NEARLY NAKED NERD: "Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins" (1975)

Initially, I was thinking I wasn't going to be getting into more than a brief overview of each of the Charles Martin Smith performances. But I end up wanting to ramble on and go into detail. This entry is no exception. CMS appears in this particular film for maybe 15 minutes total, but what a 15 minutes it is: yes, Charlie takes off his clothes again! 

I find myself at a loss for words when it comes to the film itself, "Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins" (1975). I really wanted to like it. I thought it had a promising premise: Alcoholic Los Angeles DMV worker Rafferty (Alan Arkin) has been reduced to such a zombie-like existence that he barely responds when he is kidnapped by 2 mentally unstable women: hippy-ish Mac (Sally Kellerman) and bratty teen Frisbee (Mackenzie Phillips). Unfortunately, I never managed to connect with the movie and feel pulled into these character's unhappy lives. After a while, I almost felt as zombie-fied as Rafferty and I definitely felt the need for a drink.

It's always nice when Charlie appears on the movie poster, especially when it's an illustration instead of a photo, since I think it's interesting to see how artists interpret him.  I really like how he is drawn in this one. Here's a closer look, since it's kind of hard to see him in the poster image above: poking his head out of a closet door, almost naked, right next to Alan Arkin's crotch. And yes, that is forearm hair you see in the pic. Woo hoo!

Charlie appears in a handful of scenes in the final 1/3 of the film. Rafferty, Mac, and Frisbee are on the road to New Orleans. They steal, lie, and cheat their way across California and Nevada (stopping in Las Vegas, of course), and end up in Tucson AZ. Frisbee, upset that she can't afford to buy Rafferty a new cowboy hat, hangs out in the bus station, presumably looking for someone to con out of some cash. She attracts the attention of young soldier Alan Boone (CMS). Score! She's found her mark.

Frisbee leans provocatively on a pinball machine and flashes a few flirty smiles to lure her victim over to her. "What's your name?" he asks after introducing himself. "Della Rainbow," she lies. They chat a bit about her New Orleans destination ("I'm from Gulf Port, Mississipi! We're practically neighbors!" he gushes) and about the 15 day pass Boone has been on: originally to marry Wendy Sue Charles of Baton Rouge, he tells her, but the bride ran out on him. Now he's left with the diamond wedding ring and $200 in his wallet he'd been saving for the honeymoon. You can practically hear the cash register noises going off in Frisbee's head.

Boone feels cheered up by talking with a "pretty girl" and asks her to go on a walk with him, but she claims to be tired and wants to lie down, both of them together, in a hotel bed. Gosh! Cut to the chase when you're in a hurry, girl! They make their way to a fleabag dump, claiming to be married when they register for the room."Six dollars a day," the old lady at the front desk tells them. Boone seems unsure, but Frisbee pushes him on.

As soon as they're in their grimy room, he goes there and pounces on her. "Not so fast," she protests, slipping out of his reach. But he's feeling extremely frisky and very eager to get to it. Frisbee gives in a little bit and lets him touch her tits through her shirt, which he finds amazing. "Wow," he smiles. "Yours are just like grapefruit." And he gives 'em a few good squeezes as he begins to slide into a state of ecstasy. But he snaps out of it when she tells him to get undressed. "You first, I like to watch," she confides, as she lays out on the squeaky old bed looking bored and disinterested.

Whatever my feelings about the movie up to this point, my attitude completely changes at this particular moment. Last time we saw Charlie get unclothed ("The Spikes Gang"), he was still a tad too young, lacking in body hair. Things have developed a bit since then. He's looking more mature, and check out that nice patch of hair on his belly! It would've been hot to have his hard-on poking out (like it should have been if the film was really going for realism), but of course that doesn't happen here. I suppose after seeing movies like "American Pie" (1999) and "Flirting With Disaster" (1996), I tend to expect to see that sort of thing. Oh well. Still, he's looking pretty darn cute, don't you think?

Now, if it were me alone in a hotel room (I don't care how grimy) with CMS in his boxer shorts, you could imagine what hot horny explosion of sex would be happening. But Frisbee quickly slides out of the way and off the bed, as the excited young man plops down onto it on his belly. Aw, how could she possibly play hard to get like that? What a little fool! What squandered erotic possibilities! "You forgot your socks," she mumbles, pointing to his feet.

