-Paul Sartre, from his play "No Exit". The original French is: L'enfer c'est les autres.
I guess that a lot of why it resonated with me is that I'm often something of a misanthrope myself. It is a fact that when I'm stuck in traffic, or waiting in an endless line, or just dealing with a noisy, crowded situation, that I'll mutter to myself, consciously quoting Archibald Beechcroft: "People, people, people! Is there no respite? Is there no relief?" Granted, he's not very imaginative in his solution, but I certainly understand his complaint!
To me the biggest flaw, sadly, is the terrible low-budget masks they used to try to create a world of Archibald Beechcrofts. Usually the Zone was able to get by with its low budget in such a way as to not really mar the storytelling, but this one is just glaringly poor. They just don't look enough like him. You don't even find yourself thinking "Well, that was a poor, low budget effect." You find yourself thinking "Wait, are all those people supposed to look like Beechcroft? Yeah, I *guess* they are..."
And as for all the folks who rated this episode too low, all I can say is... people, people, people!
P.S. One review cited the famous quote "Hell is other people" but didn't know the source. The source is, of course, Jean-Paul Sartre, from his play "No Exit". The original French is: L'enfer c'est les autres.