Fowl Play opens with the reveal that Swan (Tim Robbins) took his own life after what happened at the rookie party in the previous episode, and all eyes are on Buttman (Micheal Biehn). Lucy (Betty Thomas) is determined to bust him, and Washington (Taurean Blacque) and Coffey (Ed Marinaro) are right there with him. The…
Tag: suicide
End of Watch (2016) – Stephen King
The final novel in the Bill Hodges trilogy, End of Watch, adds a bit of the supernatural flavour that King is known for as Brady Hartsfield, the Mercedes Killer from Mr. Mercedes returns for a final confrontation with retired police detective Hodges, his partner Holly Gibney, and their friend Jerome. The thread of material woven…
Imaginary Friend (2019) – Stephen Chbosky
Stephen Chobsky, perhaps currently best known as the author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, gets his Stephen King on with his latest novel, Imaginary Friend, a tale of horror that pits a small town against itself in a battle of good versus evil. At the heart of the story is young Christopher, and…
Smile (2022) – Parker Finn
Paramount Pictures’ latest theatrical release is an unnerving look parable for what happens with trauma when we just simply grin and bear it, instead of speaking of it openly, freely and dealing with it when it happens. Doctor Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) works as a psychologist in the emergency department of a major hospital. She’s…
Quantum Leap: The Wall (1994) – Ashley McConnell
Ashley McConnell turns in another Quantum Leap novel, and except for a quick moment when we are given another limbo moment for Sam between leaps it is a really powerful tale about domestic abuse, alcoholism and breaking the cycle. Sam leaps into Missy, a six-year-old girl (something that couldn’t have been pulled off believably in…
House (1985) – Steven Miner
Directed by Steve Miner, who gave us Friday the 13th Parts 2 and 3, and Sean S. Cunningham who gave us the first film, and was the producer for its sequels, gives us a different kind of horror (tinged with comedy) starring William Katt and George Wendt, and while there’s an interesting concept here, a…
The Prisoner (1967) – Checkmate, and Hammer Into Anvil
Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) squares off against Number Two (this time played by Peter Wyngarde) in a layered scheme in Checkmate. Written by Gerald Kelsey, this episode first debuted on 24 November, 1967. Inspired by a life-sized chess game, Six begins canvassing his own pieces, fellow prisoners, as he’s reasoned out how to tell the…
M*A*S*H (1980) – Goodbye, Cruel World, Dreams, and War Co-Respondent
Klinger (Jamie Farr) has enough, and almost makes a disastrous mistake while one of Hawkeye’s (Alan Alda) patients, Michael Yee (Clyde Kusatsu) is having some serious issues, and attempts to take his own life, necessitating a visit from Sidney (Allan Arbus) in Goodbye, Cruel World. Written by Thad Mumford and Dan Wilcox, this episode first…
The Three Body Problem (2008) – Liu Cixin
Wang Miao and Ye Wenjie are the central characters in a vast cast in this epic Chinese novel that is the first in a trilogy, also known as The Three Body Problem. Treating its subject matter with intelligence, and pouring on the science, the story takes us through the first steps of contact with an…
TIFF 2021: Dear Evan Hansen dir. Stephen Chbosky
Mental health. Suicide. Depression. Loss. Grief. Loneliness. These issues are usually trapped in the individual, and though a number of us share in these things, it’s never a shared experience. We are held in the prison of our issues, in a society where social media presentation, the illusion of life being better than it is…
The Mind Reels 