Boone looks back at his feet, flipping over and repositioning himself on the ratty old mattress as he yanks his socks off. Wow! I get a glimpse of his somewhat furry legs! Why she doesn't point out he forgot his underwear too, I will never understand. Because of this oversight, I am deprived of the sight of CMS in all his nude glory. I guess I should just shut up and be grateful for this much exposed CMS skin...

There's a publicity still that shows CMS feeling up Mackenzie Phillips again at this point, but this doesn't happen in the movie. Here's a closer detail of that particular still. At least the black and white image lets me see his nice forearm and leg hair more easily. 

Instead, "Della" tells Boone to get in the closet. Yes, the same closet we saw him peering out of on the movie poster. He seems a little confused by her request. I'd rather you weren't in the closet either, Charlie. But she gives him some silly story about how it's this game she likes to play. Sex games? Boone gets some of his enthusiasm back, thinking "Della" will be naked under the covers waiting for him when he comes out of the closet, and seems ready to play along. "Aw, shoot," he chuckles goofily and hops up off the bed.

He turns around and runs over to the closet door. As he stands in profile for a moment, I can't help but notice the lovely roundness of his butt, as well as his ever-so-slight extra bit of belly. Very cute! I'm still wishing there was a little pup-tent poking up and saying hello, especially with him in profile like that, but no such luck.

Frisbee tries to dig through Boone's clothes to grab his money, but he keeps poking his head out. "Peek-a-boo!" he giggles, but she just orders him back into the closet. She digs his wallet out of the pile of clothes on the floor. It looks like he was conning her too, because there's only $30 in there. She grabs $20 (the cost of the hat she wants to buy for Rafferty), leaving him a $10. She grabs the ring at first, then thinks twice and drops it on the floor.

Just as Frisbee quietly slips out of the room, Boone suddenly comes out of the closet. He seems a little confused to find the room empty. "Are you hiding from me?" he asks, but silence is his only reply as he looks around the room.

Once again, my eyes zero in on the roundness of his rump. Even his baggy boxers cannot hide the fact that he is in possession of a perfect posterior. I'm going to be mentioning CMS's beautiful bubble butt a lot in this blog, I am just telling you now. Be prepared.

When Boone bends down to look under the bed, he notices his wallet on the floor. In a panic, he realizes he's been had. They're not too smart in Gulf Port, I guess (if that's even where he's from). He looks out the window just in time to see Frisbee hopping into the back of a cab (which I don't know how she can afford if she needs to save the $20 for her gift purchase, but whatever). Filled with rage, Boone shouts out, "That fucking little thief!" Woah! Charlie's first F-bomb! 

His scene ends there, but I would like to imagine that Boone was so worked up by that little cockteaser that he needed to take matters into his own hand, blowing his load all over his furry belly. I know... kinda pervy, huh? Yeah, that's the kind of thinking I am reduced to by the sight of an unclothed Charlie...

In his next scene, Boone is talking to the police. His version of the story is full of lies, not only saying she stole all his money and the ring, but that she even pulled a knife on him! Jeez, what an asshole. I guess this is CMS's first dickhead role too.

Our main trio of characters are hanging at a dive-y bar called Sparky's. Dolly Parton's "Jolene" plays on the jukebox in the background as Frisbee plays pool with Billy (Harry Dean Stanton). Little do they know that Boone is in a police car on his way to the bar, the police having tracked Frisbee there.

They arrive just in time to see Frisbee pulling a gun on a belligerently drunken Billy in the parking lot. "She's got a gun, shoot!" Boone shouts as he hops out of the police car, pointing his finger at the bitch who left him alone to deal with his raging hard-on. I'm assuming that is his motivational anger, since it seems like a major over-reaction to the theft of $20. Then again, back in 1975 a $20 was probably the equivalent of $100 or something (I was too young to remember, being only 3 years old at the time).

So what happens? Does Frisbee go down in a hail of bullets? Does she find a way out of her predicament? Do the police discover Boone's lies? As in the last few entries, I'm trying to stick to an "avoidance of spoilers" policy. Granted, I did give away a lot with my examination of the hotel room scene, but that was warranted IMO. Although chances are you are not gonna see this movie. It's kind of sunken into obscurity. I had to buy a VHS tape to finally see it (as if you couldn't tell from the picture quality of the image captures). Even if I'm ultimately not too impressed with the film itself, I must confess that the sight of CMS in his boxers made the purchase worth it. It was also kind of cool that after co-starring in 2 films before this ("Go Ask Alice" and "American Graffiti") but not sharing any scenes together, Mackenzie Phillips and CMS were finally able to in this one. However, I can't say they had great chemistry. I can't even say that I thought much of Charlie's performance (his southern accent was pretty lousy, although that might have been intentional if his backstory was just another lie). But hey: CMS in boxers is always a good thing.

