MissClassicTV

Growing up, Mission: Impossible was my favorite show. Lynda Day George joins in Season 6 as Casey. Not Lisa Casey. She will always be Casey to me. The character's name is wrongly credited here.

This is how it came to pass. The first run of this show ended in 1973. Fifteen years later, the 1988 writers' strike led to a revival of Mission: Impossible. Actress Terry Markwell played a character also named Casey. She only lasted a single season before being killed off. But when Lynda Day George made a guest star appearance in 1989, on the episode 'Reprisal,' they decided to rename her Lisa Casey so as not to confuse viewers of the revival series who knew Terry Markwell as Casey.

It was a total mistake.

It's interesting that Dr. Kimble is often nervous around police but never around criminals. Here he's faced with four bad guys. He helps the one with the bullet wound. And then three others show up to meet up with their friend, with Ed Asner and Robert Doyle being rather menacing. The great character actor Val Avery is always good. He's solid and steady, delivering his lines with such ease and believability as the third bad guy who shows up unexpectedly.

David Janssen was really one of the greatest, most underrated actors ever. Every time I see him, I marvel at his strength. Four years into his run, he is, of course, tired. While the action centers around him, this episode gave him a number of good supporting actors and Janssen always allowed his guest stars to shine.

As portrayed by Janssen, Dr. Kimble is a noble man though he is accused of a heinous crime. It's a good hour of television.

A young Tuesday Weld is delicately beautiful in this episode and everything revolves around her. This is a gripping story, shot beautifully in black and white, with atmosphere and mood, and mounting violence. Writing this review 56 years after "Dark Corner" first aired, I'm still hesitant to give too much away. A first-time viewer should be allowed to see this as I did years ago, with no pre-knowledge of how the action will unfold.

The Braydons are dairy farmers in South Dakota. Poor, hard-working, salt of the earth. There's Papa and his two daughters, Clara and Mattie. Papa is a sweet old man who dotes on his daughters, especially Mattie, blind since an accident when she was 8 years old. And there's also Bob who lives in the house; he's Clara's fiancé. The men in this family are weak, easily manipulated, while the women are deceptively strong. Even the sheriff and his deputy are easily fooled.

While everyone else is busy working the farm, Mattie sculpts in her studio. She's lonely, isolated, yet all the action is centered on her. With her ethereal blonde hair and soft voice, Mattie is a sympathetic figure. Everyone but Clara underestimates her. But Kimble of course eventually figures her out after initially developing a closeness based on shared loneliness. He's the one who helps unravel the family secrets and allows the truth to be uncovered.

The role of Mattie was a dramatic challenge and Tuesday Weld, at age 21, was convincing in it. She matches David Janssen's intelligent portrayal of their central characters. It's why The Fugitive, five decades on, remains one of the best things to have ever graced the TV screen.