User Reviews

This is a companion piece to "Home is the Hunted", (1/7/64), where Kimble returns to his hometown because he there seems to be trouble with his family. Here there's financial trouble with his wife's family. He knows of a bank account Helen had that they may not have known about. But they've got to find the number. As in the other episodes, this is just the "MacGuffin" that brings the characters together. It's the relationships that matter.

Helen's mother, beautifully played by an actress named Ruth White, has used Helen's old room as shrine to her daughter, where she listens to messages recorded for her by Helen on vinyl records as they used to do, (Diane Brewster recorded the messages, her one contribution to the series except for the flashbacks in "The Girl From Little Egypt"). To Mamma Richard Kimble is the devil incarnate, who deprived her daughter of life and deprived her of her daughter. Lloyd Gough plays Helen's father who always kind of liked Dick and isn't sure if he killed his daughter. A very young-looking Louise Sorel plays Helen's kid sister, now grown up but still living at home. Like her sister, she's kind of high-strung and has always had a crush on Richard. She not only welcomes him into their house and convinces Daddy to let him stay, (as long as Mommy insists in staying in Helen's old room), but wants to run off with him. Meanwhile he's been spotted and the police are searching the neighborhood for him.

Spoiler: The one false note in this one is the scene where White, confronting Kimble, agrees to let him go and not summon the police because her daughter simply asks her not to. With her hatred of Kimble, this simply doesn't make any sense. What would have worked much better if somewhere in those recordings she listens to all the time or in the books of Helen's they search through to find the account number for the bank account they had come across something that planted doubts in her mind that Kimble was the murderer.

One ironic casting note: the policeman in charge of the Dragnet is played by Herb Ellis, who was the first actor to play Joe Friday's partner Officer Frank Smith on TV's Dragnet. He did so for 9 episodes in 1952-53 before Ben Alexander took over the role. As usual the police tactics in finding Kimble leave a lot to be desired. If Joe Friday was on the case, Kimble would have been toast.

I agree with another reviewer here that this episode is one of the best in the series. The story is filled with such high tension and drama while the acting done by all is outstanding.

The episode deals with the ramifications of Helen's murder upon her immediate family and their interactions with Kimble when he makes a surprise visit to them after learning of his father in law's financial troubles.

Only he's stuck there now after being quickly spotted by police upon his arrival in town. Both parents want him gone while Helen's little sister doesn't hesitate to help him since she's always harbored a crush on her late sister's husband.

The entire story is so well done, especially the tense filled confrontation between Kimble and Helen's mother in the final act. Her scathing words to him must have cut through him like a knife. But at no time does he offer to tell her that he didn't murder her daughter. I guess he knows that nothing he says will make her believe it and wisely keeps quiet allowing her to unload her emotions on him. I thought it was such a well done scene.

I can understand though why she didn't give Kimble up even though she despised him and though him a killer.

When Terry, in tears says to her mother, who's about to blow the whistle to the cops, "I'm asking you for his life!", her mother resigns herself to her daughter's wishes, but it's not to help Kimble---it's to help Terry after so many years of neglecting her in favor of her deceased daughter. This was her first small step in coming back to her living daughter. The whole situation is so sad and heartbreaking.

I like to think that Edith lived long enough to see Kimble's innocence proven a few years later and they finally made peace with each other.

And Kimble looked great in those shades. Being a fugitive, you wonder why they didn't have him wear them more throughout the series.