One last tidbit worth noting: This was director Dick Richard's second theatrical film. The first was "The Culpepper Cattle Co.", which not co-incidently was the movie in which CMS made his cinematic debut. 

'70s CMS SEXINESS!

It's been kind of frustrating that I can't seem to find half a dozen CMS performances so far (all TV show guest appearances from the early and mid '70s, of course). A lot of movies and TV from that decade never saw release on home video, or are rarely if ever shown as reruns. So it makes me very happy to tell you that I have managed to find all the rest of Charles Martin Smith's output from the 1970s. And it starts just at the point when he switched from being a cute kid to a hot man! Here's a little peek at what's to come!

Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (1975)
Charlie strips off his clothes for Mackenzie Phillips in a fleabag hotel room in this misfit road movie (also starring Alan Arkin and Sally Kellerman).

No Deposit, No Return (1976)
Charlie makes his first appearance in a Walt Disney movie in this silly crime caper, and in my opinion this is where the hotness truly begins.

Law of the Land AKA The Deputies (1976)
Charlie appears in another western, this one is a movie-length pilot for a Quinn Martin TV series that never materialized (starring, among others, Don Johnson and Barbara Parkins).

Baretta guest appearance (1976)
Charlie plays a deaf shoeshine boy who goes after the rapist of a missionary girl! Woah!

The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams guest appearance (1977)
City slicker Charles stumbles upon bearded mountain man Adams (Dan Haggerty) deep in the wilderness and learns about his unusual bear lifestyle in this entertaining episode.

The Hazing AKA The Curious Case of the Campus Corpse (1977)
Charlie and co-star Jeff East run though the woods in nothing but their jockstraps in this goofy comedy/thriller/drama!

The Buddy Holly Story (1978)
I love watching Charles seriously rock out in this Oscar winning biopic (featuring Gary Busey's stellar performance in the title role).

Cotton Candy (1978)
Ron Howard's AWESOME (and hard to find) cult classic features Charles in his first leading role as the super-cute leader of a high school rock band! SO good!

A Dog's Life AKA McGurk (1979)
Charles in a dog suit? This pilot for another series that (fortunately) never happened was not exactly a career highpoint.

More American Graffiti (1979)
Charles finished out the decade reprising the role that made him famous (Terry "The Toad") in this uneven but worthwhile sequel to the 1973 mega-hit.

Wow! Good stuff ahead, huh? And we haven't even gotten to his '80s movies yet: Charlie at his absolute sexiest!  Yay! I can't wait!

See you next entry with more CMS love!

TOD IS DEAD: "The Spikes Gang" (1974)

SPOILER ALERT!

Yeah, I suppose it's too late to talk about spoilers after giving this entry a title like "TOD IS DEAD". I'll not give away the whole story, but I will tell you upfront that Charlie Martin Smith's character Tod does end up deceased before the Wild West drama "The Spikes Gang" reaches its conclusion. But his character's name is also the German word for dead, a clearly intentional choice by the filmmakers, considering all the deathly foreshadowing scattered throughout the movie. Whether it's a Mexican guy on a street corner waving a skeleton doll at the protagonists shouting "Muerte! Muerte!" or the dark pearls of wisdom offered by experienced outlaw Harry Spikes (Lee Marvin), references to death are everywhere in this film.

I don't want to give the impression it's a totally depressing movie, because its not. CMS shares a few lighthearted moments here and there with his fellow actors. "The Culpepper Cattle Co." co-star Gary Grimes and "American Graffiti" co-star Ron Howard are cast with CMS again, playing three young men who have grown up together living a life lacking in adventure... until the fateful day they met Spikes. From what I've read, the filmshoot in Spain allowed opportunities for the young trio of actors to have fun behind the scenes too, including taking a trip together by train to Paris after the shoot had wrapped.

Wandering through an empty field, young friends Will (Grimes), Les (Howard), and Tod (CMS) stumble across the bleeding body of Harry Spikes (Marvin). Initially they assume he is dead, until he startles them by grabbing one of them by the leg. "Help me, boys," he rasps through parched lips. "Save me... hide me."

