Tales from the Darkside (1983 - 1988): Review By The Cryptkeeper: Resurrected

Season 4: Episode 2- "Mary, Mary"

This has to be one of the more... Weird episodes of Tales from the Darkside; and this series has some weird episodes! But the whole time, you're not quite sure what is going on, and honestly, even at the end, I still did not really know.

This episode is about Mary, who is a loner. She talks to her stuffed animals, and pretends they're real, pretty much. She has no friends, and seems to lead a sad life. She has a mannequin who she dresses up to look real, and videotapes it, and dubs in her voice and sends the videos to men looking for a relationship (back when people would receive videos of other people looking for a significant other). I'm not sure what she does beyond that, seeing as though the episode does not show it, but I am assuming she gets rejected a lot. Right after making one of those videos, she gets a mysterious phone call from her new neighbor, David. All he wants is to hang out, seeing as though he does not know anyone, and takes a strange liking to Mary, even though he has not met her before. He appears to be a nice enough guy, and good looking. She is almost frightened by the fact that someone is actually interested in her. But he keeps on persisting. Now, I know that sounds like he is a creep, but I assure you, he really is a nice guy, just a little too persistent. Now, the rest of the episode, it appears as though Mary has developed another personality, one for the mannequin, and it talks to her, putting her down, telling her everyone is interested in the mannequin, not Mary herself. It is actually pretty sad.

Part of what makes this episode so good, is the acting. The girl who plays Mary is very believable, and also entertaining to watch. The man who takes interest in Mary, David, also plays the sweet, yet slightly socially awkward guy, plays so very well. It adds to the effect of it all, and makes it all the more interesting.

Replay value is very high, to me. I'd love to watch this episode again, in fact. I only have one problem, which is the ending...

*SPOILER ALERT*

The episode ends where David walks into Mary's apartment because they're going to go out on a date. But he does not find Mary, he sees Mary as a mannequin. I'm not sure, but I suppose she turns into a "perfect" mannequin like she always wanted to be. I didn't quite get it, sad to say.