I'll be honest and say I've never watched HF0 before. I'm of course familiar with the iconic theme song but I've never sat down and watched any of the episodes before. I was on my Spectrum tv guide and saw this couple of episodes listed that feature Pernell Roberts and thought I'd check it out since I like him. Was very impressed with both episodes. They held my attention to the point where I might try and watch other episodes from this series if I run across it and I'm free to watch something.
There's a few things I wanted to throw my two cents in when it concerns a couple of things mentioned in the reviews. "Boy" is one of them. It's true I'm not associated with any of the writers on this series so I can't say if this term would still be used to describe the son whether he's mentally challenged or not. I LOVE older shows and I've noticed quite a lot of these older shows have the habit of referring to men as being 'boys'. I'm sure the ones that have to say "boys" must love having to say that line to guys that are probably close in age to them. Imo "boy" should actually be referred to a child. But we're getting tricky with ages. I've said similar things on Bonanza reviews. Are the Cartwrights supposed to be the actual ages of the actors or are they supposed to be younger? Is the son supposed to be younger than his actual age? Although I didn't hear anything about "school" being mentioned (high school). But let's face it, you can say "boy" til your blue in the face and it won't make the actor look younger if he's supposed to be 15 or 16....
I didn't really mind the son's behavior. It's not the same thing but I have anxiety to the point where it's ruined my life. So I can understand the fear the son had about talking to his dad about meeting this lady when he was honestly concerned about eating. Fear just messed you up imo. Pernell's character was overall a calm character/father. He did blow his top in one scene but I think he regretted it after the fact. He didn't exactly strike me as being somebody that's gonna knock his son around for eating too much. But I can still understand where the son is afraid of his father griping at him. And he doesn't have the capacity to understand the murder is the thing that comes above any possibility of getting chewed out for eating junk food when you're not supposed to be eating it. The son was told to stay in his seat at the game and he didn't listen. So you just pile more worry onto him. I'm gonna get in trouble for not doing what I was supposed to by staying in my seat and then for eating junk food.
I thought the mystery was interesting and it held my interest for the whole two hours. No fast forwarding needed on my part. It looks like the bus and walking scenes got on peoples nerves...I don't mind it. At least it's better than what is done on "Little House on the Prairie". Let's laugh for several minutes straight to pad out the episode. Anyway, like I said before this was the first couple of episodes I've watched from this series so I can't really sit here and say if any of the H50 characters were acting out of character or not. I will say I'm familiar with James McArthur and another guest star (Don Chastain) because I've seen them on Alfred Hitchcock shows before. Both did incredible jobs on their respective episodes. I guess Don's got it down pat when it concerns playing slimeballs :D.