The guys fret for a minute, fearing involvement will get them in trouble, but being good and well-meaning young men they decide they have to help. Together, they carry Spikes to Will's family's barn, carrying him up into the rafters and laying him behind the bundles of hay. As the other two clean and dress his wounds, Tod hands him a cup of water. Aw, what sweet guys.

After dark, they sneak back out to the barn to pay Spike a visit with some rabbit stew. The boys are entranced by Spike's talk of a life more exciting than anything they have ever known in their young, inexperienced lives. The grateful outlaw, wanted in several states, shakes their hands and tells them: "I owe you. Anytime. Any place. Anywhere." Will gives Spikes a horse from the family stable and the 3 of them watch the fugitive ride off into the night.

After Will's dad seriously beats him for "losing" the horse, he decides to run away. He takes off on another horse, stopping by both of his friends' bedroom windows to whisper tender goodbyes: first Les, then Tod (who seems especially crushed by the prospect of losing a lifelong friend). Of course, Will doesn't get far before Tod and Les ride up beside him, eager to share a life of adventure and danger with him. With some hootin' 'n' hollerin', the trio ride away from their homes for the first time in their lives.

But it's not fun or glamorous out there. They run out of food and money really fast, and end up breaking into a church to eat and drink the communion wine and wafers. Despite his hunger, Tod doesn't join the other two in their act of sacrilege. It's becoming clear sensitive & gentle Tod isn't cut out for this harder lifestyle.

Soon, Tod's strongly held Christian values are put to the test. When they resort to making a try at robbing a bank, like their hero Spikes, you just know it's not going to go well. In the course of the robbery, a gun ends up in Tod's hands. The poor guy really shouldn't have been put in such a position. Because when it all goes awry, the trigger is pulled and Tod becomes a murderer.

The trio flee the scene of the crime, crossing the border into Mexico. Tod, devastated by what he has done, cries out in anguish: "I never killed nothin' in my whole life. I never even killed a rabbit! It doesn't matter [that it's an accident]! He's dead! To God and all of God's world, forever!"  Aw, poor guy. I remember the first time I watched "The Spikes Gang", I was rather annoyed with Charlie's character, thinking he was just a foolish little fuck-up. But watching again, I feel a lot more sympathy for doomed Tod.

Wracked with guilt, haunted by nightmares, poor Tod sinks into despair. The bad luck continues as the boys get more desperate. A few more unfortunate missteps finally land them in jail. Oh, crap!

They rot in a cell for weeks, Tod suffering worst of all, having more nightmares and stuff. I kind of wish the other two would cuddle up to him and comfort him, but they don't. They leave him alone: cold, shivering, and crying. Things finally start looking up when they happen to look out the window one day... and who do they see? Harry Spikes! He hears them shouting from their cell window and wanders over. It's time to repay the debt he owes them, and he springs them from jail, taking them under his wing.

First things first: get these grimy boys cleaned up. It's straight to the bath house for a soak in the tub. While Spikes talks with the boys about their unlucky recent past and their uncertain future, I take a moment to note that what I am watching is more-or-less Charlie's first nude scene.

I must point out: it is a very limited degree of flesh. All you see is from the chest up. I am sure he is covered up with some fleshtone bathing suit under the waters. But this scene is pretty much the first time he is showing some skin on camera. My problem? Charlie is still so darn young at this point in his career. How old would he be in this movie... 20? Plus I get the feeling his character is meant to be even younger.

Yeah, take a look here: where's the body hair? True, CMS has a little bit around his nipples and a smattering in his armpits, a light dusting across the forearms... but that's it. He needed to ripen a little more, as far as I'm concerned. But that's OK. CMS will be showing off more in later films, when he is older and much hotter than he is able to be here.

It's kind of interesting that the bathtub scene was used in the film's promotion, presumably to entice teenage girls with Gary Grimes in his possible nakedness. But what young lady (or young gentleman, for that matter) would be able to say no to Charlie's sweet smile?

One thing that makes me smile is when they all realise Tod is blind as a bat. I smile because this requires them pay a visit to an optometrist and slap a pair of glasses on Charlie's face! Yay, Charlie looks better already. If he got some facial hair going, I would have been even happier. But he stays baby faced to the end. 

There's another nearly-nude scene later on in the film that had me hitting the pause button and going frame-by-frame. Spikes is taking a skinny-dipping break, floating in a lake, cigar in his mouth, when the boys pounce into frame for some wet horseplay, Wait a second... is that CMS's naked left buttock?

