Episode 110--"south by southwest"

Writer Paul Haggis Director Dan Lerner Air Date 1/5/88 Guest Star

Sound wavs from this episode

Dana Delaney as Eve; Christopher Carroll as Philip Vandamm; Lois Staley as Jenny Vandamm

Synopsis

Gary falls in love, then screws it up.

Summary

In the aftermath of a one night stand with Jenny Vandamm, the wife of a colleague, Gary realizes that he's fallen in love with a woman named Eve that he met six weeks ago. Shortly after she comes over to meet Hope and Michael (who loved her), Gary finds his apartment tossed, his clothes slashed, "Die, Die, Die" painted in red on the walls, and he receives a dead rat in the mail. He convinces Michael and Elliot to go along with him to investigate, so they break into the office of Dr. Vandamm, a psychology professor. Eve finds out about the affair and ditches Gary who finally, just maybe, learned a little something about his wayward ways.

Notes

• Gary is 34
• The episode contains takeoffs of scenes from Dial M for Murder, North by Northwest (note the homage in the episode title as well), Strangers on a Train, The Birds, Rear Window, and Psycho
• Opener clip of Gary motioning to Michael, and the guys singing in the car
• Gary has a frozen dinner by Budget Gourmet (pasta and shrimp marinara) in his freezer--that's my favorite brand of frozen dinner

Music

• "It's Alright" (originally performed by Bobby Rush) is sung by Timothy Busfield, Peter Horton, Ken Olin as the guys sit in the car, staking out Vandamm's house
• Even the incidental music is Hitchcockian throughout, and then over the ending credits.

Fashion

• Michael wears suspenders.
• Eve wears some weird leopard print Nehru jacket with a mini skirt.

Dream Sequence

Gary has a nightmare about his relationship problems in which everyone stars in different Hitchcock motiffs (Elliot tries to convince Gary to throw Nancy from the bus [Strangers on a Train], Hope and Michael have a houseful of birds [The Birds], and Melissa is the photographer from Rear Window)..

Quotes

"These two performance artists are re-enacting man's discovery of water...well, it's a very quick discovery, like, "Ooo, there's water." --Eve

"She's terrific. She's real. She's intelligent. Has she known Gary long?" --Hope to Michael

"Because he's afraid of sex ,so he keeps having affairs to make people think that he's not? Gosh, Gare, think that could be your problem?" --Melissa, in the dream sequence

Analysis

Has Gary never heard of AIDS? Sorry, I have trouble with this, especially the scene with the matchbooks and all the phone numbers of women he could barely remember. I know it happens, but it's irresponsible and reprehensible.

Sound wavs from this episode - All sound names starting with "10"

Gary (Peter Horton) and Eve (Dana Delaney)

Bob: I think it was Curtis Mayfield originally on It's Alright (aka It's All Right), though apparently Bobby Rush did a notable cover.

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