Oct 3, 2019
Tread Perilously enters Horror month with their first visit to Tales From The Crypt and an episode called "Mute Witness to Murder"
When Suzy (Patricia Clarkson) takes a moment out from her wedding anniversary/Halloween party out on the balcony, she happens to see a man across the way killing a women. The grisly scene robs her of the ability to speak. Frantic, her husband (Reed Birney) finds Dr. Trask (Richard Thomas) -- who just happens to be the murderer! He is also the owner of a nearby mental hospital, so he commits her in hopes of silencing the only witness to his crime. Will she figure out a way to speak again and stop Dr. Trask from getting away with murder?
Erik and Justin discuss the basics of Tales From The Crypt as a series and the merits of adapting five-page comic book stories to television. Erik mistakes Reed Birney for actor Ron Kuhlman (Jan Brady's husband on The Brady Bunch spinoffs). Justin identifies when writers get bored with naming characters. He also identifies his own tendency to support an incipient monarchy. It leads to a digression of Ice and Fire. Both praise the 1996 thriller Mute Witness. The progressive content of the story turns out to be a positive and we learn Man Power Pills will cure Angina.