I took a closer look, and I concluded that the motion blur hides the fact he's wearing fleshtone shorts. When Spikes was floating in the water at the start of the scene, he was definitely wearing shorts. The rest of the scene moves too quickly, the motion frequently blurry, to tell if any of them are really naked or not... But who knows? CMS demonstrates later in his career he isn't afraid to shuck off his clothes if the role requires it. How fearless!

After grooming and training the boys as his new gang, Spikes plans to have them assist in a more planned-out bank robbery. I think they all realize sweet good-natured Tod should be kept out of harm's way, deciding to have him serve as look-out and watch their getaway horses instead of holding a gun and helping in the bank.

But there's more bad luck a-plenty, and inevitably Tod is mortally wounded. His death takes days to arrive, and when it does Will and Les are devastated. Aw... Poor Tod. Rest in peace, fella.

I still don't think "The Spikes Gang" is one of CMS's best films, but I do have more of an appreciation for it now. I admitted before that I'm not a huge fan of westerns, so I have my personal bias crippling my judgement. Another sincere perfomance from CMS helps considerably. Director Richard Fleischer had delivered more impressive movies before helming this one ("20,000 Leagues Under The Sea"(1954), "Fantastic Voyage"(1966), "Tora! Tora! Tora!"(1970), "Soylent, Green"(1973)) but I would admit this is better than some of the stuff he worked on after ("Amityville 3-D"(1983), "Red Sonja"(1985)).  I actually haven't seen the film Fleischer directed after this one, the controversial slave-era drama "Mandingo" (1975), so I'm not sure how it stacks up against the others. One of these days, I'll have to find out.

RUSSELL THE RABBIT: "The Streets of San Francisco" (1974)

Between November 1973 and January 1975, Charles Martin Smith was featured in guest starring roles on six television series: "Love, American Style" (alongside "American Graffiti" co-star Cindy Williams), "Chase", "The Streets of  Francisco", "The Rookies" (alongside "Graffiti" co-star Bo Hopkins), "Petrocelli", and "Lucas Tanner" (alongside future "No Deposit No Return" co-star Herschel Bernardi). Unfortunately, out of those I was only able to find his episode of "The Streets of San Francisco". Damn, that's a lot of unseen CMS. I'm still on the lookout for them, but until then I have CMS in this rather compelling episode, looking quite cute in a pretty prominent role. 

The episode titled "Blockade" was first broadcast on January 24th 1974 on ABC. Along with series regulars Karl Malden and Michael Douglas, the impressive list of guest stars also includes future "The Buddy Holly Story" co-star Don Stroud, Ida Lupino, and Patty McCormack! Wow!

Before I jump into a plot rundown, I wanted to mention the location that the episode opens at: San Francisco's Cliff House. I have never eaten at the Cliff House, but I have spent a lot of time down in that vicinity, walking along Ocean Beach or the Coastal Trail, or enjoying the view from Sutro Park. The Cliff House today could be described as elegantly simple in it's appearance (perhaps even bland), but back in late 1973 when this episode was shot, it looked like a real eyesore. Oh, the horror of '70s tackiness...

The episode begins at the Cliff House late one night. As he did in "American Graffiti" (1973) and his screen debut "The Culpepper Cattle Co." (1972), CMS grabs the first shot as his character Russell Jamison walks across the Cliff House parking lot over to his friend Chet Barrow (Stroud), who is digging around under the hood of a parked car. He also once again gets the first line as he nervously blurts out, "Come on, she's gonna be off work any minute!"

Chet and Russell had crafted a plan earlier inside while they sat at table four, cruising their pretty waitress Susan (a pre-"Charlie's Angels" Cheryl Ladd!). Chet has rigged her engine to stall out after a few miles and the idea is somehow she's gonna be so happy to see them when they pull up next to her that she'll turn into a voracious nymphomaniac and service the both of them. Yikes! Their scary plan doesn't make much sense, huh? In fact, Russell seems a little sceptical too. Clearly this is Chet's idea and his pal "Russell Baby" is along for the ride. They hide behind a nearby parked car and watch as doomed Susan gets off work and hops into her tampered car.

The engine stalls out as she speeds down the Great Highway that runs along the western edge of San Francisco, just as the two schemesters planed. When they drive up and get out to offer help, she (not surprisingly) is creeped out and nervous. Chet lifts up her hood like he is going to fix the problem as Russell smiles at her through her driver's side window, but she recoils in fear and locks the door.

