By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Sometimes in horror there are no villains. Even when there’s a murderer present, it doesn’t necessarily make that individual a bad person. For example, I don’t believe Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) was a bad guy in PSYCHO (1960). He was just thoroughly confused and mentally disturbed, but he wasn’t evil.
The same is true for the star of this episode. Larry Pearce (Chris Bauer) works as a call center manager who oversees everyone and monitors their phone calls. Most of the employees think he’s a hard-ass because if the call is over 90 seconds long for a minor problem, he calls them on it. Some also think he’s heartless because his young son died of a heart condition and he turned down paid leave and never missed a day of work.
Larry has more problems than just that, as his hearing is hyper-sensitive. So sensitive in fact that he can hear feet tapping, eyes blinking, drinks bubbling, etc. This bothers him so much that he wears earplugs most of the time. Still, he tries to keep it together, but the fact that he never mourned his son’s death begins to wear down his fragile psyche.
Despite his work sending him to a psychiatrist and giving him multiple chances, he still descends into madness. He talks about his son as if he’s alive, he screams at his wife if he catches her in his son’s room and he begins disconnecting calls at work.
This is a great one. It’s a mixture of THE STEPFATHER (1987), NOISE (2007)and THE SHINING (1980). Bauer’s acting is fantastic. He truly makes Larry a sympathetic guy despite his horrific actions.
This is most certainly one of the best I’ve seen, and most of the series is really good. For me, I love films when I can see the good in the villain. Here one must think if not for the death of the son, Larry would not have given into his disturbed instincts. It was that catalyst which brought out the insanity. To see the descent into that state of mind was captivating and it held my attention to the conclusion.
Scared Stiff Rating: 9/10
