Young woman Suzy (an outstanding performance by the lovely Patricia Clarkson) looks out of the window of her apartment and witnesses a man murdering a woman in the apartment directly across from hers. Suzy is so traumatized by what she sees that she's rendered mute. She's placed in the care of Dr. Trask (splendidly played with quietly unnerving menace by Richard Thomas), who alas turns out to be the man who committed the murder Suzy witnessed. Director Jim Simpson and writer Nancy Doyne take a radical and refreshing departure from the program's usual format: There's very little in the way of graphic gore, no goofy humor to speak of, with an extremely serious tone, a plausible story, and a strong emphasis on subtle tension over obvious cheap scares. The two leads do sterling work in their roles: Clarkson expresses a lot of emotion without uttering a single word for the bulk of her screen time and the inspired casting of the charmingly boyish Thomas in a rare change of pace villain part rates as a true stroke of genius. Reed Birney contributes a fine and likable turn as Suzy's concerned husband Paul. The supremely ironic ending packs one hell of a wallop. Robert Draper's handsome cinematography and Jan Hammer's spare elegant score further enhance the overall exceptional quality of this classy, worthy, and underrated episode.
Review of Mute Witness to Murder
