The Devil's Platform

"The Devil's Platform" brings in the occult for the Faustian story of a nobody who achieves political fortune by selling his soul to the Devil, likable Tom Skerritt a good choice as Robert Palmer, his meteoric rise to fame coming at the expense of several corpses. Now running for Illinois State Senate, his intention to reach the White House, the first on screen victim to go is Palmer's campaign manager, whose attempt to blow the whistle on his boss ensures his demise in an elevator that falls 40 floors. Kolchak is fortunately on the scene, snapping pictures that reveal a vicious Rottweiler wearing a pendant with a five pointed star, which mysteriously disappears from view after the photo is developed. The next to perish is Palmer's former lover, who wonders how he managed to survive that fatal drop, downed by the same Rottweiler which here cannot be stopped by a policeman's barrage. Miss Emily (Ruth McDevitt) returns from a trip to Rome, bearing gifts for all her colleagues, artichoke pasta for Vincenzo and a new hat for Carl, whose familiar chapeau is referred to by Tony as a 'bird feeder' ("what don't you like about this hat?" "what's under it!"). For Kolchak, the most intriguing item from the Vatican is holy water blessed by the Pope, which should come in handy in a fight against the powers of darkness. His final showdown with Palmer makes for a revealing character study, tempted with his most fervent desire, to win a Pulitzer Prize and return to the top in New York as a respected member of the press (it's always these little vignettes that keep the series engaging and timeless). Back from the 1972 pilot is Stanley Adams, this time as a bartender who prefers baseball over a televised debate.

Kolchak (Darren McGavin) discovers a young rising politician (Tom Skerritt), has made a deal with the Devil (Rupert Murdoch) to murder off his competition through incidents made to look like accidents.

Having McGavin and Skerritt together in a single show is pretty awesome, with more greatness on one screen than I can usually handle. If nothing else, that would make this episode a winner. But it is actually more clever than that. Starting with the "politics makes strange bedfellows" adage, we can imagine a politician linking up with thugs, millionaires, unions or whoever they think might help them. We rarely (if ever) consider the idea of having Satan as your co-pilot.

This episode sort of anticipates "The Omen" (1976). While the concepts are different, they both involve the devil and politics. The connection is even stronger in the "Omen" sequels. Was this an inspiration?

Carl Kolchak(Darren McGavin) investigates recent deaths surrounding a rising politician named Robert Palmer(played by Tom Skerritt) It seems that anyone who stands in the way or threatens him dies mysteriously, and Carl uncovers the sinister truth that Palmer has quite literally made a deal with dark forces to offer his soul in exchange for wealth and power, which includes the ability to shape-shift into a scary dog. Carl confronts Palmer with the truth, but will another truth about him corrupt our hero? Though the premise is unoriginal, the execution is first-rate, being most eerie and effective, with Skerritt portraying a soul-dead politician most believably!

PLOT: Kolchak literally faces a Rottweiler from hell when he investigates an ambitious Chicago politician (Tom Skerritt) who, evidently, has made a deal with the devil in order to take care of his competition.

COMMENTARY: This episode was no doubt influenced by the success of satanic-oriented flicks like "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) and "The Exorcist" (1973), but the story's totally different; that is, original. It might've been a minor-inspiration for Stephen King's 1981 novel "Cujo." Skerritt is stalwart as the antagonist and Julie Gregg is ravishing in a small role as his secretary. There's a well-done occult ritual scene in the third act that surprisingly avoids being eye-rolling.

Although this isn't my favorite episode of this great series, I have to give credit for a fairly original story, and a very good performance by a mutt who shall go nameless, and he was the real star here. Tom Skerritt was a tad annoying, but effective, as a politician named Robert Palmer(not the singer), who supposedly makes a deal with the devil to gain power, and murder anyone who opposes his rise to power. As usual, Tony doesn't see the connection that Kolchak finally does, but it eventually leads to a very good scene between Carl and Palmer at a satanic altar in Palmer's basement where Palmer offers the same type of deal; he promises Kolchak that he can get where and what he wants in the newspaper industry if he also makes the same deal as Palmer. I wish we could see how Palmer made his deal, as that would make for one creepy scene. In between, there's a couple car crashes and a freaky elevator crash, and the one common denominator is a strange dog that puzzles our hero.