The balding, middle-aged, colorless Mr. Appleby likes a well-ordered life. He gets it in his antiques shop, where he's become so fond of these ancient artifacts that he keeps turning away customers. Then he's visited by one of his Turkish suppliers who wants twelve thousand dollars immediately. Disaster looms large in Mr. Appleby's future.
And that well-ordered life? He certainly doesn't get it at home. His wife is a sloppy, loud-mouthed nag.
So he murders her for her insurance money by pulling a rug out from under her feet, and good riddance.
Then he remarries. This is a bad mistake for Mr. Appleby, as it is for so many of the rest of us. I'm telling you, you can't trust anybody, especially a spouse.
But the viewer can't help noticing, if he or she pays any attention at all, that much less effort went into episodes like this than went into feature films, even the cheapest. For instance, the love of Mr. Appleby's life is his antiques. Yet we're never given a chance to see him appreciating them, fondling them, or even talking about them. He rushes to a customer saying, "I wish you wouldn't handle the item." And that's it.
I want the guy to be obsessed with those antiques, willing to commit murder to keep them. It wouldn't have taken much more in the way of time or money to give the point a few second of screen time, but the writers didn't bother.
And that well-ordered life? He certainly doesn't get it at home. His wife is a sloppy, loud-mouthed nag.
So he murders her for her insurance money by pulling a rug out from under her feet, and good riddance.
Then he remarries. This is a bad mistake for Mr. Appleby, as it is for so many of the rest of us. I'm telling you, you can't trust anybody, especially a spouse.
But the viewer can't help noticing, if he or she pays any attention at all, that much less effort went into episodes like this than went into feature films, even the cheapest. For instance, the love of Mr. Appleby's life is his antiques. Yet we're never given a chance to see him appreciating them, fondling them, or even talking about them. He rushes to a customer saying, "I wish you wouldn't handle the item." And that's it.
I want the guy to be obsessed with those antiques, willing to commit murder to keep them. It wouldn't have taken much more in the way of time or money to give the point a few second of screen time, but the writers didn't bother.