Former black ops agent Robert McCall (Edward Woodward) and his friend & former colleague Harley Gage (Richard Jordan) attend a late afternoon/early evening rehearsal of a Broadway play at the invitation of Sandra (Jennifer Van Dyck) - the actress daughter of an old associate. She is playing the lead role but struggles with more than lines and vocal resonance.
A demented and disfigured soul (Chris Cooper) who mistakes Sandra for his beloved recently deceased sweetheart Elise approaches her outside her dressing room and terrifies her warning her to leave. As McCall and Gage attempt to evacuate the theatre before searching for the frightening man it becomes evident that he has booby-trapped all the known exits with a powerful explosive.
McCall and the playwright (Sharon Catten), in search of the point of entry of the mad bomber find themselves stuck beneath the backstage after triggering yet another trap. This leaves Gage to cope with the safety of the others and he is barely able to save the productions leading man (Ned Eisenberg) from an attack by the psycho.
For Gage it becomes highly suspicious that the actors, tyrannical director (George Morfogen) and aged stage manager (Gwyllum Evans) should know nothing about who is doing this to them. After asking but a few questions of the members of the theatre company assembled in the lobby a clear picture of their tormentor and his motive emerges.
Finding their captor and reaching an understanding with him becomes time-sensitive as the night janitor is due to arrive. The custodians scheduled entrance will cause the bomb to go off killing them all and probably whomever has the misfortune of walking in the immediate vicinity.
There is some terrific tension in this episode with a narrative constructed entirely by the acting, writing and an old theatre as set. It could have been an episode of just about any hour-long mystery/adventure series on network TV at the time. But the fact that it was adapted for such a high quality series with a superb guest cast made for a better finished product.
It was probably only a matter of time before they would have an episode of this series in a theatre. So many of the terrific supporting actors they found for the show were doing Broadway and off-Broadway productions. By this point in the series McCall was brought in to dangerous situations via different means than the cryptic personal ad he ran in the newspapers.
Chris Cooper's second ever screen role.
A demented and disfigured soul (Chris Cooper) who mistakes Sandra for his beloved recently deceased sweetheart Elise approaches her outside her dressing room and terrifies her warning her to leave. As McCall and Gage attempt to evacuate the theatre before searching for the frightening man it becomes evident that he has booby-trapped all the known exits with a powerful explosive.
McCall and the playwright (Sharon Catten), in search of the point of entry of the mad bomber find themselves stuck beneath the backstage after triggering yet another trap. This leaves Gage to cope with the safety of the others and he is barely able to save the productions leading man (Ned Eisenberg) from an attack by the psycho.
For Gage it becomes highly suspicious that the actors, tyrannical director (George Morfogen) and aged stage manager (Gwyllum Evans) should know nothing about who is doing this to them. After asking but a few questions of the members of the theatre company assembled in the lobby a clear picture of their tormentor and his motive emerges.
Finding their captor and reaching an understanding with him becomes time-sensitive as the night janitor is due to arrive. The custodians scheduled entrance will cause the bomb to go off killing them all and probably whomever has the misfortune of walking in the immediate vicinity.
There is some terrific tension in this episode with a narrative constructed entirely by the acting, writing and an old theatre as set. It could have been an episode of just about any hour-long mystery/adventure series on network TV at the time. But the fact that it was adapted for such a high quality series with a superb guest cast made for a better finished product.
It was probably only a matter of time before they would have an episode of this series in a theatre. So many of the terrific supporting actors they found for the show were doing Broadway and off-Broadway productions. By this point in the series McCall was brought in to dangerous situations via different means than the cryptic personal ad he ran in the newspapers.
Chris Cooper's second ever screen role.
