I simply don't understand why people rate this episode so low, ok I am will to admit that Horace's character is annoying but that is the whole point. He obviously wasn't like this previously as we are told he has been working for the company for fifteen years and also he has a strong marriage with quite a company of friends who want to celebrate his birthday with him. Why is he so irritating now? The guy is in the final throes of a mental breakdown due to his repressed memories. Obviously unaware of his degenerating mental state he shows flashes of the kind , considerate, nice he is and it is these flashes which give the clues as to how he got a great job, wife and friends. The performances by the five main actors are great, the compassionate friend and their boss, Horace's devoted wife and his mother, who shows her mental fragility. All that said it would be nothing without a tour-de-force performance by Pat Hingle as Horace.
Some people say the scenes where he returns to the street are too many and that nothing happens differently but it does go subtly further each time, slowly marking his descent into the blackest depths of his illness. There really isn't a lot of actual action it is all very subtle, but beautifully paced.
This should be listed along with To Serve Man or Eye Of The Beholder, hopefully people will eventually see it for what it is and upgrade their ratings. I gave it 9/10 so why not 10/10 ? Well, nothing is perfect but this is close.
Some people say the scenes where he returns to the street are too many and that nothing happens differently but it does go subtly further each time, slowly marking his descent into the blackest depths of his illness. There really isn't a lot of actual action it is all very subtle, but beautifully paced.
This should be listed along with To Serve Man or Eye Of The Beholder, hopefully people will eventually see it for what it is and upgrade their ratings. I gave it 9/10 so why not 10/10 ? Well, nothing is perfect but this is close.