"The Waiting Room" is such an odd title for something that takes place in the Old West. A group of stellar gunfighters are doomed to play cards in a classic saloon until it is their turn to face off against who knows what. Others have gone into the details. The best parts of this episode are the actors and the atmosphere. Buddy Ebsen, one of our most recognizable past TV stars, has a controls the setting with an eerie, we-must-pay-for-it demeanor. He answers questions hesitatingly and allows the tension to build in his matter of fact way. The weight that hangs over the room as yet another member of their fraternity attempt to understand is impressive. Serling was good at these early American displays.
I found "Last Rites for a Dead Druid" to be lacking. First of all, we get our second Beverly Hillbilly in the same pairing. Donna Douglas, who was Ellie May Clampett, is the less intelligent friend of a pairing with Carol Lynley, a beautiful young actress of the fifties and sixties. Douglas talks her friend into buying an ugly statue because it looks like her husband, Bill Bixby. Bixby, a young attorney is annoyed because of the cost and also because the thing begins to take over his life. It is a Druidic figure and it seems to cause Bixby to act completely out of character when in its presence. It even visits his bedroom. Of course, only he can see what it is doing. I think the shortcoming in this episode is that we are fooled into thinking it is humorous and have the rug pulled out from under us.
I found "Last Rites for a Dead Druid" to be lacking. First of all, we get our second Beverly Hillbilly in the same pairing. Donna Douglas, who was Ellie May Clampett, is the less intelligent friend of a pairing with Carol Lynley, a beautiful young actress of the fifties and sixties. Douglas talks her friend into buying an ugly statue because it looks like her husband, Bill Bixby. Bixby, a young attorney is annoyed because of the cost and also because the thing begins to take over his life. It is a Druidic figure and it seems to cause Bixby to act completely out of character when in its presence. It even visits his bedroom. Of course, only he can see what it is doing. I think the shortcoming in this episode is that we are fooled into thinking it is humorous and have the rug pulled out from under us.