Carol Lynley is 17 years old, succulent and blond, and hates the Auntie she must live with. Oh, what bad habits Carol Lynley has. She doesn't hang at the Soda Shoppe with the other teens. She goes to the Wooly Bear instead, where she's consistently refused alcohol. She has a nice boyfriend but she doesn't like him because he won't run away with her. And, she dances alone in front of the other customers, just whirling around and around recklessly. Has there ever been a better picture of our depraved youth?
However, sitting at the Wooly Bear bar is a husky, hairy, dark Italianate guy who looks like he knows his way around. That would be Ben Casey, or Vince Edwards, known here as "Tex." He's a drifter, moves around uncaringly from place to place and, boy, he looks like just the guy for Carol. He looks like he could run away with her and give her great big hugs during the journey.
However, he's not as stupid or vile as he looks. Carol lures him to her house, claiming that Auntie won't hear them because she's asleep upstairs. But Tex is a little more stand-offish than the situation would seem to require.
A police car pulls up outside! Carol rips the top of her dress -- not exposing very much flesh, alas -- and runs outside screaming that Tex has just attacked her and killed her Auntie. And, in fact, there is Auntie's body, crumpled at the bottom of the stairs, looking very murdered. The police grab Tex. Then there is a twist and Carol presumably winds up in the rubber room where she's always belonged.
Neither Lynley nor Edwards (nee Vincent Edwards Zoino) show much in the way of acting talent, with Edward particularly ligneous. But he's a masculine actor and belongs on the small tube and, with decent scrips, he did fairly well in some episodes of "Ben Casey." Lynley seemed to improve in looks and performance over the next ten years. This episode was directed by Robert Altman, which may account for some of its slightly cockeyed quality, but Altman was still clearly learning his chops.
However, sitting at the Wooly Bear bar is a husky, hairy, dark Italianate guy who looks like he knows his way around. That would be Ben Casey, or Vince Edwards, known here as "Tex." He's a drifter, moves around uncaringly from place to place and, boy, he looks like just the guy for Carol. He looks like he could run away with her and give her great big hugs during the journey.
However, he's not as stupid or vile as he looks. Carol lures him to her house, claiming that Auntie won't hear them because she's asleep upstairs. But Tex is a little more stand-offish than the situation would seem to require.
A police car pulls up outside! Carol rips the top of her dress -- not exposing very much flesh, alas -- and runs outside screaming that Tex has just attacked her and killed her Auntie. And, in fact, there is Auntie's body, crumpled at the bottom of the stairs, looking very murdered. The police grab Tex. Then there is a twist and Carol presumably winds up in the rubber room where she's always belonged.
Neither Lynley nor Edwards (nee Vincent Edwards Zoino) show much in the way of acting talent, with Edward particularly ligneous. But he's a masculine actor and belongs on the small tube and, with decent scrips, he did fairly well in some episodes of "Ben Casey." Lynley seemed to improve in looks and performance over the next ten years. This episode was directed by Robert Altman, which may account for some of its slightly cockeyed quality, but Altman was still clearly learning his chops.