When heartless theater critic Eggar pans the opening performance of novice actor Shaw, he resorts to desperate measures to try and get her to change her review.
I have to say I was deeply disappointed by this episode, given the provenance of the writers. Fischer, Levinson and Link are among the best writers ever to put their work on television, so the logical gaps in the plot and shallow dialog are a major letdown. The most glaring plot problem can be stated this way: what on earth possesses either the Shaw character or his manager (Carter) to think that -- after you've already pretty much shown someone that you are at your wit's end -- breaking into that person's apartment and waving a gun around will somehow end well by convincing them you are a great actor, as opposed to simply threatening their life? Likewise, the ways in which Shaw and Carter (who is supposed to know the business) try and get Eggar to change the review before this are ridiculously ham-handed. None of this is helped by a script that draws everyone one-dimensionally, which in turn condemns the actors to give one-note performances.
All this is really too bad, because the concept has promise (the idea has been used many times in TV series, "Taxi" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" come immediately to mind). As it is, "Exit Line" is a very disappointing segment to start the last episode of "Darkroom"; fortunately, the last two segments ("Who's There?" and "The Rarest of Wines") are significantly better.
I have to say I was deeply disappointed by this episode, given the provenance of the writers. Fischer, Levinson and Link are among the best writers ever to put their work on television, so the logical gaps in the plot and shallow dialog are a major letdown. The most glaring plot problem can be stated this way: what on earth possesses either the Shaw character or his manager (Carter) to think that -- after you've already pretty much shown someone that you are at your wit's end -- breaking into that person's apartment and waving a gun around will somehow end well by convincing them you are a great actor, as opposed to simply threatening their life? Likewise, the ways in which Shaw and Carter (who is supposed to know the business) try and get Eggar to change the review before this are ridiculously ham-handed. None of this is helped by a script that draws everyone one-dimensionally, which in turn condemns the actors to give one-note performances.
All this is really too bad, because the concept has promise (the idea has been used many times in TV series, "Taxi" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" come immediately to mind). As it is, "Exit Line" is a very disappointing segment to start the last episode of "Darkroom"; fortunately, the last two segments ("Who's There?" and "The Rarest of Wines") are significantly better.
