Sean Astin is good! And like in LotR, he starts with a silly, supporting character, and ends with our love and sympathy. And two scenes are what we need to love him, when he manages to make us see his feelings only with his expression (something that, for me, only the best can achieve):
1. When he escapes the demo-dog, he looks at Joyce and we shows in his expression not relief for surviving, his face says "I love this woman, and now I can spend the rest of my life with her. I, the nerd, survived, and now I have the chance to be with the girl, to get the reward of having the love of my life"
2. He dies, a stupid, violent death, but his face, lying there being devoured by the demo-dogs, is not one of terror or pain or agony, but an expression of surprise, of doubt, I could say. His faces says "What happened? I did all right, I did my best, I survived against all odds, I was about to get my reward, a happy life with the woman of my dreams... Why I died? This is not right!"
Sean Astin is the man! Even gaining silly roles, he turns them into charismatic people that we can't NOT love!
This episode is amazing, even being partially a clichê!
Too bad we won't see Bob Newby again (even his name is lame, but he's Sean Astin, so...)
Review of Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer
