The fundamental problem with most characters in sitcoms or even certain TV shows back then are most of them we never truly know, not to say they don't contain an amount of depth but never a great amount which is why at times it's hard to believe one character or another even can exist at all.
Alex Keaton however is a character that is three dimensional, throughout the show we really got to know more about him which made us believe he could almost exist as he's a step in reality, here we truly see Alex as he is a human being.
This is my favorite episode/s in the show and in general. This episode truly was something else, it's something that most to all sitcoms/comedies even TV shows in general at the time never do a full character study. This is also the kind of episode that really isn't all laughs but is a drama, one that will really make you think but also tug at your heart strings.
We see the loss of Alex's friend Greg has deeply affected Alex. He's not just suffering from survivor's guilt but also a spiritual and identity crisis. When he goes straight to therapy that's when things really get interesting and the episodes suddenly turn into a stage play on TV.
This I felt really worked because it really gave everything a dream like quality with the use of darkness and the moments when Alex stepped into certain scenes, I feel this is true to the human psyche as we remember the past like scenes acted and reenacted in a play.
Alex, we see throughout the theory has not always been the happiest camper, in fact we see it can be downright sad at time being in his shoes. In a way I can't help but feel this episode isn't just about Alex's character but it's sort of about ourselves, how we've gone though the motions from our childhood to even the present, how deeply the past has affected us then and even now.
It also causes us to question both psychologically and philosophically, if any of what happened in the past went a different direction could our lives have been better? Are we really being the people we want to be? But also what do we want to be and how to we want to live life?
Alex has questioned his own soul, just as we question our own.
Rating: 4 stars