But her car's thin rooftop is no match for Chet's switchblade, as he carves a hole in it. The two attackers leer down at Susan as she begins to scream and plead for mercy. "You wanna see some action tonight, Russie-Baby?" Chet says. "You're gonna see it." Eek! 

Fortunately, we the viewers don't see it, since this is TV in the mid '70s after all. The scene abruptly cuts to the next morning, as Susan's body is found floating in a pond in Golden Gate Park. Detective Mike Stone (Malden) and Inspector Steve Keller (Douglas) arrive on the scene and the investigation begins.

When we next see Russell, he's sitting on the back deck of the Potrero Hill  home he shares with his mother, Wilma (Lupino). He's looking pretty anxious as he listens to the news broadcast coming off the radio. Mom comes home and isn't too happy to find him not at work. When he tells her he feel sick, she doesn't seem too sympathetic. Just as suddenly as she arrived, she's back out the door to offer her support to Judge Cameron's daughter. Poor Russell. Mom cares more about this Judge Cameron guy and pampered daughter Jill's marriage problems than she does about her own son.

In Russell's next scene, he's on the phone with Chet, all nervous and afraid now that their crime is all over the media. When Wilma abruptly comes home, he quickly gets off the phone and plays it cool. She's still pretty annoyed at him for being home from work, and she's not too happy that he associates with "that Chet Barrow" either. Then she conveniently brings up the murdered waitress when she reads the murder headline on a newspaper laying on the floor, and adds how Judge Cameron has his theories about the "deviants" that must have done it.

That's when Russell snaps. "Judge Cameron!" he shouts. "What does he know? Was he there?" And suddenly mother and son are deep in an argument about her former employer the Judge. It's really sad how wounded Russell is, still hurting from his lonely latchkey childhood while mom worked for 16 years as nanny to the Judge's daughters. Right on cue, Cameron's grown daughter Jill (McCormack) shows up on Wilma's doorstep in tears. Her marriage is a disaster and she just can't take it! As she sobs in Wilma's arms, neglected Russell drags his sad sack self up the stairs to his room. Awww...

Several scenes later, we're back with Wilma comforting a tearful Jill. She goes upstairs to find Russell coming out of the closet. Literally, not figuratively, as he is carrying an armful of clothes and packing his bags to leave. Seeing he is upset, she tries to comfort him. After some motherly reassurance, Russell breaks down and confesses his involvement with Chet and the dead waitress. Suddenly the doorbell is ringing. Is it the police? Have they come to take Russell away?

It's not the police, but Chet, who was nearly arrested by Stone & Keller and now he needs a place to lay low. When Wilma insists he leave, she gets a fist in the jaw! Damn! Russell rushes to his mom's defense but is subdued by nothing more than Chet towering over him and pressing two fingers against his chest.

Oh no! It looks like Chet is gonna hide out in their place and hold them as hostages! Chet locks the front door and leers at them menacingly as Wilma and Jill cower in fear. Russell, Russell... what are you gonna do?

The episode cuts back and forth between the police closing in on them and Chet's rage-filled outbursts at his captives in the house. "You animal!" Wilma shouts at one point, which seems to amuse Chet. "You think I'm an animal?" he asks Russell. "No, you're an animal! You're... a rabbit!" Why is Russell a rabbit? I don't know, Chet never explains further. But I have to wonder... Is is a reference to CMS's cute overbite? Or perhaps something more? Little tidbits that come out about Russell's relationship with Chet make me wonder what these two might have done in their spare time alone together. How intimate were these two "buddies"? Did Russell share his rabbit hole with Chet? Who can say? My thoughts are not impartial on the matter, I must admit.

There's more action and suspense as the episode reaches it's thrilling conclusion, but I'm gonna refrain from spoiling the ending. It's a pretty solid hour of TV and I'd say it's worth watching. Besides the surprisingly engrossing story arc concerning poor lonely damaged Russell, several strong performances help elevate the material above typical '70s television. Lupino is impressive as the struggling single mother shifting from angry to concerned to terrified, and Stroud is convincing as the genuinely creepy Chet. But best of all (of course) is CMS throwing himself into a tricky role, making an accomplice to rape and murder someone you end up caring about. It doesn't hurt that he's looking rather adorable in this one too. Perhaps I'm just biased....