One Step Beyond Gypsy

As One Step Beyond moved from its second season into its third and final season, it seemed to lose some of the consistency it had shown earlier on. There are still some great episodes from this time period, but along with those come a few episodes that don't pack much of a punch. One Step Beyond Volume 9 mixes a couple of pretty good shows with two of lesser quality - always go by the titles showing on the DVD cover, as many of the One Step Beyond DVD product descriptions are seriously mixed up. As always, these are stories that are reportedly based on actual events, with each episode hosted by the wonderfully effective John Newland.

The first episode in this collection, Gypsy, is now - through no fault of its own - somewhat tainted because it stars the now-infamous Robert Blake. There's no denying Blake's acting abilities, though, and he makes a good story even better in this episode that originally aired on May 17, 1960. Ironically, Blake plays a convict here, one who is determined to join his buddies in a prison break. His friend Gypsy urges him to stay and serve out his sentence because he's still young; after the breakout, he continues giving Blake's character the same kind of advice, and therein lies an amazing story.

Goodbye Grandpa was the next to last episode of Season Two, originally airing on June 14, 1960. The story itself is not bad at all, but this episode really just doesn't work. A grandfather promises his grandson that he will never leave before telling him goodbye - naturally, he soon dies, while his grandson is away. But don't give up on Grandpa just yet, as he is a man who keeps his promises. I hate to criticize a young actress, but a real weakness of this episode is the acting of the young lady playing the granddaughter, as she is asked to do more than she is capable of.

The remaining two episodes, both from Season Three, are all about guilt. Anniversary of a Murder, which originally aired on September 27, 1960, has the makings of a great episode but just doesn't deliver. In this story, a man and his mistress accidentally run over a lad on the way home from a rendezvous, cover it up, and deal with a year's worth of guilt - it all boils over in the most inexplicable of ways on the fateful anniversary of the crime. The final episode, Moment of Hate, is my favorite of this bunch. Originally airing on October 25, 1960, this story features a standout performance by Joanne Linville as a distraught woman who believes she has killed someone just by wishing her dead. Her psychiatrist tries to convince her otherwise, despite mounting evidence of an unexplainable phenomenon at work. This one has an ending that, while not completely unpredictable, definitely qualifies as a classic.

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